Privacy Guides

Privacy Guides (privacyguides.org) is a community-maintained website that evaluates and recommends privacy-respecting software, services, and practices across categories including browsers, VPNs, email providers, messaging applications, operating systems, and hardware. It provides transparent, criteria-based assessments of privacy tools.

For OSINT investigators, Privacy Guides serves as an authoritative reference for evaluating which tools genuinely provide privacy protection versus those with marketing claims unsupported by technical reality. When configuring investigation environments, Privacy Guides' criteria-based evaluations help investigators select tools that actually protect operational security.

The VPN section is particularly relevant — Privacy Guides evaluates VPN providers against specific criteria including no-log audits, open-source client software, payment anonymity, and jurisdiction. This analysis helps investigators select VPN providers that are more likely to honor privacy claims during legal process.

Browser recommendations from Privacy Guides explain which browser hardening configurations genuinely reduce fingerprinting and tracking, with technical justification for each recommendation. This is valuable for configuring investigation browsers that maintain consistent anonymization.

The encrypted email and messaging sections help investigators select communication tools that match their security requirements — from journalists using end-to-end encryption for source protection to investigators using secure channels for sensitive case communication.

Privacy Guides' hardware recommendations, particularly around degoogled Android phones and hardware security keys, inform investigators setting up dedicated investigation devices with strong security properties.

For understanding a subject's likely privacy tools — particularly privacy-conscious subjects — Privacy Guides represents the recommendations that the privacy community follows. Subjects who actively protect their privacy likely use tools on or similar to those recommended by Privacy Guides.

Document any Privacy Guides recommendations incorporated into investigation environment setup as part of operational security methodology documentation.