Cookies do not directly communicate your IP address, they’re just bits of data about your visit. Logging out of LinkedIn and closing your browser should clear them, unless they’re persistent cookies.

Using a VPN to create a new Spotify account maskes your actual IP address. Meaning spotify wont know your home IP address. But, if Spotify uses cookies from your previous sessions or if you log in with the same credentials, it may still serve targeted ads based on your previous activity.

So while cookies don’t transmit your IP address, they still influence the ads you see based on your browsing history and/or account information. For enhanced privacy, it’s usually recommended to set cookies to be wiped when you close the browser. I have a handful of sites I like to keep cookies for, but everything else is gone after each session.

JMP Chat works in the US even though they’re based in Canada. I highly recommend the service, it’s absolutely fantastic!

Definitely checkout JMP Chat, they’re actually based in Canada and offer super affordable alternative phone numbers. Using their Cheogram app even lets you incorporate it fully into your phone, so when you call, it’ll ask which number you’d like to use for the call. Calling has limited minutes each month, but the overage charges are very reasonable. It comes with unlimited texting as well. They encrypt everything on their end and it’s fully open source!

I ended that last chunck of text with /s. But at the same time, it wouldn’t suprise me at all if this was the case.

Baby

NextDNS is the move, the clients are open sourced and they encrypt everything. Plus their free option covers all my devices, no problem. Highly recommended!

I just learned the dev of Phoenix forked Mull! It’s called IronFox (https://gitlab.com/ironfox-oss/IronFox) and has a F-Droid repo. I’m pumped on this, thanks a bunch for highlighting all this and to the original commenter for providing the link to Phoenix!

In 2019, the advertising/data science company System1 became the majority owner of Startpage. Based on this, I’d say it’s worth finding an alternative to Startpage.

Anyone of the many SearXNG instances is your best choice for balancing privacy and quality results. It’s open source, sources multiple search engines which you can control, is anonymous, and provides solid results. Here’s a list of active SearXNG instances: https://searx.space/

That’s odd, it seems fine on my end. But here’s another instance link: https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?v=4sfIBRTcRpU

That’ll make it so you’re not bothered by banners anymore, so I’d say yes. I activate everything listed and then import others filters from filterlists.com. Here’s a link which will let you add the Easylist Cookie Lists: https://filterlists.com/lists/easylist-cookie-list

I’d recommended adding EFF’s Cookie Block List, which you can find here: https://filterlists.com/lists/eff-cookie-blocklist

uBlock doesn’t block cookies directly but it can be setup to block the domains associated with cookies. Adding the EasyList Cookie will accomplish this. It will prevent websites from setting cookies when you visit them. As far as essential cookies go, I’d assume the Easylist blocks cookies which won’t affect the websites function.

Aegis is the move, my favourite option for sure!

I believe Joplin still doesn’t have a web app unfortunately. StandardNotes does and it could help here too. I’d think just making a new note for each entry will time and date it, but any editing of the note would change the time stamp.

Using cash to buy a prepaid card is always a decent option. Makes it very difficult to associate the payment with the buyer. As far as a MySudo alternative, keep an eye on JMP.chat! They do work in the EU now, but they only provide US numbers. However, they are actively working on being able to provide EU numbers at least.

If you’re talking OpenWRT, then I totally agree. But something like Asus Merlin is a relatively easy change and still provides additional protection. While part of the Asus code is closed-source, most is open-sourced and Asus has implemented improvements developed by the Merlin team. This shows Merlin knows what they’re doing and are trustworthy too.

Running as much open-sourced privacy oriented software as possible. This includes on computers, routers, and phones. While this is 100% a marathon, not just a quick change, it’s well worth the time. Utilizing an encrypted DNS would be another solid move. NextDNS is a fantastic choice as it has a free option which still provides granular control of what is filtered online. A trusted VPN mixing your internet traffic with others is great, but like you said, it’s not a magic bullet whatsoever.

Fedora SecureBlue is hardened Fedora, and Fedora is also the base layer for Qubes as it’s all in all quite secure and private with some setting changes. I don’t know, but Qubes is top tier in my book. Tails OS could be another option if you’re that big on privacy and security though.

Qubes OS is Snowdens daily driver, Fedora SecureBlue is also designed with security and privacy in mind.

Best bet will be to purchase Monero (XMR) anonymously, it’s literally designed to be anonymous, then swap it into BTC. You’ll then want a hard wallet to keep it secure until you have a reason to transfer it. Ledger is a decent option for a hard wallet, just be sure it’s paid for in the XMR you bought anonymously or the BTC you swapped for XMR. NanoS is my recommendation for the specific wallet, but the tricky part will be getting it shipped to you anonymously as you CAN’T trust a used hard wallet.

