wiki.skolma.com

De-Google: Since google is the face of the internet to so many, lets start with some simple web browser and behaviour changes…

• where possible, use the Firefox web browser, and try to avoid Chrome or chrome based variants.
• install these non-intrusive firefox plugins, uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, Decentraleyes, and HTTPS Everywhere - they will improve your web experience, and shouldn't cause any issues with decent sites.
• another handy plugin is 'firefox multi user containers' - which will enable browser/tab separation, however this one requires some active management and configuration. (based off facebook-containers).
• Use a different web search like DuckDuckGo, Qwant, Ecosia, Mojeek or Metager. this will make a huge difference in avoiding/limitting profiling.
• change default search in browser to one above
• change default home page to one above
• in options select the 'delete cache and files on exit', if your adventurous also select 'delete history'
• never sign into a 'Browser'/'Search' with their account. it is not required, and will only enable tracking/profiling
• disable password saving.
• use a password manager, and update all your passwords, never re-using the same pass.

Yep these are a little harder, and require an active/willing attitude:

• Drop GMAIL and other like services (Hotmail/Yahoo etc) and move Email providers to a Privacy Focused provider, even consider paying real money.. (“if it's free, you're the product”)
• Review your mailbox, cleanup subscriptons, and consider seperating your Personal/interactive and Service/Subcription/signup emails into two mail accounts (more below).
• Consider a throwaway mailbox service for some services
• Use Alternative Mapping (openstreetmaps) and Translation programs like DeepL
• Reduce or even remove presence on Social Media platforms, or certainly review what information you really need to share! “ yay, heres all my personal info in pictures” “ yay we're on holidays, come rob me”

Really hard, even i;m not there yet:

• Stop using YouTube.. sooo hard… At least don't be signed in when watching.
• perhaps proxy via Invidious
• Android users, review alternate operating system for your phone, and review all the settings and lock them down as much as posible.
  

Additional goodies you can do to reduce profiling/bubbling, and introduce some entropy into your data:

• Check your DNS settings, dont use google dns.. your ISP DNS is probably fine, (depending on location)
• If your ISP is interfering, try out alternatives, cloudfare, opendns, etc,
• Or you can always run your own dns resolvers like a pro. (quite easy)
• TOR network and browser is a good way to spread your web 'footprints' and is a nice to way to view alternative content. enables anonymized viewing, but does not make you anonymous.. (slight difference), tor can be slow, and many services may block tor users, or make them jump though security controls like captchas.
• Commercial VPN's can offer some protections, but mainly better used to access geo-blocked content, and/or mask your IP address for some other uses.. it does NOT make your connection Secure or Anonymous, contrary to popular vpn marketing strategies. however if used carefully can be a great tool.
• note - dont use tor and vpn at same time
• note - a local vpn client will override your local dns settings (some allow adjustment)

Have fun :)