Privacy Tools

PrivacyTools (privacytools.io) is a privacy-focused resource website that catalogs and evaluates privacy-enhancing software, services, and practices. Similar to Privacy Guides (which evolved from this project), it provides recommendations for browsers, VPNs, email providers, operating systems, and other tools evaluated for privacy characteristics.

For OSINT investigators, PrivacyTools provides a community-curated reference for privacy tools relevant to configuring secure investigation environments and understanding the tools that privacy-conscious subjects may use.

The tool recommendations cover the main categories relevant to investigation operational security: anonymous browsing (browsers, extensions, Tor usage), VPN selection, encrypted communication, secure operating systems, and hardware recommendations. Understanding which tools meet community privacy standards helps investigators make informed environment configuration decisions.

When investigating targets who are technically privacy-conscious — journalists, activists, security researchers, or criminals with good operational security awareness — PrivacyTools represents the ecosystem of tools they are likely to employ. This understanding helps investigators assess the likely effectiveness of subjects' privacy measures and identify potential weak points.

PrivacyTools' educational content explains why certain tools provide privacy protection and what specific threats they address — knowledge that helps investigators build accurate mental models of target operational security postures.

The historical relationship between PrivacyTools and Privacy Guides (the latter emerged from a community split over the former's direction) means both sites cover similar ground with some differences in tool selection and criteria.

Note that some PrivacyTools recommendations may be less current than Privacy Guides, which has been more actively maintained since the community reorganization. Cross-reference both sites when evaluating specific tools.

Document any PrivacyTools recommendations incorporated into investigation procedures as part of operational security methodology records.