What are /r/techlore's favorite Products & Services?

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That makes sense, thanks.

Are there distros that only come pre-installed with FOSS? How would I find these distros?

Would alternativeto.net be the tool to find FOSS Linux software? Are there other such tools?

I would say generally that a trusted VPN DNS is much more trustable than cloudfare, cisco OpenDNS and definitely more than Google DNS.

Private VPN DNS in VPNs such as Proton and Mullvad are good. I heard you can use the ProtonVPN DNS anywhere, however I don't remember what the IP was for it, so you can search for that again and use that even without Proton, and the Mullvad DNS can also be used without needing to use Mullvad VPN.

Thank you for your advice. I did not start at Tor, I started with Firefox + Mullvad, and then I thought why pay for it, if I can use Tor for free. And then like I said, the more I "learned" the more confusing things got.

Also, don't mean to sound nerdy, but I downloaded the "The Techlore Checklist" about being safe and anonymous on the internet, and there in the Zone 3 (I assume the safest zone) is a recommendation to use Tor as your browser.

I know I'm capable of learning all this, I just need a little help getting there.

I mean even if v did, v wouldn't really know how genuine they r, I wouldn't recommend though since has no mention, if u want a free VPN for desktop, check out Mullvad, in the 14 eyes but very trustable

I have two VPNs, one for the business and one for myself.

Business: Nord * Chosen because fast speeds in my area and super simple Windows and iOS clients (the two OSs used for business) * As of right now, no reason to not use Nord again for the business.

Personal: AirVPN * Chosen because the only personal devices I own are a phone and laptop. The phone runs Lineage which doesn’t support most clients, and the laptop is Linux which Air’s Eddie client demolishes other services in terms of Linux clients. Eddie is almost single-handedly why I went with Air. * I likely won’t. Air seems pretty inconsistent on desktop, not sure if it’s Eddie or just air’s servers. I’ll need to do more research. My next personal VPN will likely be Mullvad as they have the most private registration I’ve seen, and they’re a great service altogether.

For emails sent to non-ProtonMail addresses, the messages are stored with zero access encryption on our side, but Gmail, etc obviously will have an unencrypted copy on their servers. You can however encrypt that outgoing message to Gmail using our encrypt outside feature or using our built in PGP support.

For your use case, we actually recommend getting your own domain, and then using it with ProtonMail using our custom domain feature: https://protonmail.com/support/knowledge-base/custom-domain-support/

1. Not that I'm aware of.
2. Create an email you only use for that service. Pay with it using prepaid credit cards or a Privacy.com masked card. As a bonus, use a PiHole or other similar firewall to only allow the necessary outgoing connections. This will take a bit of testing. Alternatively (or in addition), you could split it with a friend or relative. Have them pay for Spotify/Apple Music/whatever with their card and use their information, send them a few bucks every month instead of Apple/Spotify.
3. Yes, Apple will associate your Apple ID with your current iPhone and likely assume you're the same owner. I'd put money on the fact that they can indeed see who has used a phone based on the MAC address.

for desktop, if you dont want to use the web client you can use Portmaster to block tracking. It is FOSS

https://safing.io/portmaster/

disclosure: I am one of the founders of Safing

Thanks for your Advice.

So im also a lot in Darknet forums.

The Advanced Credit Card Scammer Setup would be:

Your Linux PC -> Daily VPN (NordVPN for Example) -> Windows RDP -> VPN (Private internet Acces) -> Residential Proxy for good IP intel

The Basic Credit Card Scammer Setup would be:

Your PC -> VPN -> Residential Proxy for good IP intel (see

If those Setups work for Illegal Scamming how can it be that companys like Google can see Through VPN setups?

Why should they know and a Fraud Prevention System not?

This is the Question Spinning around my head all the Time.

A legitimate VPN use case is: To add a little bit of extra protection for anything that you would normally do over the clearnet and for signing into accounts with Personally identifyable information. Tor is a great tool, but it can sometimes be too slow or blocked, so unless you need have an extreme threat model, using a VPN for most stuff, then using Tor browser to just make casual, private searches or surf the web is fine. Make sure you choose a good VPN provider that you trust more than your internet service provider. (Mullvad is a good choice)

1. Not really, especially if you are looking for music discovery (recommendations). You can try out NewPipe to surf SoundCloud.

