Even on Gnome, a single dbus call allows applications outside of
sandboxes to overwrite their permissions in the portal permission
store. A sandbox that is supported by portals for identifying apps is
also required: otherwise, a malicious app could trivially spoof a name
on the bus. Currently, only Flatpak and Snap are subclasses of the
XdpAppInfo class, required for xdg-desktop-portal to be able to
identify a client.
Privileged Wayland protocols are also not an issue. KDE's kwin requires
that applications have an entry in a system-installed desktop file[1],
meaning that random crap can't simply capture the screen, and Flatpak
supports the security-context-v1 protocol, which is used to filter
access to these privileged protocols[2].
An example of the dbus call for Gnome:
dbus-send --session --print-reply=literal --dest=org.freedesktop.impl.portal.PermissionStore /org/freedesktop/impl/portal/PermissionStore org.freedesktop.impl.portal.PermissionStore.SetPermission string:'screenshot' boolean:true string:'screenshot' string:'' array:string:'yes'
[1] https://github.com/KDE/kwin/blob/master/src/wayland_server.cpp#L129-L134
[2] https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/commit/f0e626a4b60439f211f06d35df74b675a9ef42f4
Signed-off-by: redoomed1 <redoomed1@privacyguides.org>
Signed-off-by: Daniel Nathan Gray <dngray@privacyguides.org>
- Replace Proton Drive link to link with highlight to eliminate confusion
- Add direct link to Proton Calendar Android letter of attestation
Signed-off-by: fria <fria@privacyguides.org>
Signed-off-by: Mare Polaris <ph00lt0@privacyguides.org>
Signed-off-by: Daniel Gray <dngray@privacyguides.org>
Changed the env var to use double quotes around the value and single
quotes in the HTML attributes to avoid issues caused by words containing
apostrophes within the text.
- Grammar, Style, and Wording Changes
- Remove commas where pauses or breaks in reading may not be needed
- Reduce instances of comma splices by replacing commas with
semicolons or em dashes where appropriate
- Spell out abbreviations like E2EE for the first instance of the term
on the page, then use the abbreviation for the subsequent instances
- Add line breaks in card descriptions for a cleaner look,
particularly for mentions of an accompanying blog review of a tool
- Move more technical information from recommendation blurb to the
description under the card
- Format quotations from audits as block quotes
- Standardize syntax for tooltips
- Arrange download links according to the widely used order
- Mobile app stores > alternative distribution methods (e.g.,
GitHub) > developer-owned or -operated F-Droid repositories >>
desktop platforms > Flathub >> browsers >> web
- Shorten Chrome extension links
- Standardize icon for web download links
- For "Repository" buttons, embed direct links to project's Readme to
differentiate them from "Source Code" links
- Other Changes
- Add GitHub releases link for IVPN
- Mention CryptPad's official public instance and add link to list of
public instances
- Replace current link to Miniflux docs with a direct link to the end
user docs
- Update version of Newsboat documentation link
- Update and reword guidance on finding YouTube channel code for RSS feed
- Remove F-Droid download link for Stingle since it is not owned by
the developer or dev team
Signed-off-by: Jonah Aragon <jonah@privacyguides.org>
Signed-off-by: fria <fria@privacyguides.org>
Signed-off-by: Daniel Gray <dngray@privacyguides.org>
- Replace all instances of "Apple ID" with "Apple Account"
- Update Wi-Fi section to reflect new MAC randomization setting
- Note Bluetooth behavior after system updates
- Update name of AirPlay setting
- Add more switches in Analytics & Improvements section
- Remove Privacy Report section
- Remove part of Safari description which mentions ability to lock private tabs
Co-authored-by: fria <138676274+friadev@users.noreply.github.com>
Signed-off-byy: fria <138676274+friadev@users.noreply.github.com>
Signed-off-by: Daniel Gray <dngray@privacyguides.org>
- Update privacy.com paid plan description and restylize Coincards
- Remove mention of Cake Wallet beta version, replace defunct link with
archive link, and mention platform availability for Monero.com
Signed-off-by: Jonah Aragon <jonah@triplebit.net>
Signed-off-by: Daniel Gray <dngray@privacyguides.org>
- Fix bold of consistency of some items
- Proton card already mentions service is in Switzerland
- Tidy up 1Password description
- Change the icons for Proton Pass's and 1Password's web app links so that they're consistent with the icons for other web app links
- Update Psono's description to mention its limited passkey support
- Grammar fixes
Signed-off-by: Daniel Gray <dngray@privacyguides.org>
- Added Proton Calendar Android app, web client have been audited
- Replaced drive description link to general audit page
Signed-off-by: Daniel Gray <dngray@privacyguides.org>
fix: hanging footnote orbot card
fix: external Tor Browser link to internal one
Signed-off-by: Jonah Aragon <jonah@triplebit.net>
Signed-off-by: Daniel Gray <dngray@privacyguides.org>
It seems like both distributions in the current 'immutable distributions' category are moving beyond the immutable branding.
Fedora:
> Thirdly, this nice branding term is also a more accurate way of talking about how rpm-ostree works. Fedora Atomic spins are not actually immutable. There are ways to get around the read-only aspects of the implementation even though it is much harder. The nature of the OS, where updates are only implemented when they successfully build and you can rollback or rebase between core host systems, is better described by atomicity than immutability. Atomic is also how many of the contributors who work on rpm-ostree prefer to talk about it! Rebranding provides an opportunity to change the language surrounding this technology.
Nix:
> NixOS also provides atomic updates;
(Directly from Privacy Guides)
It's a minor change, but I feel it'd be helpful for the community to be utilizing consistent terminology for different technologies being utilized.
Co-authored-by: Jonah Aragon <jonah@privacyguides.org>
Signed-off-by: Daniel Gray <dngray@privacyguides.org>
# Defines two custom environment variables for the workflow. These are used for the Container registry domain, and a name for the Docker image that this workflow builds.
env:
REGISTRY:ghcr.io
IMAGE_NAME:${{ github.repository }}
# There is a single job in this workflow. It's configured to run on the latest available version of Ubuntu.
# Uses the `docker/login-action` action to log in to the Container registry registry using the account and password that will publish the packages. Once published, the packages are scoped to the account defined here.
- name:Log in to the Container registry
uses:docker/login-action@v3.3.0
with:
registry:${{ env.REGISTRY }}
username:${{ github.actor }}
password:${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
# This step uses [docker/metadata-action](https://github.com/docker/metadata-action#about) to extract tags and labels that will be applied to the specified image. The `id` "meta" allows the output of this step to be referenced in a subsequent step. The `images` value provides the base name for the tags and labels.
- name:Extract metadata (tags, labels) for Docker
id:meta
uses:docker/metadata-action@v5.5.1
with:
images:${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}
tags:|
type=ref,event=branch
type=ref,event=tag
type=ref,event=pr
type=sha
flavor:|
latest=${{ github.event_name == 'release' }}
- name:Set up QEMU
uses:docker/setup-qemu-action@v3
- name:Set up Docker Buildx
uses:docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
# This step uses the `docker/build-push-action` action to build the image, based on your repository's `Dockerfile`. If the build succeeds, it pushes the image to GitHub Packages.
# It uses the `context` parameter to define the build's context as the set of files located in the specified path. For more information, see "[Usage](https://github.com/docker/build-push-action#usage)" in the README of the `docker/build-push-action` repository.
# It uses the `tags` and `labels` parameters to tag and label the image with the output from the "meta" step.
Please note that this preview was built from an untrusted source, so it was not granted access to all mkdocs-material features. Maintainers should ensure this PR has been reviewed locally with a full build before merging.
- Added a navbar link to the new [organization discussions](https://github.com/orgs/privacyguides/discussions) ([#994](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/pull/994))
## 2022-04-11
- Added changelog
- Switched to release-based deployments ([#987](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/pull/987))
- Removed blog from repo, moved to [blog.privacyguides.org](https://blog.privacyguides.org) ([#985](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/pull/985))
*Massive thanks to [u/SnowCatFalcon](https://www.reddit.com/user/SnowCatFalcon/) for publishing [changelogs on our Subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/PrivacyGuides/comments/tu2dvw/privacy_guides_changelogs_march_2022/) before we added this file.*
**Privacy Guides** is a socially motivated website that provides information for protecting your data security and privacy. We are a non-profit collective operated entirely by volunteer team members and contributors.
**Privacy Guides** is a socially motivated website that provides information for protecting your data security and privacy. Our mission is to inform the public about the value of digital privacy, and global government initiatives which aim to monitor your online activity. We are a non-profit collective operated entirely by volunteer team members and contributors. Our website is free of advertisements and not affiliated with any of the listed providers.
Our current list of team members can be found [here](https://github.com/orgs/privacyguides/people). Additionally, [many people](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/graphs/contributors) have made contributions to the project, and you can too!
The current list of team members can be found on [the executive committee page](https://www.privacyguides.org/en/about/#executive-committee). Additionally, [many people](#contributors) have made contributions to the project, and you can too!
*Featured on: [Tweakers](https://tweakers.net/reviews/10568/op-zoek-naar-privacyvriendelijke-tools-niek-de-wilde-van-privacy-guides.html), [The New York Times](https://nytimes.com/wirecutter/guides/online-security-social-media-privacy), [Wired](https://wired.com/story/firefox-mozilla-2022), and [Fast Company](https://www.fastcompany.com/91167564/mozilla-wants-you-to-love-firefox-again).*
## Contributing
- 💬 [Start a discussion or suggest an idea](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/discussions)
[](https://codespaces.new/privacyguides/privacyguides.org?devcontainer_path=.devcontainer%2Fdevcontainer.json)
- 💬 [Start a discussion or suggest an idea](https://discuss.privacyguides.net)
- 💖 [Sponsor the project](https://github.com/sponsors/privacyguides)
- 🈴 [Help translate the site](https://crowdin.com/project/privacyguides) [[Matrix chat](https://matrix.to/#/#pg-i18n:aragon.sh)]
- 📝 Edit the site, everything's accessible in this repo
- Browse our [open issues](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/issues) to see what needs to be updated
-When making more significant (than simple typo fixes, etc.) changes, update the [changelog](/CHANGELOG.md)
-View some contribution tips on our [contributor's wiki](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/wiki)
- Browse our [open issues](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/issues) to see what needs to be updated
-View the list of [approved topics waiting for a PR](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/tag/approved)
-Read some writing tips in our [style guide](https://www.privacyguides.org/en/meta/writing-style)
All contributors to the site are listed [here](#contributors). If you have contributed to the website or project, please [add yourself](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/issues/2524) to the list or ask @jonaharagon to make the change.
> Most hidden service providers are not very extensively used or tested, [which is why we strongly recommend Tor](https://www.privacyguides.org/en/tor/). Using other networks could be more likely to endanger your anonymity, so make sure you know what you're doing.
Privacy Guides content is licensed under the [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License](/LICENSE), and the underlying source code used to format and display that content on [www.privacyguides.org](https://www.privacyguides.org) is licensed under the [MIT License](/LICENSE-CODE).
Generally speaking, **content** can be found in the [`/docs`](/docs), [`/theme/assets/img`](/theme/assets/img) and [`/includes`](/includes) folders; and **source code** and configuration files can be found in the [`/config`](/config) and [`/theme`](/theme) folders, and in the root of this repository. Any source code snippets contained within documentation files are [MIT Licensed](/LICENSE-CODE). Please contact us if you require clarification on any of these terms.
These licenses do not apply to any work where another license is otherwise noted.
**Logos** in the [`/theme/assets/img`](/theme/assets/img) folder may not be original works of Privacy Guides and therefore cannot be (re)licensed by us. We believe that these logos obtained from third-party providers are either in the public domain or **fair use**. In a nutshell, legal [fair use doctrine](https://copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html) allows the use of copyrighted images in order to identify the subject for purposes of public comment. However, these logos and other images may still be subject to trademark laws in one or more jurisdictions. Before using this content, please ensure that it is used to identify the entity or organization that owns the trademark and that you have the right to use it under the laws which apply in the circumstances of your intended use. *When copying content from this website, you are solely responsible for ensuring that you do not infringe someone else's trademark or copyright.*
You may comply with our license terms in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests Privacy Guides endorses you or your use. You **may not** use the Privacy Guides branding in your own project without express approval from this project. Privacy Guides's brand trademarks include the "Privacy Guides" wordmark and shield logo.
When you contribute to this repository you are doing so under the above licenses, and you are granting Privacy Guides a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free, irrevocable license with the right to sublicense such rights through multiple tiers of sublicensees, to reproduce, modify, display, perform and distribute your contribution as part of our project.
## Developing
1. Clone this repository: `git clone https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org`
- The site will be available at `http://localhost:8000/`
Your local site will appear slightly different, because the production version of the website uses a private/custom build of mkdocs-material with additional features.
The only supported method of building and previewing this website locally is by running the automatic dev container. The easiest way to do this in your web browser without installing any software is to use [GitHub Codespaces](https://codespaces.new/privacyguides/privacyguides.org). To build the website locally, you will need the following software:
Team members with access to [mkdocs-material-insiders](https://github.com/privacyguides/mkdocs-material-insiders) should instead:
6. Serve the site locally: `mkdocs serve --config-file mkdocs.production.yml`
- The site will be available at `http://localhost:8000`
- You can build the site locally with `mkdocs build --config-file mkdocs.production.yml`
- This version of the site should be identical to the live, production version
You can technically use any IDE which supports [development containers](https://containers.dev/), but YMMV. Docker Desktop has an experimental Dev Environments option which allows you to use any text editor under Settings > Features in development. We are only testing with the combination of software above.
Committing to this repository requires [signing your commits](https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/managing-commit-signature-verification/signing-commits) (`git config commit.gpgsign true`) unless you are making edits via the GitHub.com text editor interface. As of August 2022 the preferred signing method is [SSH commit signatures](https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/managing-commit-signature-verification/about-commit-signature-verification#ssh-commit-signature-verification), but GPG signing is also acceptable. You should add your signing key to your GitHub profile.
## Releasing
1. Create a new tag: `git tag -s v2.X.X -m 'Some message'`
- Tag [numbering](https://semver.org/): Increment the MINOR (2nd) number when making significant changes (adding/deleting pages, etc.), increment the PATCH (3rd) number when making minor changes (typos, bug fixes). Probably leave the MAJOR number at 2 until a massive redesign (v1 -> v2 was the Jekyll to MkDocs transition).
It is required to create a GitHub release to publish the current site to privacyguides.org. The current `main` branch can be previewed at [https://main.staging.privacyguides.dev](https://main.staging.privacyguides.dev) prior to release.
1. Create a new tag: `git tag -s YYYY.MM.DD -m 'Some message'`
- Tag numbering: `YYYY.MM.DD` - if two+ releases are published on the same day, append short commit to the next release, e.g. `YYYY.MM.DD-6aa14e8`
- Enable GPG tag signing by default (`git config tag.gpgSign true`) to avoid missing signatures
2. Push the tag to GitHub: `git push --tags`
3.[Create a new release](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/releases/new) selecting the new tag
-Title the release the same as the tag version number without the `v`, i.e. `2.X.X`
- GitHub should let you auto-generate release notes, otherwise copy notes from the changelog
4. Publish release, it will be deployed to the live site automatically
3.A GitHub Release will be automatically created and deployed to the live site.
-You may wish to manually check or edit the release changelog/title after it is published for accuracy.
**We pledge** to make our community a harassment-free experience for everyone.
**We strive** to create a positive environment, using welcoming and inclusive language, and being respectful of the viewpoints of others.
**We do not allow** inappropriate or otherwise unacceptable behavior, such as sexualized language, trolling and insulting comments, or otherwise promoting intolerance or harassment.
## Community Standards
What we expect from members of our communities:
1.**Do not spread misinformation**
We are creating an evidence-based educational community around information privacy and security, not an information home for conspiracy theories. For example, when making a claim that a certain piece of software is malicious or that certain telemetry data is privacy invasive, explain in detail what is collected and how it collected. Claims of this nature must be backed by technical evidence.
2.**Do not abuse our willingness to help**
Our community members are not free tech support. We are happy to help with specific steps for your privacy journey, if you are willing to put in effort. We are not obligated to answer endless, repetitive questions about general computer problems solvable with a simple internet search. **Do not** become a [help vampire](https://slash7.com/2006/12/22/vampires).
3.**Behave in a positive and constructive manner**
Examples of behavior that contributes to a positive environment for our community include:
- Being respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences.
- Demonstrating empathy and kindness toward others.
- Focusing on what is best not just for us as overseers, but for the overall community.
- Giving and gracefully accepting constructive feedback within our community while growing and improving.
- Operating with a communal mindset at all times.
## Unacceptable Behavior
The following behaviors are considered harassment and are unacceptable within our community:
- Any other conduct which would reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting.
- Public and/or private harassment of any kind.
- Publishing others' private information, such as a physical address and/or an email address, without their explicit permission.
- The use of sexualized language or imagery, and sexual attention or advances of any kind.
- Trolling, insulting and/or derogatory comments, including personal or political attacks.
## Scope
Our Code of Conduct applies within all project spaces, as well as when an individual is representing the Privacy Guides project in other communities.
We are responsible for clarifying the standards of our community and have the right to remove or alter the comments of those participating within our community, as necessary and at our discretion.
## Contact
If you observe a problem on a platform like Matrix or Reddit, please contact our moderators on that platform via chat, direct message, or any designated "Modmail" system.
If you have a problem elsewhere, or a problem that our community moderators are unable to resolve, reach out to `jonah@privacyguides.org` and/or `dngray@privacyguides.org`.
All community leaders are obligated to respect the privacy and security of reporters for all incidents.
**Privacy Guides** is a socially motivated website that provides information for protecting your data security and privacy. We are a non-profit project with a mission to inform the public about the value of digital privacy, and about global government initiatives which aim to monitor your online activity. Our website is free of advertisements and not affiliated with any of the listed providers.
[:material-heart:{.pg-red} Become a Member](https://donate.magicgrants.org/privacyguides){ .md-button .md-button--primary data-portal="signup" }
Privacy Guides is built by volunteers and staff members around the world. All changes to our recommendations and resources are reviewed by at least two [trusted](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/u?group=team&order=solutions&period=all) individuals, and we work diligently to ensure our content is updated as quickly as possible to adapt to the ever-changing cybersecurity threat landscape.
In addition to our core team, many other people have made contributions to the project. You can too! We're open source on GitHub, and accepting translation suggestions on [Crowdin](https://crowdin.com/project/privacyguides).
[:simple-discourse: Join the Privacy Guides forum](https://discuss.privacyguides.net){ .md-button .md-button--primary }
The best way to get individual help is from our community on Discourse. If you notice an issue with our website, please open a discussion in the [Site Development](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/c/site-development/7) category on our forum. If you have a question about anything we cover, please ask it in the [Questions](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/c/privacy/questions/8) category on our forum.
{ align=right }
Have a tip for us, or need to share some sensitive information? The best way to get in touch with us securely is via `@privacyguides.01` on Signal. This group account is monitored by [Jonah](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/u/jonah), [Niek](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/u/niek-de-wilde), [Em](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/u/em), and [Jordan](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/u/jordan).
[:simple-signal: Chat on Signal](https://signal.me/#eu/zg9xcrIv5w-EtXt2FmTJgfWv01LmyTed8rpr7RDv35Mizq8ISZ9NJLmYtzsxI0Z4){ .md-button }
You may also email the entire team at <team@privacyguides.org>. This is a shared inbox that could be read by any [team member](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/u?group=team&order=solutions&period=all), so please consider what sensitive information you share via email accordingly.
We will do our best to respond to all queries within 3 business days, but please understand we are unable to provide individualized advice to everyone who asks. If you have a question about privacy, you will receive a much more detailed and timely response from the Privacy Guides community by [asking on our forum](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/c/privacy/questions/8).
You can also use OpenPGP to contact us via email, if you feel comfortable with your client's security settings. You can discover the PGP keys of our team members using WKD if your client supports it. If it doesn't, or you don't know what that means, you can also find the public key for any Privacy Guides email account by searching on [keys.openpgp.org](https://keys.openpgp.org). We do not have PGP for the shared team inbox, only individual mailboxes which can be found in our team directory below.
If you need an alternative secure channel, please request one via any contact method including social media, and we will work with you to establish one. Please do not share any sensitive information with us before we have established an appropriately secure discussion channel.
## :material-account-tie: Executive Committee
<!-- markdownlint-disable MD030 -->
The project executive committee consists of five volunteers charged with management of the [MAGIC Privacy Guides Fund](https://magicgrants.org/funds/privacy_guides), making most critical project-related decisions.
Our staff are paid to contribute to supplemental content at Privacy Guides, like [video production](https://www.youtube.com/@privacyguides), [news articles and tutorials](https://www.privacyguides.org/articles), and our discussion communities and social media. Most are available and paid on a full-time basis to assist the organization.
We have a general policy of avoiding links to centralized social media profiles and other websites outside our control. This means that in places like our website footer and other areas, we only link to platforms we fully control, such as our Mastodon and PeerTube accounts or Matrix channels.
However, Privacy Guides *does* have social media accounts on a wide variety of platforms, in the hope of reaching new users who aren't yet familiar with our content. We try to make this a "one-way street" where those accounts link to privacyguides.org, and not the other way around. However, this creates some confusion about which accounts are actually run by the Privacy Guides team. For reference, we will list all of our accounts here:
To reiterate, this is not an endorsement of any platform, and we generally discourage following us on most social media platforms.
