So, my next step of privacy is upping my browser and adblocker game.
My first step:
Install ProtonVPN. This is available from Proton, who we should probably all be using for email at this point. ProtonVPN is a VPN service that also allows for blocking malware, ads, and trackers. It also features an internet kill switch, which drops the internet connection if the connection to the VPN is broken, to prevent an IP address leak. There is also an option for a "secure core" which routes traffic to Proton's servers in Sweden, however I found using this option broke multiple websites or made things unusable. It may only be needed when doing things with sensitive information - I need to research this more.
I approached the browser problem two different ways:
- Initially I was using Safari, because I have years of passwords store for my mac, and half these sites I don't even know my password anymore, so I wanted to preserve this. I find Safari to be a nice browser. So I downloaded Adguard as a Safari extension. Adguard + ProtonVPN provided adequate protection for Safari, and I felt that I was able to block most trackers and ads. I also disabled cross site tracking. The bad thing about this setup is that it locks me into the Apple platform, and if I want to leave, all my passwords are stored on the Apple only keychain. Also it bothered me that Adguard is always running as a service in my system tray, even if Safari is closed.
- I knew I was going to end up needing a password manager outside of Apple's keychain. So I researched and found 1Password, and found a script online that goes through all of your Apple keychain passwords and writes them out to a .CSV file that can be converted and imported into 1Password. So in about ten minutes I was able to get all my Apple keychain passwords into 1Password. 1Password is easy enough to use.
- My next step was to try Firefox. Firefox has been around forever. I downloaded it and started setting it up. It's fucking ugly, and I found it cumbersome to use, and didn't enjoy it at all. And there were so many extension to download, and it just looked like shit. I hated it. I also heard on the No Agenda podcast that Mozilla has some woke issues.
- My most recent step was trying Brave, a Chrome-based browser. It's freaking slick. It looks just as nice as Safari, and it's freaking fast. It has a lot of built in security and adblocking things. Their website lists these as security features: ad blocking, fingerprinting prevention, cookie control, HTTPS upgrading, ability to block scripts, per-site settings. There seems to be a handful of settings for people who are into cryptocurrency, but I don't mess with that at all so I disabled all those. Brave allows for the 1Password extension, and it worked flawlessly immediately. Basically with Brave, it has ad blockers & trackers, etc, all built in. So all these things that required extensions and add-ons to Firefox are just built in and work beautiful together without duplicating efforts. So I feel Brave + ProtonVPN is a fantastic setup.
So, I really like my current setup. These are my worries at this point: if I lock myself into Brave + 1Password, I'm at risk if 1Password ever shuts down or quits working. I'll have all my crap there and if they close shop I'm screwed. But I like it because if I use a windows computer, or anything else, I can still access all my passwords and not have to tote my laptop around everywhere I go for all my logins to be on there through Apple's keychain...