Tor

It’s the onion of choice for privacy-aware Internet users. The Onion Router encrypts all data we send out through the Internet, which are then shifted through a system of relays, while information is removed layer by layer prior to reaching the final destination – the website you’ve decided to visit. This highly efficient method prevents the assigning of any identifiable information on the user. In translation – it guarantees an extremely high level of anonymity on the Internet. Tor is considered one of the best privacy tools for the current digital environment.

Brave

Light, open-source browser comes with the HTTPS Everywhere extension, automated blocking of cookies and all other pesky trackers, and a very decent ad-blocker. All extensions that you would have to download separately on other browsers, are included here by default. Somehow, it still manages to browse faster than its competition. The development team also deserves due credit for their activism in the privacy sector.

Duckduckgo

The privacy Policy of Duckduckgo is extremely simple: “a browser that doesn’t track you”, which means it doesn’t collect any of your data while you use it. Websites you visit following an online search will not know what search landed you on their page, nor will they get your IP address. Another quite interesting feature – since the search engine does not track you, does not know your research history or your online behaviour, any search you make is completely unbiased and thus avoids the creation of a “filter bubble”.

Protonmail

This Swiss open source webmail service is designed with the idea of offering functionality and simplicity of most popular mail services, but is at the same time deeply focused on the privacy and security of its users. A very efficient end-to-end mail encryption that offers password protection for e-mails sent to non-users, automatic deletion of older e-mails and automatic removal of IP address for each mail you send.

Thunderbird

Mozzila’s free e-mail client was created in an open-source development process that included thousands of developers and security experts from all around the world. The software automatically blocks “remote images” in mails, which disables popular mail tracking methods. Thunderbird also comes with a spam filter and automatic flagging of potential phishing. Especially interesting is the Enigma add-on enabling encryption of each sent mail.

Signal

Signal has revolutionized the world of private communications: a free, open-source and secure platform for instant messaging, voice messaging and video-calls with end-to-end encryption for any type of communication. Using Tor and Signal is approved by Edward Snowden. He seems to us like a person to be trusted on privacy issues.