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Tutorials

How To Improve Your Privacy and Security on Mastodon

Illustration of a mastodon mascot pointing at a padlock icon in a cheerful way. Above is the Mastodon logo over a purple background.

  1. Mastodon mascot by @dopatwo@mastodon.social and Mastodon logo used with permission from Mastodon gGmbH. This site is not otherwise affiliated with Mastodon gGmbH.

Increasingly, more and more people have joined Mastodon in recent years. The advantages provided by a decentralized network and using open-source software maintained by a nonprofit organization are undeniable. Mastodon offers much more robust protections for your privacy than commercial social media platforms do. This tutorial will show you how to make the most of it.

Creating a Tricked-Out Monero Server with TrueNAS

A cover image for this post showing an illustration of a NAS and stacks of coins imprinted with the Monero logo

In this guide, we will walk you through setting up a very powerful Monero server on TrueNAS. By completing these steps, you will be able to connect to your own self-hosted Monero node with the official Monero wallet and Cake Wallet, and you will be able to connect to your own self-hosted Monero LWS server with Edge Wallet and MyMonero.

KeePassXC + YubiKey: How to set up a local-only password manager

Illustration showing a laptop computer with the KeePassXC logo on it. On the right is a green plus sign and a photo of a YubiKey.

If you are looking for a good remote password manager you can use from anywhere, there are plenty of excellent options to choose from. However, if you prefer to only store your passwords locally, KeePassXC is what you need. In this tutorial, we will set up KeePassXC to work with YubiKey as an additional factor to secure your local-only password database.

How to Clear Your Browser History on Chrome, Firefox, and Other Browsers

Article cover photo showing baked cookies

Your browsing data — such as cache, cookies, and browsing history — can accumulate over time, potentially damaging your privacy. Whether you trying to free up storage, limit tracking, or protect yourself from digital forensics, clearing browsing data is an important first step on your privacy journey. In this guide, we will explain how to clear your browsing data on five popular web browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Brave, and Edge.

Using Tails When Your World Doesn't Feel Safe Anymore

Photo of a hand plugging a USB stick into a laptop and the Tails logo under it.

There is a growing number of people who no longer feel safe in their own home or country. Whatever the reason, many people might not feel safe to browse certain topics online. With all the information getting collected for each internet search, it is difficult to access sometime vital information without leaving a trace. These digital footprints might not threaten your personal safety if you are living with a supportive family, and in a democratic and free country. However, there are situations where someone might be put in great danger simply for looking at a website.

The Protesters' Guide to Smartphone Security

Article cover photo showing a phone icon over a protest

For most protesters, activists, and journalists, your smartphone is an essential tool you depend on for organizing with your peers, accessing and distributing information, and helping others. It also represents a great risk, as a tool that is easily appropriated by authorities for targeted and mass surveillance.

Signal Configuration and Hardening Guide

Signal is a widely regarded instant messaging service that is not only easy to use but is also private and secure. Signal's strong end-to-end encryption implementation and metadata protections provide a level of assurance that only you and your intended recipients are able to read communications.

Sandboxing Applications on Desktop Linux

Some sandboxing solutions for desktop Linux distributions do exist, however they are not as strict as those found in macOS or ChromeOS. Applications installed from the package manager (dnf, apt, etc.) typically have no sandboxing or confinement whatsoever. Below are a few projects that aim to solve this problem: