Maintaining privacy & security in the online world and on mobile
devices is difficult but not impossible and many solutions are free or
relatively inexpensive.
BROWSER
According to security expert Naomi Brockwell, Brave, Tor, and Firefox are the best browser for privacy and security. Tor offers the best privacy and security but there can be issues with some sites. Because all traffic runs through proxy servers, bandwidth may be too limit for video streaming; also, since Tor does not allow Javascript to run, some website features may not work. Brave is available for Windows, Android and iOS. Under no circumstances use Chrome!
If you are using Firefox and use Facebook, add the Facebook Container extension to limit Facebook's gathering of information while you browse.
A few Browser Extensions add additional privacy. These are available for most browsers—just go to the Extension section of the browser.
uBlock Origin
Privacy Badger
EMAIL
Naomi Brockwell and others recommend Protonmail as the most secure email service.
SEARCH ENGINES
DuckDuckGo is often recommended as the best popular search engine to use for privacy and security—and it is good—, but many computer experts, including Naomi Blockwell, recommended Qwant as the search engine that provides the most privacy. Qwant also has an app for Android and iOS.
OPERATING SYSTEMS
Of course Windows, being the most popular, is most susceptible to viruses, malware and hacking. Macintosh operating systems are more secure (most users do not even add anti-virus protection), but it is still open to attacks. Linux is the least susceptible partly because of its limited use but also for its inherent architecture. For the average computer user Linux can be a little to "geeky" though Ubuntu or Mint. Of Linux distros Qubes is the most secure.
VPN
Many VPNs are popular like Nord and Express but I use Proton VPN and it works great.
Video Chat: Brave Talk, encrypted video calls
Messaging: Signal
I saw a security expert being asked how he uses the internet. He said he uses Qubes Linux and Qwant search engine.
For really secure browsing which will protect your computer use a sandbox like Sandboxie Plus. Sandboxes create a virtual browsing experience so that any attempted attacks from the internet are isolated in a separate section of your computer that cannot affect the computer itself.
F-Secure is a reliable security company that offers a few free security apps and services.
Use the Identity Theft Checker to see what personal information of yours in publicly known. Just enter your email address.
They also have a Data Recovery Helper that lets you discover what information the large tech companies have on you. You can check Google, Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Snapchat and Alexa.
Using their Online Shopping Check on their site allows you to check if an online store is legitimate.
You can use their online Password Generator to create a high quality password.
The Am I Unique website looks at your browser identity, i.e., how much of your information your browser exposes to internet.
