"Do Not Track" - software.

This is a list containing mostly open source and free software, that should reduce the footprint you give to everything that tracks you online. A lot of these are replacements for Google products. And most of these have other alternatives, the ones listed here are just my favorites.

ljoonal
ljoonalList by ljoonal, last updated 
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  1. Secure your browser

    This is the easiest thing to do, and it gets you quite far.

  2. Privacy respecting search engine. You should definitely replace your current one with something that doesn't track you.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Vivaldi
    • Google Chrome
    • Safari
    • F-Droid
    • Yandex Browser
    • Tor
    • Opera
    • Mozilla Firefox
    DuckDuckGo Homepage
    DuckDuckGo screenshot 1
    DuckDuckGo screenshot 2
    +16
    DuckDuckGo screenshot 3
  3. An alternative to Chrome from a trusted privacy oriented company. You can never be fully sure that Google is not adding something suspicious to their browser. If you do trust chromium though, or something based on it, then you should totally check out the alternatives.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • BSD
    • iPad
    • AppImageHub
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • Samsung Galaxy Store
    • PortableApps.com
    • Haiku
    • Flatpak
    • Homebrew
    • Chocolatey
    • Gecko
    Firefox Desktop (Light Theme)
    Firefox Desktop (Dark Theme)
    Firefox iOS (Light Theme)
    +7
    Firefox iOS (Dark Theme)
  4. This is the grand father of good adblock. Sure, it's interface might not be that pretty, but it sure does it's job really well. You might wanna checkout Nano Adblocker though if you want something a bit more fresh.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Microsoft Edge
    • Vivaldi
    • Google Chrome
    • Pale Moon
    • Thunderbird
    • Opera
    • Node.JS
    • Chromium
    • Mozilla Firefox
    uBlock Origin screenshot 1
    uBlock Origin screenshot 1
  5. uMatrix icon
     Like

    Limits all kinds of trackers and ads. Might be a bit too much for most users. But it's one of the best ways to limit the attack surface for tracking you.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Google Chrome
    • Opera
    • Brave
    • Firefox
    uMatrix screenshot 1
    uMatrix screenshot 1
    uMatrix screenshot 2
    +5
    uMatrix screenshot 3
  6. Communications

    I think that it is essential to secure the way you communicate with others.

  7. Signal icon
     Like

    The way to go if you want truly secure communications.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Flathub
    • Ubuntu
    • Debian
    Signal screenshot 1
    Signal screenshot 1
    Signal screenshot 2
    +4
    Signal screenshot 3
  8. Matrix icon
     Like

    Matrix is a federated communications system, which provides excellent security and privacy. But currently it still feels a bit unfinished, so make sure that you can bare a few rough edges if you're going to start using it.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • WebRTC
    • Python
    • JavaScript
    • Go (Programming Language)
    • Cloudron
    • Java
    • Perl
    Main Page
  9. Secure email that works. There are other privacy focused email providers too, check out the alternatives if Protonmail isn't the one that you'd t rust.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Tor
    Proton Mail screenshot 1
    Proton Mail screenshot 1
    Proton Mail screenshot 2
    +9
    Proton Mail screenshot 3
  10. Telegram icon
     Like

    If you want at least something that claims to not to track you and doesn't have the worst reputation, and you want your messenger to be usable, you might wanna check out Telegram. Though again, it's privacy is debatable.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • HUAWEI AppGallery
    • iPad
    • Apple Watch
    • Android Auto
    • Linux Mobile
    • Android Wear
    • PortableApps.com
    • FreeBSD
    • Apple Car Play
    Telegram Desktop
    Telegram iOS #1
    Telegram iOS #2
    +17
    Telegram iOS #3
  11. Easy replacements

    These are replacements for some Google products.

  12. F-Droid icon
     Like

    You can get Android apps from something that isn't the Play store.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    • F-Droid
    F-Droid screenshot 1
    F-Droid screenshot 2
    F-Droid screenshot 3
  13. KeePass icon
     Like

    Replaces google's password manager. There's also Android apps that can use the KeePass database file. Something that keeps your database file always offline guarantees that nobody else can access your passwords.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Mono
    Entry Templates Plugin
    Main window
    Login Screen
    +5
    Built-in Password Generator
  14. Kee icon
     Like

    Integrates KeePass into Firefox for autofill. This is more of an "ease to use" thing, it's security might be a bit questionable though, so only use this on very trusted devices.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Vivaldi Browser
    • Firefox
    Kee screenshot 1
    Kee screenshot 1
    Kee screenshot 2
    +1
    Kee screenshot 3
  15. Syncthing icon
     Like

    Better than your cloud provider spying on you. You could use this to sync your KeePass database file.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Self-Hosted
    • Cloudron
    • Termux
    • Terminal
    Syncthing screenshot 1
  16. EteSync icon
     Like

    Replaces Google's calendar and contacts sync. Or alternatively, use caldav and webdav.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • BSD
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • F-Droid
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    • Etebase
    EteSync screenshot 1
    EteSync screenshot 2
    EteSync screenshot 3
  17. What about YouTube?

    There is no good way to escape the hold that Google has on online video. Here's some suggestions though.

  18. Vimeo icon
     Like

    If you don't use YouTube for anything, and only need a place to upload videos, Vimeo will be fine for you.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • Windows Phone
    • Apple TV
    • Kindle Fire
    Main Page
    Kindle
    Android
  19. Invidious icon
     Like

    It's YouTube without any of the personalized trackers, and a bit less features.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    • Cloudron
    Invidious screenshot 1
    Invidious screenshot 1
    Invidious screenshot 2
  20. Paranoia strikes

    These are in my opinion over the top ways to make your life way harder to track. But even I do not do most of these, and I do not think that anyone should need to do these to achieve privacy.

  21. Pi-hole icon
     Like

    This is quite easy to setup on a raspberrypi. It's dns level ad blocking, but it doesn't catch everything. But more layers of security usually is better than less layers.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • CentOS
    • Fedora
    • Ubuntu
    • Debian
    • Raspberry Pi OS
    • Raspberry Pi
    The Web interface shows how many ads were blocked, a query log, and more.
    Domains can be whitelisted and blacklisted using either the web interface or the command line.
    The settings page lets you control and configure your Pi-hole.
    +2
    Pi-hole screenshot 3
  22. GnuPG icon
     Like

    Nobody will be reading your messages if you GPG them

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • PortableApps.com
    • Xfce
    • OpenPGP
    GnuPG Shell running GnuPG on Windows
  23. Why not setup your own VPN too, so that you can use it as a proxy to your real vpn maybe? Buy a cheap vServ, setup OpenVPN to listen on port 443, and you've basically made yourself a really good firewall bypasser.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    • Cloudron
    OpenVPN Connect screenshot 1
    OpenVPN Connect screenshot 2
    OpenVPN Connect screenshot 3

You're being tacked even now. Alternativeto.net has Google's tag manager at the very least, and who knows what else. You can never fully escape tracking, but these pieces of software should make your life a tiny bit more private.

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