## :material-newspaper: In The Media
> To find [privacy-focused alternative] apps, check out sites like Good Reports and **Privacy Guides**, which list privacy-focused apps in a variety of categories, notably including email providers (usually on paid plans) that aren’t run by the big tech companies.
— [New York Times](https://nytimes.com/wirecutter/guides/online-security-social-media-privacy)
> If you're looking for a new VPN, you can go to the discount code of just about any podcast. If you are looking for a **good** VPN, you need professional help. The same goes for email clients, browsers, operating systems and password managers. How do you know which of these is the best, most privacy-friendly option? For that there is **Privacy Guides**, a platform on which a number of volunteers search day in, day out for the best privacy-friendly tools to use on the internet.
— [Tweakers.net](https://tweakers.net/reviews/10568/op-zoek-naar-privacyvriendelijke-tools-niek-de-wilde-van-privacy-guides.html) [Translated from Dutch]
Also featured on: [Ars Technica](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/02/is-firefox-ok), [Wirecutter](https://nytimes.com/wirecutter/guides/practical-guide-to-securing-windows-pc) [[2](https://nytimes.com/wirecutter/guides/practical-guide-to-securing-your-mac)], [NPO Radio 1](https://nporadio1.nl/nieuws/binnenland/8eaff3a2-8b29-4f63-9b74-36d2b28b1fe1/ooit-online-eens-wat-doms-geplaatst-ga-jezelf-eens-googlen-en-kijk-dan-wat-je-tegenkomt), [Wired](https://wired.com/story/firefox-mozilla-2022), [Fast Company](https://fastcompany.com/91167564/mozilla-wants-you-to-love-firefox-again) and [404 Media](https://404media.co/privacy-service-optery-faces-backlash-after-plan-to-send-openai-user-data).
## :material-history: History
Privacy Guides was launched in September 2021 as a continuation of the [defunct](privacytools.md) "PrivacyTools" open-source educational project. We recognized the importance of independent, criteria-focused product recommendations and general knowledge in the privacy space, which is why we needed to preserve the work that had been created by so many contributors since 2015 and make sure that information had a stable home on the web indefinitely.
In 2022, we completed the transition of our main website framework from Jekyll to MkDocs, using the `mkdocs-material` documentation software. This change made open-source contributions to our site significantly easier for outsiders, because instead of needing to know complicated syntax to write posts effectively, contributing is now as easy as writing a standard Markdown document.
We additionally launched our new discussion forum at [discuss.privacyguides.net](https://discuss.privacyguides.net) as a community platform to share ideas and ask questions about our mission. This augments our existing community on Matrix, and replaced our previous GitHub Discussions platform, decreasing our reliance on proprietary discussion platforms.
In 2023, we launched international translations of our website in [French](https://www.privacyguides.org/fr), [Hebrew](https://www.privacyguides.org/he), [Dutch](https://www.privacyguides.org/nl), and more languages, made possible by our excellent translation team on [Crowdin](https://crowdin.com/project/privacyguides).
In 2024, we successfully fundraised to hire several full-time staff members, Em, Jordan, and Kevin; to help with content creation, community management, and video production. This has allowed us to expand our reach and provide more frequent updates to our audience.
In 2025, we launched our [newsroom](https://www.privacyguides.org/news), providing timely articles on the latest developments in privacy and security. We also hired Nate as a Digital Content Producer to bring more consistency to our educational video content.
We plan to continue carrying forward our mission of outreach and education, and finding ways to more clearly highlight the dangers of a lack of privacy awareness in the modern digital age, and the prevalence and harms of security breaches across the technology industry.
## :material-license: Site License
<div class="admonition danger" markdown>
The following is a human-readable summary of (and not a substitute for) the [license](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/blob/main/README.md#license).
</div>
:fontawesome-brands-creative-commons: :fontawesome-brands-creative-commons-by: :fontawesome-brands-creative-commons-sa: Unless otherwise noted, the original content on this website is made available under the [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/blob/main/LICENSE). This means that you are free to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially; as long as you give appropriate credit to `Privacy Guides (www.privacyguides.org)` and share your work under the same license.
You may comply with these terms in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests Privacy Guides endorses you or your use.
description: A list of general priorities we consider for all submissions to Privacy Guides.
---
Below are some general priorities we consider for all submissions to Privacy Guides. Each category will have additional requirements for inclusion.
- **Security**: Tools should follow security best practices wherever applicable.
- **Source Availability**: Open-source projects are generally preferred over equivalent proprietary alternatives.
- **Cross-Platform Availability**: We typically prefer recommendations to be cross-platform to avoid vendor lock-in.
- **Active Development**: The tools that we recommend should be actively developed. Unmaintained projects will be removed in most cases.
- **Usability**: Tools should be accessible to most computer users. An overly technical background should not be required.
- **Documentation**: Tools should have clear and extensive documentation for use.
## Financial Disclosure
We do not make money from recommending certain products, we do not use affiliate links, and we do not provide special consideration to project donors.
## Developer Self-Submissions
We have these requirements in regard to developers which wish to submit their project or software for consideration.
- Must undergo our [self-submission process](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/about-the-project-showcase-category/114) as a way to engage with our community, address any potential concerns, and elicit any feedback that can help improve your project.
- Must disclose affiliation, i.e. your position within the project being submitted.
- Must have a security white paper if it is a project that involves the handling of sensitive information like a messenger, password manager, encrypted cloud storage, etc.
- Regarding third party audit status, we want to know if you have undergone one, or have requested one. If possible please mention who will be conducting the audit.
- Must explain what the project brings to the table in regard to privacy.
- What new problem(s), if any, does it solve?
- Why should anyone use it over the alternatives?
- Must state what the exact threat model is with their project.
- It should be clear to potential users what the project can provide, and what it cannot. Ideally, a developer should be able to identify what [common threat(s)](../wiki/basics/common-threats/index.md) their project protects against.
description: The charitable mission of Privacy Guides relies on contributions from visitors like yourself. Anything you can do to support the project is hugely appreciated.
---
<!-- markdownlint-disable MD036 -->
Support our mission to defend digital rights and spread the word about mass surveillance programs and other daily privacy invasions. You can help Privacy Guides researchers, activists, and maintainers create informative content, host private digital services, and protect privacy rights at a time when the world needs it most.
<!-- markdownlint-disable-next-line -->
[:material-heart:{ .pg-red } Become a Member](https://donate.magicgrants.org/privacyguides/membership){ class="md-button md-button--primary" data-portal="signup" }
[Become a Member (Cryptocurrency)](https://donate.magicgrants.org/privacyguides/membership){ class="md-button" }
MAGIC Grants is our fiscal host, and their custom, open-source donation platform allows you to donate to our project with **Monero**, **Litecoin (MWEB)**, **Bitcoin**, or **debit/credit card**. You can also donate using [:simple-github: GitHub Sponsors](https://github.com/sponsors/privacyguides).
</small>
## Foundations & Organizations
=== "Current Supporters"
Thank you to these organizations who significantly support Privacy Guides. (1)
{ .annotate }
1. Please contact <info@magicgrants.org> to inquire about giving. Privacy Guides reserves the right to rescind the membership of those who are unaligned with our mission or organization at any time. Organizational members have no ability to influence what content is recommended on the Privacy Guides website. Learn more about our [donation acceptance policy](donation-acceptance-policy.md).
<div class="mdx-specialthanks" markdown>
[![Power Up Privacy]](https://powerupprivacy.com){ rel=nofollow target=_blank title="Power Up Privacy" }
Privacy Guides would not be possible without these individuals who generously donate on a monthly or yearly basis. (1)
{ .annotate }
1. If you [become a member](https://donate.magicgrants.org/privacyguides/membership) and [link your donation](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/getting-your-member-flair-on-the-forum/25453) to your forum account, you're automatically added here with a link to your profile and avatar to show your support for Privacy Guides. If you don't make your membership public on the forum, you'll be a silent +1. You can change your visibility any time. This chart is updated upon each website release.
This is a list of our **active** [members](https://donate.magicgrants.org/privacyguides/membership), plus donors on GitHub, who have chosen to make their donation public. Hundreds more have donated in the past or privately, and their support is hugely appreciated as well.
</small>
## Merchandise
You can support us and share your passion for privacy by buying our merchandise from HelloTux.
[Buy on HelloTux.com](https://hellotux.com/privacyguides){ class="md-button" }
## Non-Financial Support
It takes a lot of people and [work](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/pulse/monthly) to keep Privacy Guides up to date and spread the word about privacy and mass surveillance. If you're looking for other ways to help out, consider getting involved by [editing the site](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org), [joining our forum](https://discuss.privacyguides.net), or [contributing translations](https://crowdin.com/project/privacyguides).
## FAQ
### What is an organizational membership?
Organizational membership to Privacy Guides is open to any company, private foundation, or organization that donates at least $5,000 per year. While Privacy Guides does not endorse private companies or their products, we're grateful for their contributions. Your donation may be tax-deductible, and we will provide you with a receipt.
You can become an organizational member by reaching out to <info@magicgrants.org> for more information.
### How are organizational members recognized?
Organizational members that choose to be recognized publicly are included in our organizational members section (above), and occasionally at other opportunities where appropriate. Organizational member links include the `rel="nofollow"` attribute: We adopted this policy to screen out potential abuse of our program and site to raise the rank of third parties in search algorithms. Unfortunately, this is a growing problem for nonprofits. This was a complex decision since we know many of the sincere supporters behind these companies, but we decided that it was the best choice for us.
Organizational members have no ability to influence what content is recommended on the Privacy Guides website. Learn more about our [donation acceptance policy](donation-acceptance-policy.md).
### What is an active membership?
Your monthly or yearly membership sustains Privacy Guides's services and public activism for privacy and cybersecurity year round. If you become a member, we will recognize your support here on our website, our community forum, and occasionally in other areas like our videos if you choose to make your membership publicly known.
Our membership program is brand new, and we are still exploring other ways that we can share a token of our appreciation with you, while maintaining sustainable and ethical boundaries. Stay tuned!
### How does Privacy Guides use donations?
Privacy Guides has been a nonstop effort for over 5 years to stay up to date with the world of cybersecurity and privacy, and to promote the benefits of privacy overall. This is a **non-profit, community-driven** project that would not be possible without the generous support of all our contributors, in addition to our regularly donating members above.
Your donation go to a [dedicated fund](https://magicgrants.org/funds/privacy_guides) within [MAGIC Grants](https://magicgrants.org), a 501(c)(3) organization and our fiscal host. The funds will **only** be used for this project specifically.
You may qualify for a tax deduction. When you donate to us [here](https://donate.magicgrants.org/privacyguides) with cryptocurrency or card you have the option to receive a receipt from MAGIC Grants for this purpose. If you have questions about other transactions please email <info@magicgrants.org>.
We use donations for a variety of purposes, including:
**Payroll**
: We have journalists, writers, and video creators on payroll to review products and create more educational content on a regular basis. This is a significant expense, and we are only able to create our quantity of content with your support.
