The PrivacyTools Blog

US Government Continues Encryption War

Wars can be fought in the real world but there is also a virtual battlefield - and it is just as harmful. The Lawful Access to Encrypted Data Act is

blacklight447 Taking Over PrivacyTools Service Administration

I am announcing today my departure as sysadmin from the PrivacyTools project. Long-time team member and current editor-in-chief, blacklight447, will be taking over as interim project sysadmin to manage existing services currently operated by PrivacyTools, including Mastodon and Matrix. blacklight447 is a trustworthy member

Press Release

Introducing our PeerTube Instance

Since April 2019, one of the primary goals of PrivacyTools has been to promote the creation and use of decentralized and federated networks to replace the centralized giants like Google

Opinion

Why I Decided to Run a Tor Relay

It makes me smile when I come across someone struggling with the decision of whether or not to get a VPN. It makes me smile not because of the indecision

Press Release

Relisting Startpage.com

Dear PrivacyTools community, In October 2019, we learned that System1 had become the majority shareholder in Startpage.com via a new System1 subsidiary, Privacy One Group. Due to the uncertainty

Press Release

Shutting Down Gitea

Hello everyone! As a part of our ongoing server migration we have made the decision to discontinue our Gitea installation at git.privacytools.io. Ultimately this service was used by

Security

Protecting Your Privacy With a Virtual Machine While Using Zoom

With the COVID-19 outbreak keeping many at home, Zoom has seen a huge increase in use with schools and businesses. But with growing privacy and security concerns, how can you stay safe?

Opinion

US Government Wages War on Encryption

As the world finds itself preoccupied with COVID-19, the United States government is trying to pass a law to ban encryption. It's called the EARN IT act, and it has potentially devastating repercussions for encryption and companies that use it.

Updates

Welcoming Safing as our First Sponsor

I am very excited to introduce Safing ICS Technologies GmbH as the first sponsor of the PrivacyTools project. Safing is developing the Safing Privacy Network ("SPN", formerly Gate17), a decentralized

Updates

The New PrivacyTools Logo

A few days ago we launched our new logo for the PrivacyTools sites and services. But, we are not changing it without a good reason. The previous logo we have

Instant Messengers

Choosing the Right Messenger

One of the most common questions users have when it comes to privacy is about messaging services. It seems almost all of them mention some level of privacy or encryption

Privacy

The Trouble with VPN and Privacy Review Sites

There's a massive problem in the privacy world. Websites, social media accounts, and other platforms are constantly popping up out of nowhere, telling you to buy The Greatest Service Ever

Delisting

Cutting the Wire

It has recently come to the attention of the PrivacyTools team that Wire, the popular end-to-end encryption messaging platform had been sold or moved to a US company. After a

Press Release

PrivacyTools is Spreading Privacy Awareness by Providing Services, Tools, and Information

While the internet revolution has transformed the world in all aspects, this change has come with certain drawbacks. One of the major problems on an upswing in recent years is

Updates

Delisting Startpage.com

May 3rd, 2020 Update: Startpage has answered all of our questions for them and has clarified their policies. We have decided to relist them on PrivacyTools, and you can read

Guides

Firefox Privacy: Tips and Tricks for Better Browsing

Mozilla Firefox is one of the most popular web browsers around, and for good reason. It's fast, secure, open-source, and it's backed by an organization that actually respects your privacy.

Updates

We've joined the Open Collective Foundation 501(c)(3)

Since 2015, privacytools.io has been providing tools, knowledge, and services to protect you against global mass surveillance programs and encourage self-control of your data online. Our website is free

VPN

Choosing a VPN

So you know what a VPN is, but there are so many options to choose from! Well before we dive into this, let's get one thing off the bat: Avoid

VPN

Understanding VPNs

A VPN—or Virtual Private Network—is a tool that secures your internet connection from attackers on your network. Before I explain how that all works, let's talk about the

Privacy

Adding Custom DNS over HTTPS Resolvers to DNSCloak

DNSCloak is an open-source DNSCrypt and DNS over HTTPS (DoH) client for iOS, which gives users the ability to encrypt their DNS requests through the use of an on-device VPN

Guides

Self-hosting a Shadowsocks VPN with Outline

Outline is a suite of open-source software developed for journalists to safely access their network and the internet while traveling in countries where their activities may be monitored or censored.

Updates

Tor on privacytools.io

We're excited to announce the launch of Tor connectivity to the privacytools.io homepage, and we hope to get Tor working on the rest of our services as soon as possible.