There’s immense energy in being in charge of your individual knowledge. As possession and governance of apps and on-line companies consolidate, it’s comprehensible if you wish to take into account your choices with regards to the place you retailer your non-public knowledge and information of your on a regular basis actions.
Thankfully, not each service out there’s making an attempt to monetize your private knowledge, and plenty of choices are simply nearly as good (if not usually higher) as their industrial or ad-supported rivals.
Take a minute to consider what you’d need to depart behind. Huge Tech giants that hoard your knowledge? Subscription companies? Invasive advert monitoring? Authorities surveillance? Your wants and dangers are distinctive to you, however hopefully a number of of those suggestions assist to hit the spot.
Wallabag the tales you need to learn later
In case you ever wished to learn one thing later, like a information story, characteristic article, or anything with an online tackle, reserve it to your Wallabag. This read-later web-archiving service might not have the identical ring to it as its major industrial rival Pocket, however Wallabag is a powerful competitor with article-saving instruments and options nearly as good as what Pocket presents.
It can save you your must-reads for afterward a Wallabag server you can run for free on a community connected storage (NAS) server that you simply host someplace in a closet at residence, or hosted in the cloud for a low-cost subscription.
Why does this matter? Different read-later apps observe utilization with a view to discover traits and advocate content material (usually sponsored) to you. Some need this, and that’s cool! However some don’t.
Sign is the encrypted messaging app to make use of
Sign is among the most revered safe messaging apps for the easy purpose that, by design, it is aware of nothing about you. Once in a while, Sign will make this level by publishing the search warrants it sometimes receives, realizing that it will probably’t present to the authorities knowledge that it doesn’t preserve. Sign’s safety has been known as the “gold standard” of messaging apps by cryptography consultants. Sign is free to obtain and use however depends on donations as a nonprofit.
Why it’s best to care: It’s not simply your non-public messages and calls that Sign retains encrypted from prying eyes and ears, however Sign additionally crucially scrambles who you contact and talk with, and when, which can be extremely revealing about an individual’s life.
Nextcloud is a self-hosted Dropbox different
Nextcloud is a Dropbox different that options all of the document editing and sharing features you’d count on from a file storage system. An enormous profit to Nextcloud is which you can host a server yourself for free at home, the place you may preserve it non-public and underneath your management, or have a Nextcloud server run for you by a specialized hosting provider.
Nextcloud is constructed with safety in thoughts and gives you end-to-end encrypted entry to your recordsdata out of your telephone or another system you will have. Or, if merely having a self-hosted Dropbox-like different as a storage backup on your most delicate and private recordsdata seems like one thing you’d need, Nextcloud is a good place to begin.
Why does this matter? Cloud storage is commonly safe and personal in some methods, however the firms that run them are beholden to legislation enforcement and may invisibly scan your recordsdata (for good purpose, however nonetheless) that may get you suddenly and permanently banned out of your on-line accounts. Internet hosting your individual doesn’t imply you might be free from police exhibiting up at your home with a warrant, however at the least you’d concentrate on it.
Always remember your passwords once more with Bitwarden
Password managers are an amazing funding in your private safety; these apps securely retailer your passwords, passkeys, bank cards, and different secrets and techniques, so that you don’t have to recollect them. Bitwarden is a well-liked open supply password supervisor that helps you log in rapidly to your favourite websites and auto-fills your bank card particulars while you need to pay for one thing, and extra. You possibly can entry your Bitwarden password supervisor wherever, together with out of your telephone. Bitwarden is free for anybody to make use of, however low-cost for extra options.
Why does this matter? Relating to safety of password managers, the extra eyeballs inspecting the supply code to make sure its reliability and integrity, the higher. And whereas different password managers are additionally good, open supply techniques like Bitwarden are extra readily auditable and open about their software program improvement course of.