**Web Hosting and Infrastructure**
: Traffic to this website uses hundreds of gigabytes of data per month; we use a variety of service providers to keep up with this traffic.
**Online Services**
: We host [internet services](services.md) for testing and showcasing different privacy-products we like and [recommend](../tools/_index.md). Some of them are made publicly available for our community's use (SearXNG, Tor, etc.), and some are provided for our team members (email, etc.).
**Product Purchases**
: We occasionally purchase products and services for the purposes of testing our [recommended tools](../tools/_index.md).
Thank you to all those who support our mission! :material-heart:{ .pg-red }
We strictly **do not** use donations to support political campaigns/candidates or attempt to influence legislation. Earnings will **not** inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.
description: Privacy Guides aspires to obtain funding from a wide variety of sources to reduce our dependency on any single donor. Please consider donating!
---
Privacy Guides takes the ethical responsibility of making unbiased recommendations on its website very seriously.
Privacy Guides aspires to obtain funding from a wide variety of sources to reduce our dependency on any single donor. Please consider [donating](donate.md)!
## What we **can** accept
In the course of our regular fundraising activities...
- Donations and other forms of support will generally be accepted from individuals, corporations, foundations, or other entities, without limitations.
- This includes cash, cash equivalents (checks, money orders, credit/debit card payments), and cryptocurrency.
- Gifts of Real Property, Personal Property, or Securities may only be accepted upon approval of the MAGIC Grants board of directors.
Privacy Guides will only accept such gifts that are legal and consistent with our policies. Gifts must not interfere with Privacy Guides' mission, purpose, and procedures.
## Things we do **not** do
- Accept sponsorships.
- Offer to recommend a product or service in exchange for a donation or other incentive.
- Threaten to remove a recommendation for a product or service unless we receive a donation or other incentive.
- Offer to expedite a review of a product or service in exchange for a donation or other incentive.
- Write sponsored content or feature sponsored components in our content.
## Things we **may** do
- Accept donations from privacy-related companies and non-profits.
- Apply for grant programs.
- Accept free versions of software or hardware to test and review, while being mindful of possible differences in versions that could differ from a regular customer experience. ([More details](executive-policy.md#ep1-freely-provided-product-samples))
- Accept discounted versions of software or hardware that assist our operations (for example, discounted software costs made available to non-profits).
## Restrictions on gifts
Privacy Guides accepts unrestricted gifts, and we appreciate the flexibility to apply your gift to our programs where they are most needed.
We also accept and appreciate gifts for specified programs or purposes, provided that such gifts are consistent with our program's stated mission, purpose, and priority. Privacy Guides will not accept gifts which are too restrictive in purpose.
Examples of gifts which are too restrictive include:
- Those which fund the research and review of a specific product category or specific product.
- Those which violate our existing policies.
- Those which are too difficult for us to administer.
- Those that are for purposes outside our general mission.
An example of an acceptable restriction could be a gift towards funding our [video](https://www.privacyguides.org/videos) production, or hosting our website and forum.
Final decisions on the restrictive nature of a gift and its acceptance or refusal will be made by our executive committee.
## Additional terms
Privacy Guides generally does not pay "finder's fees" or commissions to third parties in connection with any gift to Privacy Guides. We may, however, pay commissions and fees to properly negotiate and receive assets when appropriate.
No officer, committee member, employee, or other agent of Privacy Guides will be compensated in a manner which is dependent on the size or nature of gifts made to Privacy Guides by any person. If we engage with legal, accounting, or other professionals, their fees and expenses will be determined by the time they spend engaged with our work, and not by reference to any particular gift in connection to their retainer.
Privacy Guides always follows the MAGIC Grants Gift Acceptance Policy, available on their website: <https://magicgrants.org/about/documentation/>
description: These are policies formally adopted by our executive committee, and take precedence over all other statements expressed on this website.
---
These are policies formally adopted by Privacy Guides' executive committee, and take precedence over all other statements expressed on this website.
The keywords **must**, **must not**, **required**, **shall**, **shall not**, **should**, **should not**, **recommended**, **may**, and **optional** are to be interpreted as described in [RFC 2119](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2119).
## EP1: Freely-Provided Product Samples
*Our policy on accepting product samples for review was adopted September 7, 2024.*
=== "Current Version (1)"
- Privacy Guides **shall not** proactively reach out to vendors asking for product samples or review accounts.
- Privacy Guides **may** accept freely-provided product samples for one-time purchase software applications which run locally, given they don't require a subscription for continued operation.
- Privacy Guides **may** accept freely-provided samples of hardware products.
- Privacy Guides **may** accept a freely-provided subscription service associated with a hardware product, if such a subscription/license is necessary to use the product.
- Privacy Guides **must not** enter into an agreement pertaining to our editorial opinion with the vendor in order to receive a sample or publish a review. All freely-provided items must be strictly "no strings attached."
- We **may** agree to return the product to the vendor following the review if requested.
- We **may** agree to a reasonable NDA, provided it has a clear embargo date that is lifted no more than 6 months in the future where the NDA completely no longer applies.
- We **should not** enter into any other agreement with the vendor not described here. Potential agreements not described here **must** be approved by the executive committee beforehand.
In all cases, whether we paid for the product independently or received a free sample from a vendor, how we obtained the product **must** be clearly documented in the background section of every article associated with the product.
description: Privacy Guides has a small, remote team of privacy researchers and advocates. Any open positions we may have in the future will be posted here.
---
Privacy Guides has a small, remote team of privacy researchers and advocates working to further our mission of protecting free expression and promoting privacy-respecting technology. As a non-profit, we are expanding very slowly to ensure the project is sustainable in the long term. All of our team members are listed [here](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/u?group=team&order=solutions&period=all). Please consider [donating](https://donate.magicgrants.org/privacyguides) to support our cause.
We are occasionally looking for strong journalistic writers, product reviewers, and privacy experts to help us out, and any open positions will be posted below.
Thank you for your interest in this position at Privacy Guides. At this time we are no longer accepting new applications, but please follow our [job openings](../jobs.md) page to learn about future opportunities.
</div>
Are you passionate about privacy and cybersecurity?
Privacy Guides is an international nonprofit dedicated to producing top-tier, unbiased educational content and journalism, and to fostering safe and informative online communities to discuss technical topics around improving personal privacy and cybersecurity.
Privacy Guides is looking for a focused and motivated individual to be responsible for our social media presence from end to end, with a particular emphasis on video content. You must be comfortable being on camera to succeed in this role.
This is a unique opportunity. Your primary goal will be to create and share privacy-based educational materials, without any motive to sell a product. If you truly value being able to create the best content that you can, and if you are passionate about privacy, then this position is for you!
Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:
- Scripting and hosting educational video content to be posted across various social media platforms.
- Video editing, production, and other backend work required to make successful content.
- Researching new topics to cover.
- Regular, daily posting to text-based social media platforms like Mastodon.
- Regular posting of highly educational video content to social media platforms.
- Compiling news sources for and hosting a weekly news recap (livestreamed) podcast on our YouTube channel.
- Regularly communicating with the Privacy Guides committee and other team members.
This is a highly individualized role, and we are extremely interested in hearing your ideas on how you’ll find success and make this role your own. You will be responsible for handling virtually every aspect of this role without regular supervision, so being highly self-motivated is a must.
As a guideline, we expect your video output to be roughly 1 video and 1 *This Week In Privacy* livestream per week, since we think most videos which meet our quality standards will be a multi-day process to research and script, in addition to a day for recording and editing. We realize some videos can be completed more quickly, while others may take multiple weeks or longer before publishing. You will be empowered to use your best judgement and prioritize your work accordingly.
Job requirements:
- Excellent organization and communication skills.
- Flexibility to set and respond to varying priorities and deadlines.
- Proactive, results-driven mindset with a strong sense of initiative.
- Comfortable being on camera, and working with video production equipment.
- Personal interest in consumer privacy, cybersecurity, and technology.
- Skeptical nature and drive to investigate difficult, often niche, technologies. You will need to evaluate the truthfulness of claims.
The following qualifications will be an asset to your application. However, we are looking for the best candidate (which isn’t always apparent on paper!), so please apply even if you don’t meet any/many of these qualifications.
- Previous YouTube or other video creation experience.
- Previous social media management experience.
- Education in English, journalism, media production, or any other related fields.
- Fluency in Spanish, French, Portuguese, or other languages.
- Familiarity with Privacy Guides' communities, culture, and mission.
- A solid understanding of the latest trends/culture on YouTube & TikTok.
- Located between UTC-08:00 and UTC-04:00 time zones.
- At least basic familiarity with GitHub, including pull requests, branches, reviews, and issues.
The ideal candidate can commit to this role on a full-time basis (40 hours / week), but we are open to discussing a schedule you suggest.
For this position, our hiring pay range falls between \$20-$25 / hour USD. The base pay may vary depending on job related qualifications such as knowledge, skills, and experience. Our compensation structure is rooted in a performance and merit based approach that acknowledges performance of both the individual and the project as a whole.
---
<div class="admonition info" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Position Closed</p>
Thank you for your interest in this position at Privacy Guides. At this time we are no longer accepting new applications, but please follow our [job openings](../jobs.md) page to learn about future opportunities.
</div>
Privacy Guides is fiscally hosted by [MAGIC Grants](https://magicgrants.org), a 501(c)(3) public charity. MAGIC Grants is an equal opportunity employer. MAGIC Grants does not discriminate against any applicant or employee because of age, color, sex, disability, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, sexual identity, veteran status, or other protected characteristic.
We respect your privacy. After this position is filled, your application will be deleted. Your application will not be shared with third parties.
description: Privacy Guides is looking for an intern to discover and promote relevant news content on our platform, and to moderate and engage with our online communities.
Thank you for your interest in this position at Privacy Guides. At this time we are no longer accepting new applications, but please follow our [job openings](../jobs.md) page to learn about future opportunities.
</div>
Are you passionate about privacy and cybersecurity?
Privacy Guides is an international nonprofit dedicated to producing top-tier, unbiased educational content and journalism, and to fostering safe and informative online communities to discuss technical topics around improving personal privacy and cybersecurity.
This role is focused on interacting with our community members and answering their questions, keeping our online communities safe and constructive, and sharing thoughtful and informative news stories from around the internet for community discussion.
Responsibilities will include:
- Regularly interacting with our forum and other communities.
- Responding to moderation complaints/flags within our communities.
- Reading news stories from a variety of publications and generally staying up to date with the latest news in the privacy and cybersecurity space.
- Regularly posting interesting news stories and other topics you discover in our communities for discussion.
- Assisting our other staff and volunteers with research, writing, video production, and editing.
- Assisting with Privacy Guides' advocacy efforts.
- Remaining polite and fact-focused.
No prior experience is necessary. We are looking for people passionate about privacy, cybersecurity, journalism, and community management regardless of your GPA or background.
