Privacy Guides – Tools and Resources for Protecting Your Data

Are these softwares safe to use? Hello community! I'm using MacOS on a M1 Macbook and I've been recommended to use two softwares, namely AppCleaner and Tiles and I would like to ask you if you think they are safe to use. I've heard good things about them, AppCleaner was mentioned to me as a neccesary tool for Mac users to help you remove all the junk files a normal uninstall process wouldn't. Please share your opinion on them. Thanks for every input in advance! https://redd.it/13vye1h @PrivacyGuides

Mullvad removes port forwarding suppord https://twitter.com/mullvadnet/status/1663156386950250496 https://redd.it/13uxo1j @PrivacyGuides

Can a web browser identify the computer it is installed in? I’ve recently installed Edge and the browser prompted me to login to my Microsoft accounts. The weird thing is that I haven’t connected to them with edge. How is it even possible for Edge to know that? https://redd.it/13wgu84 @PrivacyGuides

Privacy risks of indexing I’m using a Mac and looking at Spotlight (search function) which is indexing everything really in the computer. I have disabled “spotlight suggestions” which would send searches to Apple (+ blocked the whole process that sends Spotlight info to Apple) but I’m still wondering whether by design Indexing is not privacy-friendly. https://redd.it/13vv27p @PrivacyGuides

Can I be tracked online if I use a Virtual Machine(VM) in Linux? I am reading Michael Bazzell books. He said if we use a VM we can eliminate all traces of our activity by deleting it. However I see posts online stating that the IP of the virtual machine is the same as the IP of the physical machine. Thus, can I be traced if I use a virtual machine? https://redd.it/13vug1l @PrivacyGuides

Where can I host a blog that only people I invite can read? I almost feel like I could just create a public blog and given the internet is pretty big, it's unlikely anyone's going to care what I post there. But - i'd like to post personal writing (it's all just going to be text) so i'd prefer it to be private. Is there a platform for this? https://redd.it/13wbx34 @PrivacyGuides

LanguageTool and Plagiarism Hello everyone, As I was checking LanguageTool's privacy policy, I noticed that when using the desktop application, the text is sent to the servers without being encrypted. So my question is, since LanguageTool can see everything I am writing, is it possible for my own writing to be flaged as plagiarized,because I have first run it through LanguageTool. I mainly use LanguageTool to check if I missed a comma or an apostrophe, so I could stop using it, it is not a big problem. However I am curious, if they can use my data in such a way. Thank you in advance for any explanatory answers. https://redd.it/13w82tv @PrivacyGuides

Installing OpenWRT custom OS on a TP-Link wifi router https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa7VhElcExI https://redd.it/13vqz70 @PrivacyGuides

Help - Does TikTok tell you who downloaded your video? i downloaded roughly 10 of my seniors videos because of demonstrations of abusive behaviour. I am scared that they can somehow see that I did it. I used a logged in Google account, but I have no tiktok login associated with this google account. I don't have a tiktok login at all actually. I downloaded the videos via tiktok's option to right click a video and download on desktop. Can they know that I downloaded the vids? https://redd.it/13wr6we @PrivacyGuides

Why won’t Google give a straight answer on whether Bard was trained on Gmail data? https://skiff.com/blog/was-bard-trained-on-gmail-data https://redd.it/13vwxa6 @PrivacyGuides

WHAT COULD HAPPEN? Can anyone tell me what's the worst that can happen if i open a suspicious link on my phone? Like if someone sends me a link to open i opened it on my mobile browser and just let it stay opened for few mins what the worst thing that could actually happen by just opening a link not entering my personal detail and stuff, i sometimes out of curiosity just open random links that people dm me on Twitter or insta i have installed different browser app that i dont use doesn't have permission to my storage location camera etc. No passwords or data saved on that browser app. https://redd.it/13wv909 @PrivacyGuides

iOS browser privacy Hi, privacy is difficult with iOS as there is no option for extensions like ublock etc What is the preferred route here: a browser with build-in protection (eg Brave), or Safari with privacy extensions? https://redd.it/13xcgvo @PrivacyGuides

Most accurate search engines while also maintaining some privacy? The thing I noticed so far is that these privacy search engines suck! Startpage is meh, duckduckgo is meh, Mojeek wasn't great. Is there a go-to that you guys like to use that is actually accurate? https://redd.it/13x10az @PrivacyGuides

Privacy Guides now has merchandise! https://blog.privacyguides.org/2023/05/31/merch-announcement/ https://redd.it/13wxn9b @PrivacyGuides

"Simple File Manager Pro" - security vulnerability notification /r/fossdroid/comments/13x05m8/simple_file_manager_pro_security_vulnerability/ https://redd.it/13x06hi @PrivacyGuides

How can I improve privacy on android stock How can I improve privacy on stock android I'm on pixel 7 https://redd.it/13xf28t @PrivacyGuides

How can I begin my privacy journey? How can I begin my privacy journey Small steps https://redd.it/13xf2zf @PrivacyGuides

Is it worth reading the book Extreme Privacy by Michael Bazzell if you are European? Hi, I am currently reading multi sources on privacy and security. Now I want to push my curiosity a little bit further by reading the book Extreme Privacy by Michael Bazzell. Nevertheless, by reading some reviews it appears this book mostly concerns USA inhabitants. So does anyone who is European has read this book? And what is the feedback? I wish you a good day. https://redd.it/13xh4if @PrivacyGuides

How do I protect my data in job / internship applications? I’ve made an account on LinkedIn, but it uses my main email address. I’ve made another email specifically for these job applications but most can link my LinkedIn profile to “make it easier”. Does this linking process shows them my personal email even if I choose my other email? (I’m guessing not, but even then I’m not sure) Another thing is my phone number. I don’t want them knowing my personal phone number. Do I have to use another cellphone specifically for job applications? https://redd.it/13y07si @PrivacyGuides

Antivirus & Malware: is it necessary? As the title suggests, are they important to install on your laptop or pc? I’m not knowledgeable in this area so am looking for a thorough explanation as to what to do. My laptop previously had malwarebytes on it but I never seemed to need it for anything so am thinking about uninstalling it as I have not seen any advice pertaining to this topic on PrivacyGuides. However, I may have just not looked in the right places. https://redd.it/13xnq7u @PrivacyGuides