2. You are shifting to Graphene OS. The best way would be to create a seperate profile for Spotify or other service. Keep no other information in that profile and you will be very isolated from any harms. Deny any unnecessary permission. Graphene is very very good at managing profiles and permissions for Max security and privacy on android.

P.S. - They will still have behavioural data attached to the account, so create the account using a fake email/identity.

1. No idea, never entered the Apple ecosystem

2. Download it via NewPipe or Online and play it all locally. Use Spotify on hardened firefox with Mullvad VPN while on desktop or on a seperate VM in Qubes while on laptop.

Was Nord actually the top though?

I know it had lots of marketing and recommendations, but a quick look at That One Privacy Guy's detailed VPN comparison shows Mullvad comes out on top when it comes to anonymous payment methods, port blocking, and speed. It does have less servers, but still has a lot for a VPN service. It depends what you personally use a VPN for and what your priorities are. Nord was definitely in the top rung, but I wouldn't say it was ever the "top VPN" because that depends on your use case.

Lots of the reviews are outdated so don’t look too much into the ordering on the channel. Our VPN chart with official data points outlined will be available on our website soon. Working as hard as I can to push out video updates.

As for your direct question, Mullvad has and currently still does kick ass. You can’t go wrong with them. Nord has shady behavior so it’s hard to recommend them.

I let my NordVPN subscription expire, the service is trashy anyway. Switched to Mullvad, and so far haven't looked back.

I also can't believe I PAID for Nordlocker, I could have been using Cryptomator for free, without even needing an account. Wish I knew about it sooner.

Yikes. Good to know. Was the hack recent? I read something about a hack in early 2019, has there been anything new since then? Just curious :) I think I’m going to stick to ProtonVPN anyway even though I’ve had a few issues. I trust them more as a company.

It's going to take A LOT of improvements before it can be considered even close to being good. He gave Nordvpn points for being based outside the 14 eyes and having audits. Neither of which do anything IMO. If they don't collect any logs then what do they have to hide. Torguard had their score marked down because they were involved in a breach where no user data was leaked and no private keys were stored on the servers. But when he reviews Nord he mentions they were breached (and totally ignores the fact that Nord's private keys WERE stored on the servers.) and dismisses it saying no private user data was breached.

But you do your thing and defend him even though the only reason he rates them highly is the fact they have 100% commissions.

Anytime someone criticizes you, you give this same answer. It takes you months to do one VPN review. Or you just say to use your system and adjust the score for the user's preference. That's sort of like saying, if you don't like my review, then make your own... That ruins the whole point imo.

Besides, what makes you think any feedback is actually going to be implemented in a timely fashion into your system? Not only that, but your review system changes every VPN. One VPN you are using a "speed team" and the next one you aren't. One review you have this score or this score or this criteria and the next you don't, it's so confusing dude...

If you took the feedback presented to you, it's not like you would change and make a new NordVPN in a week or more.

I didn't really expect you to rate NordVPN negatively. Esp after you gave Surfshark such a positive score as well. Both VPNs are a meme at this point tho...

The fact lies that you rated NordVPN higher than AirVPN, which is laughable. Of course, you will probably say it's because AirVPN hasn't been updated to your "system" and it needs a re-review. Ok, guess we will wait 6 months to a few years to see AirVPN properly ranked above NordVPN, in the mean time, people will think NordVPN is better, and they won't buy AirVPN.

Honestly dude, I would suggest not reviewing VPNs or not focusing on it in the future. Other sources like WireCutter, ThatOnePrivacyGuy, --etc, is better. Your other content (anonymity, incognito, surv report, etc is much higher quality and more useful for viewers).

ProtonMail and ProtonVPN are funded in many ways. Most of the money comes from paying users, some of it comes from Swiss non-profit foundations, others from crowdfunding, some from investors, and even some from the EU. Diverse sources of funding means that no single group can exert undue influence on ProtonVPN and ProtonMail.

Control of the company remains with the company's employees, and as a Swiss company, Proton's directors and other managers are all in public record: ;ofrcLanguage=4

In this regard, Proton is more transparent than just about any other VPN company out there.