The following will be assets to your application, but please submit an application even if they don't apply to you:
- Familiarity with Privacy Guides' communities, culture, and mission.
- Previous experience with social media management and/or journalism.
- Located between UTC-08:00 and UTC-04:00 time zones.
This is a part-time, 10-20 hour per week role depending on your availability. We can work around your schedule and other obligations.
This is a 6-month contract paying $15 / hour USD, with the optional opportunity for renewal or a longer-term role depending on your personal goals and the project's outcome. The specific starting and ending dates are flexible.
---
<div class="admonition info" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Position Closed</p>
Thank you for your interest in this position at Privacy Guides. At this time we are no longer accepting new applications, but please follow our [job openings](../jobs.md) page to learn about future opportunities.
</div>
Privacy Guides is fiscally hosted by [MAGIC Grants](https://magicgrants.org), a 501(c)(3) public charity. MAGIC Grants is an equal opportunity employer. MAGIC Grants does not discriminate against any applicant or employee because of age, color, sex, disability, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, sexual identity, veteran status, or other protected characteristic.
We respect your privacy. After this position is filled, your application will be deleted. Your application will not be shared with third parties.
description: Privacy Guides is looking for a determined and focused journalist to research and write stories from the privacy and cybersecurity space on a regular basis.
Thank you for your interest in this position at Privacy Guides. At this time we are no longer accepting new applications, but please follow our [job openings](../jobs.md) page to learn about future opportunities.
</div>
Are you passionate about privacy and cybersecurity?
Privacy Guides is an international nonprofit dedicated to producing top-tier, unbiased educational content and journalism, and to fostering safe and informative online communities to discuss technical topics around improving personal privacy and cybersecurity.
We are looking for a determined and focused journalist to join our team. As a reporter for our organization, you will conduct research, interview sources, and write engaging stories in the field of consumer privacy and cybersecurity.
Our ideal candidate is committed to combating misinformation and clearly communicating stories on a timely basis, and dedicated to producing top-tier, unbiased journalism.
Privacy Guides is a small, largely volunteer-driven nonprofit media organization, and we do not currently have a dedicated writing and editing team. As such, you will be expected to take charge of the entire writing process from beginning to publication. You will have the freedom to choose which topics to cover and set a schedule to release articles on our main website.
==Our primary mission is to publish the highest quality content surrounding consumer privacy and cybersecurity on the internet==, not the highest quantity of stories. You will be empowered to dive deep into the topics you are writing about, and expected to meet our high quality and editorial standards.
Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:
- Creating high-quality articles for our [knowledge base](../../wiki/basics/why-privacy-matters/index.md).
- Performing product reviews for our [reviews](https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/category/reviews) section and [tool recommendations](../../tools/_index.md).
- Researching new topics to cover.
- Interviewing and fact-checking all relevant sources.
- Regular posting of high-quality, unbiased journalistic content across our platforms.
As a guideline, we expect roughly 3-5 articles a week that meet our quality standards, since we believe a well-researched article will take at least 8 hours to research and write on average. We realize some articles can be completed quickly, while others may take weeks or longer before publishing. You will be empowered to use your best judgement and prioritize your work accordingly.
We are much more interested in articles that deeply cover a subject area than articles that cover the news of the day.
Job requirements:
- Excellent organization and communication skills.
- Expertise in English and writing.
- Flexibility to set and respond to varying priorities and deadlines.
- Proactive, results-driven mindset with a strong sense of initiative.
- Personal interest in consumer privacy, cybersecurity, and technology.
- Regular communication with the Privacy Guides committee and other team members.
- Skeptical nature and drive to investigate difficult, often niche, technologies. You will need to evaluate the truthfulness of claims.
The following qualifications will be an asset to your application. However, we are looking for the best candidate (which isn’t always apparent on paper!), so please apply even if you don’t meet any/many of these qualifications.
- Previous writing or journalism experience.
- Previous product review experience.
- Education in English, journalism, media production, or any other related fields.
- Familiarity with Privacy Guides' communities, culture, and mission.
- Located between UTC-08:00 and UTC-04:00 time zones.
- At least basic familiarity with GitHub, including pull requests, branches, reviews, and issues.
The ideal candidate can commit to this role on a full-time basis (40 hours / week), but we are open to discussing a schedule you suggest.
For this position, our hiring pay range falls between \$20-$25 / hour USD. The base pay may vary depending on job related qualifications such as knowledge, skills, and experience. Our compensation structure is rooted in a performance and merit based approach that acknowledges performance of both the individual and the project as a whole.
---
<div class="admonition info" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Position Closed</p>
Thank you for your interest in this position at Privacy Guides. At this time we are no longer accepting new applications, but please follow our [job openings](../jobs.md) page to learn about future opportunities.
</div>
Privacy Guides is fiscally hosted by [MAGIC Grants](https://magicgrants.org), a 501(c)(3) public charity. MAGIC Grants is an equal opportunity employer. MAGIC Grants does not discriminate against any applicant or employee because of age, color, sex, disability, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, sexual identity, veteran status, or other protected characteristic.
We respect your privacy. After this position is filled, your application will be deleted. Your application will not be shared with third parties.
This is an example of an admonition. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et euismod nulla. Curabitur feugiat, tortor non consequat finibus, justo purus auctor massa, nec semper lorem quam in massa.
</div>
<details class="example" markdown>
<summary>Example Collapsible Admonition</summary>
This is an example of a collapsible admonition. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et euismod nulla. Curabitur feugiat, tortor non consequat finibus, justo purus auctor massa, nec semper lorem quam in massa.
</details>
## Formatting
To add an admonition to a page, you can use the following code:
```markdown title="Admonition"
<div class="admonition TYPE" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">TITLE</p>
ENCLOSED TEXT
</div>
```
```markdown title="Collapsible Admonition"
<details class="TYPE" markdown>
<summary>TITLE</summary>
ENCLOSED TEXT
</details>
```
The `TITLE` must be specified; if you don't want a specific title you can set it to the same text as the `TYPE` (see below) in title case, e.g. `Note`. The `ENCLOSED TEXT` should be Markdown formatted.
### Regular types
Replace `TYPE` in the examples above with one of the following:
#### `note`
<div class="admonition note" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Note</p>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
</div>
#### `abstract`
<div class="admonition abstract" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Abstract</p>
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</div>
#### `info`
<div class="admonition info" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Info</p>
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</div>
#### `tip`
<div class="admonition tip" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Tip</p>
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</div>
#### `success`
<div class="admonition success" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Success</p>
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</div>
#### `question`
<div class="admonition question" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Question</p>
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</div>
#### `warning`
<div class="admonition warning" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Warning</p>
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</div>
#### `failure`
<div class="admonition failure" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Failure</p>
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</div>
#### `danger`
<div class="admonition danger" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Danger</p>
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</div>
#### `bug`
<div class="admonition bug" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Bug</p>
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</div>
#### `example`
<div class="admonition example" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Example</p>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
</div>
#### `quote`
<div class="admonition quote" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Quote</p>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
</div>
### Special Types
#### `recommendation`
This format is used to generate recommendation cards. Notably it is missing the `<p class="admonition-title">` element.
**PhotoPrism** is a self-hostable platform for managing photos. It supports album syncing and sharing as well as a variety of other [features](https://photoprism.app/features). It does not include end-to-end encryption, so it's best hosted on a server that you trust and is under your control.
**PhotoPrism** is a self-hostable platform for managing photos. It supports album syncing and sharing as well as a variety of other [features](https://photoprism.app/features). It does not include end-to-end encryption, so it's best hosted on a server that you trust and is under your control.
This is a special type of collapsible admonition which is used to generate sections containing download links. It is only used within recommendation cards, as shown in the example above.
```markdown title="Downloads Section"
<details class="downloads" markdown>
<summary>Downloads</summary>
- [:simple-googleplay: Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ch.protonmail.android)
Throughout the site, you may see some admonitions formatted like the following examples:
``` markdown title="Admonition"
!!! note
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et euismod
nulla. Curabitur feugiat, tortor non consequat finibus, justo purus auctor
massa, nec semper lorem quam in massa.
```
<div class="result" markdown>
<div class="admonition note" markdown>
<p class="admonition-title">Note</p>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et euismod
nulla. Curabitur feugiat, tortor non consequat finibus, justo purus auctor
massa, nec semper lorem quam in massa.
</div>
</div>
``` markdown title="Collapsible Admonition"
??? example "Custom Title"
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et euismod
nulla. Curabitur feugiat, tortor non consequat finibus, justo purus auctor
massa, nec semper lorem quam in massa.
```
<div class="result" markdown>
<details class="example" markdown>
<summary>Custom Title</summary>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nulla et euismod
nulla. Curabitur feugiat, tortor non consequat finibus, justo purus auctor
massa, nec semper lorem quam in massa.
</details>
</div>
**This format is no longer used going forward** because it is incompatible with newer versions of our translation software at Crowdin. When adding a new page to the site, only the newer, HTML-based format should be used.
There is no rush to convert admonitions with the old format to the new format. Pages currently using this formatting should continue to work, but we will be updating them to use the newer, HTML-based format above over time as we continue to update the site.
description: A guide for journalists and website contributors on proper branding of the Privacy Guides wordmark and logo.
---
The name of the website is **Privacy Guides** and should **not** be changed to:
<div class="pg-red" markdown>
- PrivacyGuides
- Privacy guides
- PG
- PG.org
</div>
The name of the Subreddit is **r/PrivacyGuides** or **the Privacy Guides Subreddit**.
Additional branding guidelines can be found at [github.com/privacyguides/brand](https://github.com/privacyguides/brand)
## Trademark
"Privacy Guides" and the shield logo are trademarks owned by Jonah Aragon, unlimited usage is granted to the Privacy Guides project.
Without waiving any of its rights, Privacy Guides does not advise others on the scope of its intellectual property rights. Privacy Guides does not permit or consent to any use of its trademarks in any manner that is likely to cause confusion by implying association with or sponsorship by Privacy Guides. If you are aware of any such use, please contact Jonah Aragon at `jonah@privacyguides.org`. Consult your legal counsel if you have questions.
description: A guide for website contributors on using useful Git commit messages when making website change requests.
---
For our commit messages we follow the style provided by [Conventional Commits](https://conventionalcommits.org). Not all of those suggestions are appropriate for Privacy Guides, so the main ones we use are:
## Update to existing text
This example could be used for an item already on the site, but includes a minor update to the description.
```text
update: Add mention of security audit (#0000)
```
## Addition or removal of recommendations/pages
This example is for the addition or removal of an item. You may elaborate why it was removed in the commit paragraph below. Note the extra `!` to draw attention to a major change.
```text
update!: Remove foobar (#0000)
Foobar was removed due to it having numerious security issues and being unmaintained.
```
You can actually add a `!` to *any* of the types on this page to denote particularly large changes, but this is generally where it will be most appropriate.
