Most productivity apps are designed to help you get stuff done as conveniently as possible. Protecting your privacy, however, is rarely the most convenient. Consequently, you might need to use apps that are designed to protect as much data as possible, even if they have to forego useful features like cloud syncing or complex computer analysis. Some, like a VPN, you might not need all the time, but you should almost always be using apps like a password manager.
Also keep in mind that if you received your phone from your company through the Android at Work program, your data will still be visible to them even if you use these apps. If you want to keep your information as private as possible, use your own phone and keep it as locked down as possible.
1. Web Browser: Brave
While lots of browsers claim to protect your privacy, we’ve found that Brave stood out as one of the best. It uses HTTPS Everywhere to keep your traffic encrypted and it blocks scripts, cookies, phishing, pop-ups, and ads. If you find that a site doesn’t work with Brave, you can selectively re-enable each of those features to figure out what’s breaking the site and even whitelist it if you decide it’s worth it to you.
On the desktop, Brave has a weird system that lets users choose to pay publishers instead of seeing ads. However, this doesn’t appear to exist in the mobile version, so you can safely ignore it. It’s not perfect, but it gives you a lot more flexibility to block third-party data tracking than Chrome does. An app lock is suggested to use on your browser to avoid snoopers on your intimate searching and surfing content, and even to find out who try to snoop on your phone.
2. Email: ProtonMail or Gmail
For the most thorough email privacy, ProtonMail is the way to go. It encrypts all of your messages by default. You can send an email to other ProtonMail users and they’ll be able to read it like normal. If you send it to anyone else, they’ll be given a link where they’ll need to enter a password in order to read your message. This is a very inconvenient way to send email, but if you need to guarantee that no one but the recipient reads your email, this is the way to go.
If you’re slightly less paranoid, Gmail is still an excellent way to keep your email private from everyone except, well, Google. Every email is sent over SSL and Google encrypts each message from a sender to receiver. Unfortunately, Google itself is still able to see and scan your emails, and it may even have to turn some data over to the government if they receive a legal request. However, Gmail will at least protect your messages from some random snooper or someone who finds your phone (as long as you have a strong password and two-factor authentication like we mentioned earlier).
In general, email is pretty hard to secure since it always relies on a third-party server to send messages. If you’ve got a good reason to wear your tinfoil hat, you can always try rolling your own email server, but keep in mind it’s really hard.
3. Messaging: Signal or WhatsApp
If you really need to communicate with someone securely, Signal and WhatsApp are going to be much better for your privacy than email. Both of these apps feature end-to-end encryption, they don’t store your messages after they’ve been delivered, and they can both do voice calls on top of text messages. You can also use an applock to lock your Signal and WhatsApp so that no one can snoop your personal conversation. Inconveniently, both parties will need to have the app installed to use it, but it’s fairly easy to set up an account.
For those who want the absolute most privacy possible, however, Signal offers a slight edge. It doesn’t store metadata about who you’re talking to, but WhatsApp does. Neither app knows what you’re talking about, but WhatsApp knows who you’re talking with and when. If WhatsApp receives a legal warrant, it can hand over that data. WhatsApp can also backup your messages to Google Drive, though they’re encrypted so that shouldn’t be that big of a deal. Even if law enforcement requested it from Google, they wouldn’t be able to read it. Still, it’s important to know that the backup is there.
To be continued…
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