Joplin and Notesnook preserve your notes and scribbles encrypted
For many who need to depart Google Docs or Microsoft 365 behind, there are many note-taking apps that preserve your entire notes, ideas, and scribbles in a single place which you can entry anytime. Joplin is a well-liked doc and productiveness app that retains your recordsdata organized, encrypted, and in open codecs (like Markdown) so you may take them with you wherever else. Notesnook is one other note-taking app that permits you to export your notes to make use of with different apps and is end-to-end encrypted in order that no person can learn your recordsdata. The identical can’t be stated for Google Docs!
For anybody on the lookout for a downloadable and offline workplace suite that isn’t made by Microsoft, LibreOffice is the very best Workplace different you’ll discover on the market. LibreOffice is non-public by design and free to make use of (although its macOS app in the Mac App Store isn’t), and works with all of the widespread file and doc codecs you usually use.
Why does this matter? Huge firms like Google and Microsoft are more and more unifying their companies, which at present means exposing your notes, emails, and recordsdata to their AI techniques. This may be helpful for positive, however if you happen to’d slightly simply have a easy, cross-platform textual content syncing app, there are many choices that don’t do any form of invasive evaluation in any respect.
Ente is an encrypted vault on your photographs
If you wish to depart behind Apple Photographs, Flickr, Google Photographs, YouTube, and the like, Ente.io payments itself as a privacy-focused photograph storage app designed merely to securely again up your entire photographs and movies to the cloud. Ente scrambles your knowledge with a password solely you understand, defending your reminiscences from anybody else, and backs up your knowledge in a number of places around the globe for safekeeping. Plus, Ente presents the entire photograph administration and sharing options you want from a photograph app. Ente is free for primary accounts and fairly priced for extra storage choices.
Why does this matter? Very like notes and paperwork, pictures are an enormous goal for AI techniques. Auto-tagging your folks would possibly sound useful, but it surely requires consent. You need to must decide in earlier than a machine studying mannequin scans each face you’ve ever taken an image of. That alone is an efficient purpose to take a look at an impartial service that offers you a bit of extra alternative.
Block adverts on most units with your individual Pi-hole
Advertisements aren’t simply an invasive surveillance machine, able to tracking your location and your web site histories as you browse the net. Advertisements can depart anybody open to malware and scams — even government spyware. Whereas an advert blocker connected to your laptop’s browser or telephone will help defend that system, a Pi-hole serves as an advert blocker on your complete community, together with sensible units, televisions, and extra.
A Pi-hole will be run on any system that you’ve got at all times on and operating at residence, like a pc, an previous laptop computer, or a Raspberry Pi microcomputer. Level any of your system’s DNS networking settings to your Pi-hole and you’ll seldom have to consider adverts once more. For a extra polished person expertise for inexperienced persons, AdGuard Home can be a prime contender within the class of the self-hosted network-level advert blocker.
Why does this matter? Advert blockers are good on your safety and privateness, however not all advert blockers work with each system. A network-level advert blocker solves this drawback for a broader vary of units.
Arrange your individual encrypted VPN that solely you management
Hosted VPN suppliers often claim to offer privacy and security, however don’t be fooled. These firms can see all of your net looking historical past as your web visitors flows via their techniques, usually underneath the guise of offering you safety, privateness, or anonymity in return.
However in our explainer on what VPNs are and what they do, we notice VPNs are solely useful in a handful of conditions, equivalent to accessing your units if you end up away from residence or the workplace. Even then, the very best VPN is one that you simply’ve arrange your self and management in order that no person else can eavesdrop in.
We’ve a guide on how to set up your own encrypted VPN server in just a few minutes utilizing Tailscale, which makes it simple to create a digital community permitting you to attach your entire numerous computer systems, telephones, and different units to that community. You possibly can even arrange Tailscale on a house server in your closet, or an Apple TV that’s at all times plugged in and operating.
Tailscale is constructed on prime of the WireGuard open supply VPN protocol. There are plenty of other WireGuard-ready implementations to explore if you wish to experiment exterior of Tailscale.
Why does this matter? Most individuals don’t want a VPN exterior of particular use instances. However if you happen to do, an encrypted VPN server that you’ve got arrange and function ensures that your web visitors is encrypted utilizing a non-public key solely you will have, which means your net knowledge can’t be seized, stolen, or sifted via.