## Feature/enhancement
For new features or enhancements to the site, e.g. things that have the `enhancements` label on GitHub, it may be appropriate to signify these with:
```text
feat: Add blah blah (#0000)
This change adds the forum topics to the main page
```
## Minor changes
Small changes that **don't affect the meaning** of the article, e.g. correcting a typo, fixing grammar, changing formatting/whitespace, CSS updates, etc.
```text
style: Typo correction in VPN overview
```
## Development-related types
These commit types are typically used for changes that won't be visible to the general audience.
We use `fix:` for changes that fix site related bugs. These things will usually have the `bug` label on GitHub.
```text
fix: Remove broken Invidious embeds (#0000)
```
We use `docs:` to denote changes to the developer documentation for this website, including (but not limited to) for example the README file, or most pages in `/docs/about` or `/docs/meta`:
description: A guide for website contributors on using Git effectively.
---
If you make changes to this website on GitHub.com's web editor directly, you shouldn't have to worry about this. If you are developing locally and/or are a long-term website editor (who should probably be developing locally!), consider these recommendations.
## Enable SSH Key Commit Signing
You can use an existing SSH key for signing, or [create a new one](https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/connecting-to-github-with-ssh/generating-a-new-ssh-key-and-adding-it-to-the-ssh-agent).
1. Configure your Git client to sign commits and tags by default (remove `--global` to only sign by default for this repo):
```bash
git config --global commit.gpgsign true
git config --global gpg.format ssh
git config --global tag.gpgSign true
```
2. Set your SSH key for signing in Git with the following command, substituting `/PATH/TO/.SSH/KEY.PUB` with the path to the public key you'd like to use, e.g. `/home/user/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub`:
Ensure you [add your SSH key to your GitHub account](https://docs.github.com/en/authentication/connecting-to-github-with-ssh/adding-a-new-ssh-key-to-your-github-account#adding-a-new-ssh-key-to-your-account) **as a Signing Key** (as opposed to or in addition to as an Authentication Key).
## Rebase on Git pull
Use `git pull --rebase` instead of `git pull` when pulling in changes from GitHub to your local machine. This way your local changes will always be "on top of" the latest changes on GitHub, and you avoid merge commits (which are disallowed in this repo).
You can set this to be the default behavior:
```bash
git config --global pull.rebase true
```
## Rebase from `main` before submitting a PR
If you are working on your own branch, run these commands before submitting a PR:
description: A guide on participating in Pull Request discussions.
---
Please refrain from using the general **Add a comment** box in GitHub PRs when leaving a comment or performing a review.
Comments that are left like this are not *threaded*, which makes it difficult to keep track of multiple conversations.
Comments that are instead left in the manner described below will have a built-in reply box to keep conversations in a single thread. These comments can also be marked as resolved afterwards, so that discussion can be tracked more easily.
## Commenting
To start a threaded comment, you should leave all comments under the :octicons-file-diff-16: **Files changed** tab in a PR.
To leave a *general* comment on a PR, click the :octicons-comment-16: comment icon to the right of a file:
If the PR has multiple files changed, comment on the primary or most relevant file changed, or comment on the first file if you can't decide.
To leave a comment *on a specific line* of a PR, hover over the line where you'd like to add a comment, and click the blue comment icon:
(Optionally, you can add a comment on multiple lines. You can click the line number of the first line you want to comment on and drag down to select a range of lines, then click the blue comment icon on the last line you want to comment on. Alternatively, you can click the blue comment icon next to the first line you want to comment on, then drag down to the last line you want to comment on.)
Then, type your comment and click **Add single comment**.
## Reviewing
When performing a review, follow the same steps as above, but click **Start a review** (and subsequently, **Add a review comment**) instead of **Add single comment**.
Then, click the green **Finish your review** button at the top of the page.
Do not leave any discussion comments in the *Leave a comment* box in the review finalization pop-up. You can leave it blank, or leave a short note if it will not require any follow-up. To comment on something that will require further discussion, add a comment on a file as described above instead.
description: A guide for website contributors on adding translations to our website.
---
Crowdin has good documentation, and we suggest looking at their [Getting Started](https://support.crowdin.com/crowdin-intro) guide. Our site is largely written in [Markdown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown), so it should be easy to contribute. This page contains some helpful pointers for translating some specific syntax you may encounter on our site.
Please join our localization room on Matrix ([#pg-i18n:aragon.sh](https://matrix.to/#/%23pg-i18n:aragon.sh)) if you have any additional questions, and read our [announcement blog post](https://blog.privacyguides.org/2023/02/26/i18n-announcement) for additional information about the project.
Note that the English version of the site is the primary version, meaning changes occur there first. If you notice a language falling behind the English version, please help out. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of all our translations. If you have a suggestion about content specific to your region, please open an issue or pull request to our [main repository](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org).
## Translation output
Translation software gets the translation quite accurate; however, you need to make sure the translated string is correct.
We have sometimes found that the syntax for inserting an image like above was missing the `![` or an extra space was placed between the text and the path, e.g. `] (` with no space between those characters. If a translation string is clearly not correct, we encourage you to **delete** it by pressing the trash icon [or vote](https://support.crowdin.com/enterprise/getting-started-for-volunteers/#voting-view) on which one you think sounds best. When invalid strings are deleted, they are removed from the organization's [translation memory](https://support.crowdin.com/enterprise/translation-memory), meaning that when the source string is seen again, it won't suggest the incorrect translation.
## Punctuation
For examples like the above admonitions, quotation marks, e.g.: `" "` must be used to specify string text. MkDocs will not correctly interpret other symbols i.e., `「 」` or `« »`. Other punctuation marks are fine for marking regular quotations within the text otherwise.
## Fullwidth alternatives and Markdown syntax
CJK writing systems tend to use alternative "fullwidth" variants of common symbols. These are different characters and cannot be used for Markdown syntax.
- Links must use regular parenthesis i.e. `(` (Left Parenthesis U+0028) and `)` (Right Parenthesis U+0029) and not `（` (Fullwidth Left Parenthesis U+FF08) or `）` (Fullwidth Right Parenthesis U+FF09)
- Indented quoted text must use `:` (Colon U+003A) and not `：` (Fullwidth Colon U+FF1A)
- Pictures must use `!` (Exclamation Mark U+0021) and not `！` (Fullwidth Exclamation Mark U+FF01)
description: A guide for website contributors on uploading images in the proper format and location.
---
If you make changes to this website that involve adding new images or replacing existing ones, here are a couple of general recommendations:
## Images
- We **prefer** SVG images, but if those do not exist we can use PNG images. Additionally, for cover images, we prefer that they are obtained from [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com) and are in the WebP format.
Company logos should be square if possible, and at least 200x200px if they are PNGs (non-vector images).
## Optimization
### PNG
Use the [OptiPNG](https://sourceforge.net/projects/optipng) tool to optimize PNG images:
```bash
optipng -o7 file.png
```
### SVG
#### Inkscape
[Scour](https://github.com/scour-project/scour) all SVG images.
In Inkscape:
1. File > Save As...
2. Set type to: Optimized SVG (*.svg)
In the **Options** tab:
- **Number of significant digits for coordinates** > **5**
- [x] Turn on **Shorten color values**
- [x] Turn on **Convert CSS attributes to XML attributes**
- [x] Turn on **Collapse groups**
- [x] Turn on **Create groups for similar attributes**
- [ ] Turn off **Keep editor data**
- [ ] Turn off **Keep unreferenced definitions**
- [x] Turn on **Work around renderer bugs**
In the **SVG Output** tab under **Document options**:
- [ ] Turn off **Remove the XML declaration**
- [x] Turn on **Remove metadata**
- [x] Turn on **Remove comments**
- [x] Turn on **Embedded raster images**
- [x] Turn on **Enable viewboxing**
In the **SVG Output** under **Pretty-printing**:
- [ ] Turn off **Format output with line-breaks and indentation**
- **Indentation characters** > Select **Space**
- **Depth of indentation** > **1**
- [ ] Turn off **Strip the "xml:space" attribute from the root SVG element**
In the **IDs** tab:
- [x] Turn on **Remove unused IDs**
- [ ] Turn off **Shorten IDs**
- **Prefix shortened IDs with** > `leave blank`
- [x] Turn on **Preserve manually created IDs not ending with digits**
- **Preserve the following IDs** > `leave blank`
- **Preserve IDs starting with** > `leave blank`
#### CLI
The same can be achieved with the [Scour](https://github.com/scour-project/scour) command:
```bash
scour --set-precision=5\
--create-groups \
--renderer-workaround \
--remove-descriptive-elements \
--enable-comment-stripping \
--enable-viewboxing \
--indent=space \
--nindent=1\
--no-line-breaks \
--enable-id-stripping \
--protect-ids-noninkscape \
input.svg output.svg
```
### WebP
Use the [`cwebp`](https://developers.google.com/speed/webp/docs/using) command to convert PNG or JPEG image files to WebP format:
description: Our official writing style handbook for website contributors.
---
Privacy Guides is written in American English, and you should refer to [APA Style guidelines](https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/grammar) when in doubt.
In general the [United States federal plain language guidelines](https://plainlanguage.gov/guidelines) provide a good overview of how to write clearly and concisely. We highlight a few important notes from these guidelines below.
## Writing for our audience
Privacy Guides' intended [audience](https://plainlanguage.gov/guidelines/audience) is primarily adults who use technology. Don't dumb down content as if you are addressing a middle-school class, but don't overuse complicated terminology about concepts average computer users wouldn't be familiar with.
### Address only what people want to know
People don't need overly complex articles with little relevance to them. Figure out what you want people to accomplish when writing an article, and only include those details.
> Tell your audience why the material is important to them. Say, “If you want a research grant, here’s what you have to do.” Or, “If you want to mine federal coal, here’s what you should know.” Or, “If you’re planning a trip to Rwanda, read this first.”
### Address people directly
We're writing *for* a wide variety of people, but we are writing *to* the person who is actually reading it. Use "you" to address the reader directly.
> More than any other single technique, using “you” pulls users into the information and makes it relevant to them.
>
> When you use “you” to address users, they are more likely to understand what their responsibility is.
Avoid calling people "users", in favor of "people", or a more specific description of the group of people you are writing for.
## Organizing content
Organization is key. Content should flow from most to least important information, and use headers as much as needed to logically separate different ideas.
- Limit the document to around five or six sections. Long documents should probably be broken up into separate pages.
- Mark important ideas with **bold** or *italics*.
> If you tell your reader what they’re going to read about, they’re less likely to have to read your paragraph again. Headings help, but they’re not enough. Establish a context for your audience before you provide them with the details.
>
> We often write the way we think, putting our premises first and then our conclusion. It may be the natural way to develop thoughts, but we wind up with the topic sentence at the end of the paragraph. Move it up front and let users know where you’re going. Don’t make readers hold a lot of information in their heads before getting to the point.
