Every other day I see the the world turning into a cyberpunk hellscape with no privacy. I am starting to feel what's the point of trying to claw back privavy.
However I am not givong up as the need for privacy is more important than ever.
It the spirit of continuing the fight how should what should I Improve next?
Currently running Fedora 40 and use only open source apps. When browsing I try and use Mullvad browser and use my regular logins on a hardened Firefox with arkenfox. I have proton unlimtes for mail, passwords, drive and a VPN which is always on. I have filen as a back for redundancy and my most import files are encrypted with Crypomator and uploaded to both clouds.
On my mobile I use a pixel 4, I tried Graphene OS but my banking failed so back to stock Android. The only I have replaces most android apps with Fossify apps and use Obtanium, Aurura and F-Droid for apps. I use ente Auth for authentication except for my work as I have to use Microsoft Authenticator. The only proprietary apps I use are Facebook messenger, spotify, google maps and my bank. I use Facebook messenger and maps through shelter .
For browsing on Android I use Mull and on my android Proton VPN is always on. I visit twitter and twitter ocasionly but always through mull browser.
For keeping in contact with freinds I use Aliucord in Android and Vesktop on my PC
Before anyone asks my bank is App only and it is the only way I have been able to successfully manage my finaces so I have to stay with that for now.
For spending habniys I try to use Google pay as little as possible and use my master card.
My Apologies for my english I am a little stupid when it comes to spelling and grammar.
Any features in the mobile app that don't exist on the website? I've had good luck checking my bank balance and all sorts of other things through Firefox on Android - pre-edit: I missed that it was app only. That sucks.
The VPN really doesn't do much at all for privacy. It just moves the point of trust from the service provider for the current network to the VPN provider, plus now you have extra hurdles as you'll show up as a VPN IP rather than a "normal" residential or cellular IP. Realistically set your DNS to be something like Quad9 or Cloudflare and you'll already be several steps ahead on browsing privacy
Realistically any card is going to be selling your spending habits. Cash and crypto are about the only ways to have private purchases, and plenty of places won't accept either
Personally I had a long hard think about my privacy practices and how they only isolated me and made me unhappy, and realized that if I'm already blocking all ads so I never get to see the results of the incredibly dystopian advertising hellscape, does it really matter that much if Google knows I spent $200 on random model train shit last month when they already know I watch a few hours of train-related content on Youtube? So I take smaller steps to not fully given in, but I don't take steps that create extra hassle in participating in modern society and living my life to its fullest.
Thanks this is really solid asvice. Actually made me feel a lot better.
I recently was dianosed with ADHD so I have found cutting out a lot of social media and other envasibe products has really just helped with my mental health and has hinder my everyday life.
My bank is an App only so I have to use the app.
In regards to the DNS advice should I use that for both my PC and android ? And when would I use a vpn?
I recommend NextDNS, it allows you to block ads, trackers and other unwanted stuff on the DNS level. Check out this video: https://neat.tube/w/19r4YnE6fpce6e2B9MepnB