House Assistant is the central hub for all your own home’s sensible units
For anybody who’s dabbled with a smart home, this one is for you. House Assistant is, merely put, the hub that connects your entire sensible residence units and allows you to management all of them from one place. This open-source sensible residence server can combine with hundreds of sensible residence vendor units, starting from voice assistants to mild bulbs and robotic vacuums and extra, permitting you to begin, cease, or in any other case management your units out of your browser (or a telephone app). You may also automate your sensible residence units similar to you may in Apple Home or Google Home.
House Assistant is native by design and can be self-hosted on a variety of devices, from a house server in a closet to another system that’s at all times on, like a desktop laptop. And for anybody who desires to entry House Assistant from outside your home, you may arrange distant entry via its cloud-based subscription service.
Why does this matter? Not each sensible residence vendor can preserve the lights on, and sudden closures or bankruptcies can lead to prospects equally unable to maintain entry to their lights. Tasks like House Assistant can step in when smart home tech goes defunct, saving prospects from having to pay for expensive replacements.
Open Scanner is a quite simple document-scanning app
Doc scanning doesn’t must be a sophisticated or convoluted course of. Open Scanner is an extremely easy point-and-click document-scanning app for iPhones, and its code is published online. That’s it. Generally that’s the true fantastic thing about disconnecting from profit-driven companies that bloat their apps with AI junk and options no person actually wants.
Open Scanner can snap receipts, notes, textbooks, or anything you may level your telephone at. For Android customers, OSS Document Scanner is a equally easy, open supply, and free app for scanning paperwork.
Why does this matter? Except you really want an expert scanner, your telephone is greater than ok and possibly higher than plenty of cheaper scanners on the market. Skip the necessity for any printer-brand {hardware} gear and use one thing easy and free.
RSS (Actually Easy Syndication) is a tremendous net expertise that permits you to subscribe to feeds of data out of your favourite websites, blogs, information sources, and extra. Most information websites supply RSS feeds (TechCrunch does!) that ship the headlines to RSS-compatible apps, often known as RSS readers. There are a great deal of RSS readers to select from.
For greater than a decade, FreshRSS has been some of the feature-packed RSS readers for its total simplicity. You possibly can self-host an occasion, or deploy a non-public server to a specializing cloud host. When you get your favourite feeds subscribed, the top result’s like having your very personal self-updating digital newspaper.
Why does this matter? You’d be shocked how completely different the information feels while you see it this manner. And having your individual RSS setup skips the form of sponsored posts and monitoring that you simply see on hosted companies, very similar to the read-it-later ones.
Personal your livestreams with Owncast
For many who broadcast their very own exhibits, gameplay, or something in between, Owncast is a self-hosted streaming system for establishing and internet hosting livestreams. Owncast is wildly well-liked, because it’s free, pretty simple to make use of, and works together with your present livestreaming gear. You won’t have considered livestreaming earlier than, however it is a good approach to wade into unfamiliar however pleasant waters.
Why does this matter? Websites like Twitch are definitely well-liked, however chances are you’ll not need to rely solely on the instruments of a large company for each step of a inventive course of (on this case, Amazon). Owncast and different open streaming apps are an effective way to hedge your bets whereas possibly opening up a brand new viewers.
Stirling PDF is a one-stop PDF enhancing store
Dealing with and enhancing PDF paperwork has by no means been persistently simple. For many who don’t need to pony up for Adobe’s software program or add their recordsdata to sketchy-looking file conversion web sites, Stirling PDF is the Swiss Military knife for PDF paperwork. Convert, edit, merge, break up, signal, and extra, with out having handy over your private or delicate recordsdata to a cloud large. Stirling PDF additionally permits you to self-host if you happen to want to deal with paperwork with specific sensitivity.
Why does this matter? Frankly, any time there’s a practical different to Adobe, take it.
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First revealed on November 24, 2024. Devin Coldewey contributed.
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