RFI: Personal information security - Apps, devices and practices

[schüler]

I am interested in any tool, device and best practice suggestions regarding security of Internet and personal communication. Best bang for the buck for the layman.

I'm under no illusion of being able to completely step away from popular Operating Systems, Google, social media, etc. Nor am I looking to sandbox 'n darknet all the things. However I'd like to limit Terms Of Service-defined spying, e-mail mining, etc. Just because I can.

I've made changes to the services and tools I use for Internet and other communication. E-mail provider, browser, search engine, VPN availability, cloud storage/backup, device encryption, firewalls, phone service provider, etc.

Give me your boilerplate or your special sauce like Purism devices and Silent Circle applications.

Gracias.

[Guerrero]

Proton VPN, maybe as a start.

[schüler]

Proton VPN, maybe as a start.

Aye, I am using ProtonMail and VPN. Side benefit is a workaround for "this content is blocked in your country".

[Chance]

It sounds like you've already hit all the considerations that are practical for most folks.

I'd have to do serious research into hardened hardware before dropping money on something like that. When you hear a company claim they have the most secure phone in the world, then you learn the company is based in the UAE, you think, "...Right."

[holmes168]

I use the signal app for text- from what I read it’s still remaining secure.
I use Dashlane to pick out random passwords.

[Grey]

Run signal for messaging

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[overton]

Listen to the "complete privacy & security podcast" and knock yourself out.

[schüler]

Thanks guys, that's good stuff.

I need to get my phone security in order. If I needed a new phone I would entertain a new "clean" OS device but my Android is fine for now.

Rooting is a given. My rooting options for the AT&T-branded and -bloated phone were nil until someone recently figured a way to retrograde to get around the AT&T blocks. I'll practice the basics on an older Android phone.

In the interim I'm using NetGuard to restrict communication. On AT&T it would cause me to run over 15GB limit in less than a week; AT&T config calculated blocked/retry data as sent data and appeared to double-count actual sent data. I moved to MNVOs recently (thanks, @Tom_Jones) and NetGuard works just fine now.

[Clusterfrack]

I use LastPass.

[Radar Love]

I use LastPass.

Password managers are a good idea, I'm currently using KeePass (though I'm not technical enough to compare the two)

My school has no concept of infosec (they don't even encrypt wifi...) so to get some degree of security there I have a subscription to a VPN that I chose because it was the lowest price option that integrates well with my phone and laptop. It's not the most secure service out there but it's all about trade offs.

I also spent some time searching for myself and found a bunch of my personal info listed on whitepages even though I thought I had it removed. I was cross listed with some other family members and whitepages made it unnervingly easy to figure out where we all lived. Something to keep in mind also.