I mean, exactly how invasive are default operating systems? (Like Windows, Mac, Chrome OS, Android, iOS) Do they log your keystrokes, log passwords, capture screen, upload your photos, videos, or audio? (Assuming you aren’t a target of government) Is it even possible for the average person who doesn’t feel comfortable messing with installing operating systems to have any privacy?
Privacy is not binary. There are degrees of privacy that can be achieved. Where you would like to be is totally based on your personal situation. If you are a beginner, understand that privacy is a journey.
Regarding which OSes you could use for your computer if Linux is not an option:
Windows in my experience is the worst offender when it comes to telemetry. It is so ingrained in the OS that you’ll never be certain there isn’t any telemetry regardless of the measures you take. MacOS on the other hand can be configured in such of way that Apple will have very little if any telemetry on you. It also has good permission controls which would cover things like screen capture and logging of keystrokes which you mentioned above. You could do the following:
- Purchase a Macbook
- Opt out of using an Apple Account (as of today it’s optional)
- Opt out of using iCloud
- Opt out of any telemetry
- Turn on built-in firewall
- Turn on disk encryption
- Install Lulu or Little Snitch to block any Apple telemetry
This alone will probably put you in a better position than 99% of people (not an actual statistic).
I’m not a Mac guy, but I get the sense that using a Mac without engaging in any of Apple’s ecosystem would result in a very degraded experience
It might be degraded comparing to default experience but it’s not like you are missing something that you have on other OS. I mean, you can’t iMessage on Linux, right?
Agreed. I was using Apple products for more than a decade before switching to Linux and Android, and I opted out of several of their products long before I started considering the privacy aspects of things. For example, I found the experience of using something like iPhoto to be very lackluster. I reluctantly ended up using iCloud due to the superior pricing compared to Dropbox, which I used before. That was a particular nightmare when migrating away from the Apple “ecosystem”.
I’m sure their products cater to many users preferences, but I’m not one of those, and had a better experience using other products. That should’ve made me jump ship way earlier than I did, but a combination of cost (by the time I would’ve changed, I had already purchased a new MacBook which I ended up using for about 6 years) and inertia.
You have some margin to work with. Of course it’s not going to be as effective than switching OS but you can use privacy focused firewall. For example Portmaster on windows or tracker control on Android.
These firewall will try to block as much telemetry as possible.
You should also be cautious about what you install on your system, opensource app usually have a better track record regarding privacy.
Default OSs are very invasive. Windows, Mac and iOS are constantly spying on everything you do and stock Android is only as private as the apps it comes with which include things like Google Play Services - an app so baked into the system it can only be disabled through adb/root
If you want to read into this - Louis Rossmann made a video on this and this is the paper he mentioned.
possible for the average person who doesn’t feel comfortable messing with installing operating systems to have any privacy?
Yes, depends on how far you are willing to take it.
Replace default apps with FOSS (F-droid)
Delete or disable defaut apps through developer options/adb
Limit the number of permissions you give to apps (your calculator shouldn’t have access to internet or your camera)
Don’t install apps that you don’t trust/need
Block app’s access to the internet with a firewall
Check out r/degoogle on Reddit for many useful resources
For Windows/iOS, etc.: change settings to be more private: give less permissions and turn off telemetry wherever possible.
If you think that’s not enough, consider dual booting a Linux distro like Linux Mint Cinnamon (easy to set up and very beginer-friendly). If you do that you can learn Linux and keep your private data there instead of on Windows/iOS
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=CE0EB5bXj14
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
Mac is less intrusive than Windows. Windows 10 is a whole lot less intrusive than Windows 11. You can lock Windows 10 down even more if you use Shut Up 10. It’s an amazing piece of freeware. Just be aware that Windows will reset a lot of your options after major updates.
Duck Duck Go is more secure than any other search engine and browser. Firefox is next in the list if you’re not on a Mac. Get uBlock Origin and NextDNS.io.
Don’t give your real information to companies when possible. Don’t browse the web logged into Google, Facebook, Reddit, TikTok, etc.
I would say there’s an argument to be made against duckduckgo with how they’re not open source, and the whole allowing Microsoft trackers deal, but it is definitely a better option than google or bing. I don’t understand why you’re mentioning their browser however, as there are definitely much better alternatives.
Their browser runs in permanent privacy mode and blocks all tracking scripts and cookies by default. You can configure Firefox to act the same way, and it’s a better browser overall, but I figured that anyone who knows how to do that wouldn’t be asking the question, so recommending DDG browser is an easy solution. Plus it has a cool window burn animation!
You can buy computers and phones with those OSes preinstalled, so it’s not necessarily “custom”. Otherwise, no.
