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Before we begin, let's make sure we are all on the same page. I said earlier that the goal of this website is to provide a guide that is consistent, and recommends software that is private, secure, anonymous, free as in freedom, and low cost. But you might not know what all of these words mean, or we might be thinking about two different things. That is why I have given you the Oxford definition for all of those goals below and explained how I try to meet those goals in this guide.
CONSISTENT means "Compatible or in agreement with something." In the case of my website, this means there are NO CONTRADICTIONS. I won't, for instance, criticize issue a, and then later on recommend site b that also happens to contain issue a. Period.
PRIVATE means "not to be shared with or revealed to others." In the case of my website, this means that I will try to recommend something that lets you choose what you want people to know. However, as I said earlier, ALL SOFTWARE WILL HAVE PRIVACY ISSUES [1]. No software is completely private. I won't try to give you software that is 100% private because that is impossible. Instead, I will try to find the most private software, and then list the pros and cons of each.
SECURE means "feeling safe, stable, and free from fear or anxiety." In the case of my website, this means I will try to make you feel as comfortable as possible using software I recommend. This is why I am giving you a choice, and also why I will only recommend open-source software whose websites are encrypted with TLS, use only necessary javascript, and are not behind Cloudflare.
ANONYMOUS means "not identified by name; of unknown name," but really it means that you are not identified by ANYTHING, whether it is name, address, birthdate, phone number, email address, social security number, what browser you use, etc. In the case of my website, this means I will try to only recommend software that collects as little information about you as possible. Any information that is collected will be disclaimed, and I will try to find the best few so that you get to decide what works for you. All software I choose will at least allow you to pay with cash or XMR if payment is necessary.
FREE AS IN FREEDOM means "Not under the control or in the power of another; able to act or be done as one wishes." In the case of software, this means you get to decide how to use it, not the developer. Being able and allowed to access and modify the source code is required for this, as this is how you can modify the software to your liking. In the case of my website, this means I will only recommend open-source software and try to only recommend software that gives as much control to you, the user, as possible. This is also why I am giving you multiple options.
LOW COST means "Relatively inexpensive; cheap." In the case of my website, this simply means I will try to only recommend software that costs as little as possible with regards to currency.
I will say this again, however. While these all sound like worthy goals, they are not going to be 100% guaranteed by ANY SOFTWARE. So, instead of recommending software that supposedly fits all of these goals perfectly, I will provide the pros and cons for each category. And with that out of the way, let's begin! The first section will talk about various pieces of data, whether that's your email address or browsing history, and go over how to limit exposure of that information.