> Words matter. They are the most basic building blocks of written and spoken communication. Don’t complicate things by using jargon, technical terms, or abbreviations that people won’t understand.
We should try to avoid abbreviations where possible, but technology is full of abbreviations. In general, spell out the abbreviation/acronym the first time it is used on a page, and add the abbreviation to the abbreviation glossary file when it is used repeatedly.
> Kathy McGinty offers tongue-in-cheek instructions for bulking up your simple, direct sentences:
>
> > There is no escaping the fact that it is considered very important to note that a number of various available applicable studies ipso facto have generally identified the fact that additional appropriate nocturnal employment could usually keep juvenile adolescents off thoroughfares during the night hours, including but not limited to the time prior to midnight on weeknights and/or 2 a.m. on weekends.
>
>And the original, using stronger, simpler words:
>
> > More night jobs would keep youths off the streets.
## Be concise
> Unnecessary words waste your audience’s time. Great writing is like a conversation. Omit information that the audience doesn’t need to know. This can be difficult as a subject-matter expert, so it’s important to have someone look at the information from the audience’s perspective.
description: Information about our website license, acceptable use policy, and other important details.
---
## Legal Disclaimer
Privacy Guides is not a law firm. As such, the Privacy Guides website and contributors are not providing legal advice. The material and recommendations in our website and guides do not constitute legal advice nor does contributing to the website or communicating with Privacy Guides or other contributors about our website create an attorney-client relationship.
Running this website, like any human endeavor, involves uncertainty and trade-offs. We hope this website helps, but it may include mistakes and can’t address every situation. If you have any questions about your situation, we encourage you to do your own research, seek out other experts, and engage in discussions with the Privacy Guides community. If you have any legal questions, you should consult with your own legal counsel before moving forward.
Privacy Guides is an open-source project contributed to under licenses that include terms that, for the protection of the website and its contributors, make clear that the Privacy Guides project and website is offered "as-is", without warranty, and disclaiming liability for damages resulting from using the website or any recommendations contained within. Privacy Guides does not warrant or make any representations concerning the accuracy, likely results, or reliability of the use of the materials on the website or otherwise relating to such materials on the website or on any third-party sites linked on this site.
Privacy Guides additionally does not warrant that this website will be constantly available, or available at all.
## Licensing Overview
<div class="admonition danger" markdown>
The following is a human-readable summary of (and not a substitute for) the [license](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/blob/main/README.md#license).
</div>
Unless otherwise noted, all **content** on this website is released under the [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/tree/main/LICENSE). This means that you can use the human-readable content on this website for your own project, as long as you give appropriate credit to [Privacy Guides](https://www.privacyguides.org) including a link where technically possible, and you release your project under the same license. You may not do so in any way that suggests Privacy Guides endorses you or your use. You **may not** use the Privacy Guides brand trademarks in your own project without express approval from this project. Privacy Guides's brand trademarks include the "Privacy Guides" wordmark and shield logo.
The underlying **source code** used to generate this website and display that content is released under the [MIT License](https://github.com/privacyguides/privacyguides.org/tree/main/LICENSE-CODE).
This does not include third-party code embedded in the Privacy Guides code repository, or code where a superseding license is otherwise noted. The following are notable examples, but this list may not be all-inclusive:
* The [Bagnard](https://github.com/privacyguides/brand/tree/67166ed8b641d8ac1837d0b75329e02ed4056704/fonts/Bagnard) heading font is licensed under the [SIL Open Font License 1.1](https://github.com/privacyguides/brand/blob/67166ed8b641d8ac1837d0b75329e02ed4056704/fonts/Bagnard/LICENSE.txt).
* The [Public Sans](https://github.com/privacyguides/brand/tree/67166ed8b641d8ac1837d0b75329e02ed4056704/fonts/Public%20Sans) font used for most text on the site is licensed under the terms detailed [here](https://github.com/privacyguides/brand/blob/67166ed8b641d8ac1837d0b75329e02ed4056704/fonts/Public%20Sans/LICENSE.txt).
* The [DM Mono](https://github.com/privacyguides/brand/tree/67166ed8b641d8ac1837d0b75329e02ed4056704/fonts/DM%20Mono) font used for monospaced text on the site is licensed under the [SIL Open Font License 1.1](https://github.com/privacyguides/brand/blob/67166ed8b641d8ac1837d0b75329e02ed4056704/fonts/DM%20Mono/LICENSE.txt).
We believe that the logos and other images in `assets` obtained from third-party providers are either in the public domain or **fair use**. In a nutshell, legal [fair use doctrine](https://copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html) allows the use of copyrighted images in order to identify the subject for purposes of public comment. However, these logos and other images may still be subject to trademark laws in one or more jurisdictions. Before using this content, please ensure that it is used to identify the entity or organization that owns the trademark and that you have the right to use it under the laws which apply in the circumstances of your intended use. *When copying content from this website, you are solely responsible for ensuring that you do not infringe someone else's trademark or copyright.*
When you contribute to our website you are doing so under the above licenses, and you are granting Privacy Guides a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free, irrevocable license with the right to sublicense such rights through multiple tiers of sublicensees, to reproduce, modify, display, perform and distribute your contribution as part of our project.
## Acceptable Use
You may not use this website in any way that causes or may cause damage to the website or impairment of the availability or accessibility of Privacy Guides, or in any way which is unlawful, illegal, fraudulent, harmful, or in connection with any unlawful, illegal, fraudulent, or harmful purpose or activity.
You must not conduct any systematic or automated data collection activities on or in relation to this website without express written consent, including:
* Excessive Automated Scans
* Denial of Service Attacks
* Scraping
* Data Mining
* 'Framing' (IFrames)
---
*Portions of this notice itself were adopted from [opensource.guide](https://github.com/github/opensource.guide/blob/master/notices.md) on GitHub. That resource and this page itself are released under [CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).*
description: The real story behind the team transition from privacytools.io to privacyguides.org
---
In September 2021, every active contributor unanimously agreed to move from PrivacyTools to work on this site: Privacy Guides. This decision was made because PrivacyTools’ founder and controller of the domain name had disappeared for an extended period of time and could not be contacted.
Having built a reputable site and set of services on PrivacyTools.io, this caused grave concerns for the future of PrivacyTools, as any future disruption could wipe out the entire organization with no recovery method. This transition was communicated to the PrivacyTools community many months in advance via a variety of channels including its blog, Twitter, Reddit, and Mastodon to ensure the entire process went as smoothly as possible. We did this to ensure nobody was kept in the dark, which has been our modus operandi since our team was created, and to make sure Privacy Guides was recognized as the same reliable organization that PrivacyTools was before the transition.
After the organizational move was completed, the founder of PrivacyTools returned and began to spread misinformation about the Privacy Guides project. They continue to spread misinformation in addition to operating a paid link farm on the PrivacyTools domain. We are creating this page to clear up any misconceptions.
## What is PrivacyTools?
PrivacyTools was created in 2015 by "BurungHantu," who wanted to make a privacy information resource - helpful tools following the Snowden revelations. The site grew into a flourishing open-source project with [many contributors](https://github.com/privacytools/privacytools.io/graphs/contributors), some eventually given various organizational responsibilities, such as operating online services like Matrix and Mastodon, managing and reviewing changes to the site on GitHub, finding sponsors for the project, writing blog posts and operating social media outreach platforms like Twitter, etc.
Beginning in 2019, BurungHantu grew more and more distant from the active development of the website and communities, and began delaying payments he was responsible for related to the servers we operated. To avoid having our system administrator pay server costs out of their own pocket, we changed the donation methods listed on the site from BurungHantu's personal PayPal and crypto accounts to a new OpenCollective page on [October 31, 2019](https://web.archive.org/web/20210729184557/https://blog.privacytools.io/privacytools-io-joins-the-open-collective-foundation). This had the added benefits of making our finances completely transparent, a value we strongly believe in, and tax-deductible in the United States, because they were being held by the Open Collective Foundation 501(c)3. This change was unanimously agreed upon by the team and went uncontested.
## Why We Moved On
In 2020, BurungHantu's absence grew much more noticeable. At one point, we required the domain's nameservers to be changed to nameservers controlled by our system administrator to avoid future disruption, and this change was not completed for over a month after the initial request. He would disappear from the public chat and private team chat rooms on Matrix for months at a time, occasionally popping in to give some small feedback or promise to be more active before disappearing once again.
In October 2020, the PrivacyTools system administrator (Jonah) [left](https://web.archive.org/web/20210729190742/https://blog.privacytools.io/blacklight447-taking-over) the project because of these difficulties, handing control to another long-time contributor. Jonah had been operating nearly every PrivacyTools service and acting as the *de facto* project lead for website development in BurungHantu's absence, thus his departure was a significant change to the organization. At the time, because of these significant organizational changes, BurungHantu promised the remaining team he would return to take control of the project going forward. ==The PrivacyTools team reached out via several communication methods over the following months, but did not receive any response.==
## Domain Name Reliance
At the beginning of 2021, the PrivacyTools team grew worried about the future of the project, because the domain name was set to expire on 1st March 2021. The domain was ultimately renewed by BurungHantu with no comment.
The team’s concerns were not addressed, and we realized this would be a problem every year: If the domain expired it would have allowed it to be stolen by squatters or spammers, thus ruining the organization's reputation. We also would have had trouble reaching the community to inform them of what took place.
Without being in any contact with BurungHantu, we decided the best course of action would be to move to a new domain name while we still had guaranteed control over the old domain name, sometime before March 2022. This way, we would be able to cleanly redirect all PrivacyTools resources to the new site without any interruption in service. This decision was made many months in advance and communicated to the entire team in the hopes that BurungHantu would reach out and assure his continued support for the project, because with a recognizable brand name and large communities online, moving away from "PrivacyTools" was the least desirable possible outcome.
In mid-2021 the PrivacyTools team reached out to Jonah, who agreed to rejoin the team to help with the transition.
## Community Call to Action
At the end of July 2021, we [informed](https://web.archive.org/web/20210729184422/https://blog.privacytools.io/the-future-of-privacytools) the PrivacyTools community of our intention to choose a new name and continue the project on a new domain, to be [chosen](https://web.archive.org/web/20210729190935/https://aragon.cloud/apps/forms/cMPxG9KyopapBbcw) on 2nd August 2022. In the end, "Privacy Guides" was selected, with the `privacyguides.org` domain already owned by Jonah for a side-project from 2020 that went undeveloped.
## Control of r/privacytoolsIO
Simultaneously with the ongoing website issues at privacytools.io, the r/privacytoolsIO moderation team was facing challenges with managing the Subreddit. The Subreddit had always been operated mostly independently of the website's development, but BurungHantu was the primary moderator of the Subreddit as well, and he was the only moderator granted "Full Control" privileges. u/trai_dep was the only active moderator at the time, and [posted](https://reddit.com/comments/o9tllh) a request to Reddit's administrators on June 28, 2021, asking to be granted the primary moderator position and full control privileges, in order to make necessary changes to the Subreddit.