Be sure to switch as soon as Fossify releases their fork of it, Simple Mobile sold out HARD! Thankfully the 2nd in command at Simple Mobile created Fossify and is releasing all the apps to keep everything open sourced.

Security enables privacy, that’s why they are commonly referenced together. From a hardware standpoint, Pixels are the most secure phones on the market and Google makes them with dev’s in mind. This is why Graphene OS, which is based on AOSP, currently only runs on Pixels.

It’s a fully open sourced app store for android. The code of all apps in the F-Droid repository are reviewed before being made available. So this is why the F-Droid version wont have these settings, as it’ll be an older version.

You could just use the version on F-Droid until Fossify releases their fork of it. But ya, wild how basically out of no where Simple Mobile sold out tough.

I had to change my address to my physical address from a PO Box in the first week of the year to prevent my account getting closed. This was with a major bank, and it’s all thanks to the patriot act. Then again, I do have a checking account with a much smaller bank and they haven’t said a word about it. I use the street address with a “unit number” for my box. Seems like they either haven’t dug into it and realized it’s a PO Box or they’re just small enough where they don’t care much about it like the big banks. So basically, you need a physical address these days, if you don’t you risk account closure.

In the top left there should be a search option. In settings preferences, be sure it’s set up to search all sources. I get tons of articles when putting in pretty specific topics.

Edit: It’s in the preferences under the file tab. Here’s screenshots of my home screen, plus the preferences I use for it to search papers.

I use JabRef for both finding research papers and generating bibliographies. It’s phenomenal and fully open source. Definitely worth checking out, I’m not even sure what I’d do without it these days!

Invidious has a related content option, it’s in the settings where you should definitely already go to ensure the proxy option is turned on too.

I truly have never said this before in my life, but you obviously need better game. If asking for a number is off the table, then you’re already friendzoned…

I use a few of these and I have no issues with internet speed. I can stream HD video while uploading large files no problem. So I’d bet you’d be just fine, probably won’t even notice unless it’s faster. But I wasn’t aware of hBlock, I’ll have to look into it.

Being an accident would be news to me. Since it sources Bing for results, you’d think Microsofts trackers would be a focal point of their privacy approach. Sleeping on trackers known to be present isn’t a good look either way.

There’s proof they allowed Microsoft to use trackers though…I dig DDG as they were one of the first functional alternative search engines to Google with an emphasis on privacy, yet there are much better options today. I’m going to have to peep kagi based on this thread, but I’ll need to be strongly convinced to switch from SearXNG.

Start using an encrypted DNS server! I’m a big fan of NextDNS, quad9 is solid in my book too. Above this, the next step would be to start using a degoogled mobile OS along with FOSS apps. Its a marathon, so making changes slowly but consistently is the best way to approach it 100%.

It’s going to be dependant on the VPN, but some definitely allow for you to choose a DNS server. Depending on your OS, you can just setup all traffic to be routed through a specified DNS server too. This is one aspect of Fedora I really dig.

SearXNG* ftfy

It could just be me, but I dig disroots outlook. They’re a privacy-focused platform ran by volunteers in it for what seems to be all the right reasons. While on the other hand, I can’t tell you much about the other public SearXNG instance options.

I moved away from Brave Search when they went 2+ months only offering Google or Bing for their image searches. I can strongly recommend digging into https://search.disroot.org though!

This for me is the biggest privacy issue. The FBI having contracts which allow them to turn on and collect whatever data certain device can acquire, its fully bonkers. These contracts focus on massively sold devices. iPhones, Androids, along with Samsung TV’s have all been caught in the same mess. So I’d say keep searching for a TV until you find one which fits your threat model. They want you to give and buy a Samsung TV, so fuck em and keep on keepin on!

Oh, well it possibility could be available in your contact information in Teams, so just use benign words that still have a subtle connection to you I’d say.

I just setup a new Windows 10 VM this morning and it was the first time I was not able to skip making a Microsoft account. So I just used an email alias and then instantly paused the email address after receiving the verification code. Regarding your uncertainty around what seems to be Microsoft having access to the email inbox somehow, I can’t see how that’d be possible unless the email is maintained by them or you decided to use Outlook. Use a burner email and make sure it’s only provided for the Teams account and you’ll be in a much better place than most Teams users.