GrapheneOS is a hardened Android that only officially runs on Google Pixel phones. Play Store apps can be installed inside a sandbox: they run as ordinary apps, not as the privileged Google services on a stock phone. Verified boot, a relocked bootloader, and extra exploit hardening are the point. The modem is fenced off from […]
CalyxOS is a de-Googled Android from the Calyx Institute. It uses microG so many normal apps still run. microG is an open stand-in, and pieces of it still talk to Google for push and similar jobs. You also get a firewall and a kinder installer than most custom ROMs. Pixels, Fairphones, and some Motorola phones […]
Tails is a live system you boot from a USB stick. The network path is Tor. When you shut down, the session is gone unless you turned on the encrypted persistent folder. Nothing about the design wants to be your everyday laptop. Tor is slow, and some sites block it. The persistent volume is convenient […]
Qubes OS splits the desktop into virtual machines. Work, personal, and a disposable browser each run apart, so one bad site does not automatically see the other windows. Edward Snowden has pointed people at it for years. The project assumes the base system can be attacked and tries to make that attack small. It wants […]
Fedora is a general-purpose Linux desktop from the Fedora Project, sponsored by Red Hat. Releases land about every six months. The installer gives you a current GNOME session on Wayland. Codecs and some drivers sit outside the default repos because of licenses. You enable RPM Fusion or you live without them. Upgrades are part of […]
SimpleX has no user account at all. No phone number, no username, no address book on a server. You connect by a one-time link or a QR code. Relays pass messages and are not supposed to learn who is talking. The apps are open source. The network is small. Delivery can be slower than Signal. […]
Session gives you a random Session ID instead of a phone number. Messages go through an onion-routed network of community nodes, so there is no central account database of who messaged whom. Clients are open source. There are phone and desktop apps. Onion routing costs time. Big files are limited. Calls exist and they are […]
Threema sells a messenger for a one-time fee. A random Threema ID replaces your phone number. Chats are end-to-end encrypted. The company is in Switzerland and has published outside audits. You can use it without handing over a number or an email. The apps are open source. The server is not. You are trusting Threema […]
Element is the main app for Matrix, a federated chat protocol. You can use Element’s server or run your own and still talk to people on other servers. Private rooms can be end-to-end encrypted. Bridges can mirror Slack, Telegram, and other networks into a room. The homeserver sees metadata. Public rooms are often unencrypted. Encryption […]
Signal encrypts messages, voice, and video by default. The protocol is open. WhatsApp uses a cousin of it. Sealed sender hides your identity from Signal’s servers on ordinary messages. Since 2023 the handshake also includes a post-quantum layer, PQXDH, so a recording of today’s traffic is harder to crack later with a future quantum machine. […]
BellCrier breach check
Most people are, and never hear about it. BellCrier checks your email against known data breaches for free, then alerts you when it turns up in a new one, with exactly what leaked and how to fix it.