Reddit requires that Subreddits have active moderators. If the primary moderator is inactive for a lengthy period of time (such as a year) the primary moderation position can be re-appointed to the next moderator in line. For this request to have been granted, BurungHantu had to have been completely absent from all Reddit activity for a long period of time, which was consistent with his behaviors on other platforms.
> If you were removed as moderator from a subreddit through Reddit request it is because your lack of response and lack of activity qualified the subreddit for an r/redditrequest transfer.
>
> r/redditrequest is Reddit's way of making sure communities have active moderators and is part of the [Moderator Code of Conduct](https://redditinc.com/policies/moderator-code-of-conduct).
## Beginning the Transition
On September 14th, 2021, we [announced](https://blog.privacyguides.org/2021/09/14/welcome-to-privacy-guides) the beginning of our migration to this new domain:
> [...] we found it necessary to make this switch sooner rather than later to ensure people would find out about this transition as soon as possible. This gives us adequate time to transition the domain name, which is currently redirecting to `www.privacyguides.org`, and it hopefully gives everyone enough time to notice the change, update bookmarks and websites, etc.
This change [entailed:](https://reddit.com/comments/pnhn4a)
- Redirecting `www.privacytools.io` to [www.privacyguides.org](https://www.privacyguides.org).
- Archiving the source code on GitHub to preserve our past work and issue tracker, which we continued to use for months of future development of this site.
- Posting announcements to our Subreddit and various other communities informing people of the official change.
- Formally closing privacytools.io services, like Matrix and Mastodon, and encouraging existing users to migrate as soon as possible.
Things appeared to be going smoothly, and most of our active community made the switch to our new project exactly as we hoped.
## Following Events
Roughly a week following the transition, BurungHantu returned online for the first time in nearly a year, however nobody on our team was willing to return to PrivacyTools because of his historic unreliability. Rather than apologize for his prolonged absence, he immediately went on the offensive and positioned the transition to Privacy Guides as an attack against him and his project. He subsequently [deleted](https://reddit.com/comments/pp9yie/comment/hd49wbn) many of these posts when it was pointed out by the community that he had been absent and abandoned the project.
At this point, BurungHantu claimed he wanted to continue working on privacytools.io on his own and requested that we remove the redirect from `www.privacytools.io` to [www.privacyguides.org](https://www.privacyguides.org). We obliged and requested that he keep the subdomains for Matrix, Mastodon, and PeerTube active for us to run as a public service to our community for at least a few months, in order to allow users on those platforms to easily migrate to other accounts. Due to the federated nature of the services we provided, they were tied to specific domain names making it very difficult to migrate (and in some cases impossible).
Unfortunately, because control of the r/privacytoolsIO Subreddit was not returned to BurungHantu at his demand (further information below), those subdomains were [cut off](https://reddit.com/comments/pymthv/comment/hexwrps) at the beginning of October, ending any migration possibilities to any users still using those services.
Following this, BurungHantu made false accusations about Jonah stealing donations from the project. BurungHantu had over a year since the alleged incident occurred, and yet he never made anyone aware of it until after the Privacy Guides migration. BurungHantu has been repeatedly asked for proof and to comment on the reason for his silence by the team [and the community](https://twitter.com/TommyTran732/status/1526153536962281474), and has not done so.
BurungHantu also made a [twitter post](https://twitter.com/privacytoolsIO/status/1510560676967710728) alleging that an "attorney" had reached out to him on Twitter and was providing advice, in another attempt to bully us into giving him control of our Subreddit, and as part of his smear campaign to muddy the waters surrounding the launch of Privacy Guides while pretending to be a victim.
## PrivacyTools.io Now
As of September 25th 2022 we are seeing BurungHantu's overall plans come to fruition on privacytools.io, and this is the very reason we decided to create this explainer page today. The website he is operating appears to be a heavily SEO-optimized version of the site which recommends tools in exchange for financial compensation. Very recently, IVPN and Mullvad, two VPN providers near-universally [recommended](../tools/services/vpn/index.md) by the privacy community and notable for their stance against affiliate programs were removed from PrivacyTools. In their place? NordVPN, Surfshark, ExpressVPN, and hide.me; Giant VPN corporations with untrustworthy platforms and business practices, notorious for their aggressive marketing and affiliate programs.
==**PrivacyTools has become exactly the type of site we [warned against](https://web.archive.org/web/20210729205249/https://blog.privacytools.io/the-trouble-with-vpn-and-privacy-reviews) on the PrivacyTools blog in 2019.**== We've tried to keep our distance from PrivacyTools since the transition, but their continued harassment towards our project and now their absurd abuse of the credibility their brand gained over 6 years of open-source contributions is extremely troubling to us. Those of us actually fighting for privacy are not fighting against each other, and are not getting our advice from the highest bidder.
## r/privacytoolsIO Now
After the launch of [r/PrivacyGuides](https://reddit.com/r/privacyguides), it was impractical for u/trai_dep to continue moderating both Subreddits, and with the community on-board with the transition, r/privacytoolsIO was [made](https://reddit.com/comments/qk7qrj) a restricted sub in a post on November 1st, 2021:
> [...] The growth of this Sub was the result of great effort, across several years, by the PrivacyGuides.org team. And by every one of you.
>
> A Subreddit is a great deal of work to administer and moderate. Like a garden, it requires patient tending and daily care. It's not a task for dilettantes or commitment-challenged people. It can’t thrive under a gardener who abandons it for several years, then shows up demanding this year’s harvest as their tribute. It's unfair to the team formed years ago. It’s unfair to you. [...]
Subreddits do not belong to anybody, and they especially do not belong to brand-holders. They belong to their communities, and the community and its moderators made the decision to support the move to r/PrivacyGuides.
In the months since, BurungHantu has threatened and begged for returning Subreddit control to his account in [violation](https://reddit.com/r/redditrequest/wiki/top_mod_removal) of Reddit rules:
> Retaliation from any moderator with regards to removal requests is disallowed.
For a community with many thousands of remaining subscribers, we feel that it would be incredibly disrespectful to return control of that massive platform to the person who abandoned it for over a year, and who now operates a website that we feel provides very low-quality information. Preserving the years of past discussions in that community is more important to us, and thus u/trai_dep and the rest of the Subreddit moderation team has made the decision to keep r/privacytoolsIO as-is.
## OpenCollective Now
Our fundraising platform, OpenCollective, is another source of contention. Our position is that OpenCollective was put in place by our team and managed by our team to fund services we currently operate and which PrivacyTools no longer does. We [reached out](https://opencollective.com/privacyguides/updates/transitioning-to-privacy-guides) to all of our donors regarding our move to Privacy Guides, and we were unanimously supported by our sponsors and community.
Thus, the funds in OpenCollective belong to Privacy Guides, they were given to our project, and not the owner of a well known domain name. In the announcement made to donors on September 17th, 2021, we offered refunds to any donor who disagrees with the stance we took, but nobody has taken us up on this offer:
> If any sponsors or backers disagree with or feel misled by these recent events and would like to request a refund given these highly unusual circumstances, please get in touch with our project admin by emailing `jonah@triplebit.net`.
## Further Reading
This topic has been discussed extensively within our communities in various locations, and it seems likely that most people reading this page will already be familiar with the events leading up to the move to Privacy Guides. Some of our previous posts on the matter may have extra detail we omitted here for brevity. They have been linked below for the sake of completion.
- [June 28, 2021 request for control of r/privacytoolsIO](https://reddit.com/comments/o9tllh)
- [July 27, 2021 announcement of our intentions to move on the PrivacyTools blog, written by the team](https://web.archive.org/web/20210729184422/https://blog.privacytools.io/the-future-of-privacytools)
- [Sept 13, 2021 announcement of the beginning of our transition to Privacy Guides on r/privacytoolsIO](https://reddit.com/pnql46)
- [Sept 17, 2021 announcement on OpenCollective from Jonah](https://opencollective.com/privacyguides/updates/transitioning-to-privacy-guides)
- [Sept 30, 2021 Twitter thread detailing most of the events now described on this page](https://twitter.com/privacy_guides/status/1443633412800225280)
- [Oct 1, 2021 post by u/dng99 noting subdomain failure](https://reddit.com/comments/pymthv/comment/hexwrps)
- [Apr 2, 2022 response by u/dng99 to PrivacyTools' accusatory blog post](https://reddit.com/comments/tuo7mm/comment/i35kw5a)
- [May 16, 2022 response by @TommyTran732 on Twitter](https://twitter.com/TommyTran732/status/1526153497984618496)
- [Sep 3, 2022 post on Techlore's forum by @dngray](https://discuss.techlore.tech/t/has-anyone-seen-this-video-wondering-your-thoughts/792/20)
description: We run a number of web services to test out features and promote cool decentralized, federated, and/or open-source projects.
---
# Privacy Guides Services
We run a number of web services to test out features and promote cool decentralized, federated, and/or open-source projects. Many of these services are available to the public and are detailed below.
[:material-comment-alert: Report an issue](https://discuss.privacyguides.net/c/services/2){ class="md-button md-button--primary" }
- Availability: Invite-Only. Access may be granted upon request to Privacy Guides team members, Matrix moderators, third-party Matrix community administrators, Matrix bot operators, and other individuals in need of a reliable Matrix presence.
- Your information is never shared with a third party, it stays on servers we control
- Your personal data is never saved, we only collect data in aggregate
- No client-side JavaScript is used
Because of these facts, keep in mind our statistics may be inaccurate. It is a useful tool to compare different dates with each other and analyze overall trends, but the actual numbers may be far off from reality. In other words they're *precise* statistics, but not *accurate* statistics.
meta_title: "Guides and Tools for Privacy Activists"
description: Privacy Guides' Activism section contains tools to support the community in its privacy advocacy and activism effort, both for individuals and organizations.
hide:
- toc
- footer
cover: activism/banner-activism.webp
breadcrumbs: false
cascade:
type: docs
---
The **Guides and Tools for Privacy Activists** project from [*Privacy Guides*](../about/_index.md) offers a new way to empower the digital rights community.
This section contains information to help you become a better defender of privacy rights, both for individuals and organizations.
## We must fight for privacy rights collectively
Fighting to improve our privacy cannot *only* be a matter of individual protections.
When [regulations keep attacking](https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/09/08/chat-control-must-be-stopped/) the tools and services we rely on to protect our personal information, when corporations [exploit our data](../wiki/basics/common-threats/index.md#surveillance-as-a-business-model) more aggressively every day, and when platforms exponentially [erode online pseudonymity](https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/10/15/real-name-policies/), we must broaden our reach to fight for our rights.
==For privacy to become a valued and respected human right, we must work together== to defend privacy rights as a community.
This section will progressively grow with more tools to support the community in its privacy advocacy and activism effort. The Privacy Activist Toolbox and the DPA Directory are the first parts of this new development.
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