I am trying to re-adjust how much effort I want to put into privacy concerns. Too much stuff I’m using isn’t working properly or using a lot of my mental resources that I need elsewhere.

For (a bad) example: I recently performed a half-switch from my self-hosted Nextcloud instance to ProtonDrive, in the hope that it would spare me the stress to maintain my private Nextcloud. Unfortunately, it doesn’t, as basic functionality like cross-device-sync is not possible (there isn’t even a client app for Linux, as of yet).

This brings me to the question: have you found any services/apps/stuff that significantly eases your life while still being privacy friendly? I know, this is a broad question, but I think this is for the best as this thread then maybe even has use for other users.

  •  abbenm   ( @abbenm@lemmy.ml ) 
    30•6 months ago

    NewPipe is a killer app I would say, with nearly Youtube Red level functionality in something that’s free and OSS. A bit afield from privacy, but you do get to access youtube stuff without logging in.

  •  LemmyHead   ( @LemmyHead@lemmy.ml ) 
    21•6 months ago

    Ntfy - no more google reading notifications
    Jellyfin - media served without questionable Plex account
    Arch - on so many levels allows me a private computing experience
    Posteo - simple but efficient email service
    Resilio sync - cloudless syncing

    •  BearOfaTime   ( @BearOfaTime@lemm.ee ) 
      9•6 months ago

      NTFY looks intriguing.

      If I’m reading the description properly, it uses an HTTP server as the middleman for the notifications?

      Pretty neat nifty idea. (Yea, had to come back and edit because I missed a great opportunity).

        •  BearOfaTime   ( @BearOfaTime@lemm.ee ) 
          4•6 months ago

          Wow, I really appreciate how they use animations to show how it works (and I generally despise any animation on a home page).

          That’s how it should be done.

          Also, what they’ve done is impressive. Smart. I had no idea this existed, though I’ve seen another open solution to Unified Messaging (just can’t recall what). This is really promising.

  •  edric   ( @scytale@lemm.ee ) English
    18•6 months ago

    The most impactful are probably browser (Firefox), adblocker (uBlock Origin), DNS over https (Mullvad), and password manager (Bitwarden), because these are used every single day.

  •  LWD   ( @LWD@lemm.ee ) 
    9•6 months ago

    Mobile Fennec (or pick your poison for any Firefox fork) has made browsing overall much better. Between ad blocking, Enhanced Tracking Protection and a paywall-bypassing extension, browsing is overall less tedious than a comparable Chromelike.

  •  Fox Trenton   ( @sintrenton@lemmy.ml ) 
    9•6 months ago

    Two I use a lot daily are KeePass 2 in various versions, computer as well as tablet. I used KeePass “original” 1 for years, but moved to 2/XC/DX. Occasionally also used for storing notes and not just passwords.

    My notetaker, all hands down, though. Joplin, with encryption activated, the file stored for syncing on my privacy oriented community’s encrypted NextCloud. I am an avid notetaker, both digital and analogue, and Joplin really fits my needs.

    OK, third, honourable mention: Veracrypt

  •  Andromxda 🇺🇦🇵🇸🇹🇼   ( @Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 
    7•6 months ago
    • uBlock Origin saves time and resources
    • This is a classic one, but with Mullvad VPN I can pretend to be in any country. When combined with Tailscale, it becomes really OP. With Tailscale, I have a secure, flat network, which allows me to access all my devices from anywhere. Things like LocalSend, KDE connect or other apps that normally require all devices to be in a LAN also work over Tailscale.
    • A DNS filter doesn’t just help with protecting your privacy, you can also use it to block/restrict distracting websites that you spend too much time on. NextDNS for example lets me restrict social media websites to only work on certain times of the day.
    • Private frontends like Invidious and Piped for YouTube, Redlib for Reddit, SafeTwitch for Twitch (RIP Nitter, Libreddit and Teddit)
    • LibRedirect automatically redirects sites like YouTube, Twitch, Reddit and many more to privacy frontends
    • Alternative desktop/mobile clients for YouTube and Twitch. For YouTube, FreeTube on desktop, LibreTube/Tubular on Android, Yattee with this guide on iOS, Xtra for Twitch on Android. These all block ads or any other annoyances.
    • GrapheneOS makes my life easier in many ways, but I specifically want to mention this one. Since GrapheneOS uses per-connection MAC address randomization by default, I can simply reconnect to a wifi network that wants to restrict my usage. This is so useful on trains/airplanes.
    • UnifiedPush/ntfy allows me to send notifications from my server to my phone. For example it notifies me if one of my self-hosted services goes down (through Uptime Kuma), but I can also use this for Signal notifications through the Molly client for Signal (which also improves security and adds a few other cool things).
  •  robber   ( @robber@lemmy.ml ) 
    7•6 months ago

    Nextcloud all the way. I especially love the calendar, contacts and notes integrations besides the file sync, and it’s extensibility in general. Such a powerful tool.

  •  Ilandar   ( @Ilandar@aussie.zone ) 
    7•6 months ago

    If I am being completely honest, there are very few. Convenience is consistently the #1 trade-off when I make privacy-based decisions about which applications and services to use.

    An exception I can think of are ad and tracker blockers like uBlock Origin, iodé, etc - I cannot imagine life without them Any time I borrow the phone or computer of someone who doesn’t have an equivalent of these installed I am just blown away by how many ads they are confronted with while performing even the simplest tasks. And not just harmless ones, but ads that directly waste their time. I genuinely don’t understand how people can live like that unless they just don’t know there is an alternative.

    I guess another one I can think of is the Aurora Store. The UI is so much cleaner than the Google Play Store’s, important settings and features aren’t hidden and it has some additional features like Exodus Report that I think are genuinely useful. It’s so superior as an application that I actually prefer using it even on devices where the Play Store is installed and working.

    •  ErwinLottemann   ( @ErwinLottemann@feddit.de ) 
      4•6 months ago

      i wonder why this happens. are you from somewhere where this is common or were your transactions shady? i only got my bank block one transaction for me and that was because i didn’t know i had to ‘activate’ the ability to send money to accounts in the eu

      •  delirious_owl   ( @delirious_owl@discuss.online ) 
        1•6 months ago

        Likely its because of all the other privacy tools that I use. Banks don’t like it when they can’t track you. Every time they think I have a new device. They interpret “oh shit we can’t track this person between sessions” as “its suspicious! Lock the account!” …even though I use the correct username & password on the very first try. Smh

        Ultimately this is the result of Machine Leaning algorithms, but terrible ones because they never learn that they false positive 100% of the time on my account.

        Anyway, this is never an issue with monero. The transactions can’t be blocked. It literally works every time. And I hold the keys, so I don’t have to worry about loosing my money because my bank gets hacked (or someone calls them with the knowledge of my mother’s maiden name and the last 4 street addresses I had, and uses this public information to reset my password and steal my money)

  •  haui   ( @haui_lemmy@lemmy.giftedmc.com ) 
    4•6 months ago

    NC isnt perfect imo but its like having an open source car or house. Its not emergency ready like no downtime, no bugs, no issues but it will do 95% uptime if configured correctly and its is insanely versatile. I cant imagine any other app being this versatile. You can check my setup if you want.