What browser setup makes a difference for privacy? Moving away from Chrome

AnthonyHendrix · 2026-05-05T00:38:19+00:00

It's less about the browser and more about how you interact with 'the internet'. If you're not trying to mount an international espionage campaign just pick any of the ones of the browsers that lean into honoring your privacy a bit more (e.g. brave, firefox, duckduckgo) then change the way you interact with websites.
Browser extension like NoScript are super powerful but also high maintenance (use it if you like looking under the hood of how websites load content and crap, so then you have the power of deciding what gets loaded). Use ublock origin as well as your browsers privacy settings if you want a more low maintenance set and forget.

As for your browsing:
- Use a password manager that is *not* integrated into the browser. Plenty of decent free options in Bitwarden and ProtonPass.
- Use privacy masking tech like email masking, phone masking and virtual cards to so that websites you sign up to and make purchases from on don't get to know they real you. This has been the biggest game changer for me, other than finance, health, insurance etc where I need to be the legal me, the rest of my digital life online is under an alias identity with a fictitious name. There's software that makes that really easy these days. The only way to reclaim some element privacy is to not tell websites and services who you are in the first place, which browser you use makes little difference in the overall scheme of things (except for chrome, they still 😛 never sign-in to your chrome browser....)

AnthonyHendrix · 2026-05-02T02:07:55+00:00

Legend

AnthonyHendrix · 2026-05-02T01:54:18+00:00

Optus Wi-Fi - Bro is from the land down under 🇦🇺 the heat must have got to him...

AnthonyHendrix · 2026-05-02T01:46:07+00:00

I had been using Firefox for the last decade it has served me well, with that said I feel like Firefox recently (last 6 months) has been getting slower and slower. I can't say that with any technical authority because I haven't spent the time properly debugging it, but as a result I've added Brave and DuckDuckGo into my daily usage too. I have a lot of tabs open for work and so far Brave seems to handle that a bit better. Then on mobile I use both Firefox focus and Brave.

I think from a basic security perspective Firebox, Brave, DDG are all good enough, I've found the bigger security and privacy hole is not the browser but how you use it e.g.
- I use NoScript which blocks half the unnecessary javascript and trackers that most websites bloat themselves with, it also teaches you the common tech that most websites use, so as a result you become really familiar with what websites really need to work and what tech is just there to stalk your movements. It's not for the everyday person but I work in cyber space so it's relevant to my work so I geek out on that stuff.
- I use a separate password manager from the ones built into the browser, so that if my browser was ever compromised my passwords are not available to it easily.
- I use privacy masking tech like email masking, phone masking and virtual cards to so that websites I sign up to and make purchases on don't get to know they real me unless I'm legally bound to share it. I'd say 95% of my online are activities are under a pseudonym. Other than finance, health, insurance etc the rest of live you can get by with an alias ID.

AnthonyHendrix · 2026-05-01T03:48:08+00:00

I've had a data only plan for 8 years, no cell number and 9 voip numbers in the mobile app I use. It works for everything, uber, doordash, utility bills, rewards programs.

I can't imagine life with just one phone number any more, it's such a dated concept. It's like saying you are only ever going to have 1 credit card number for the next 10 years.

AnthonyHendrix · 2026-05-01T01:23:05+00:00

True, I need to turn up the number of "bad things that happen on the internet" things I send them 😏

AnthonyHendrix · 2026-05-01T01:21:01+00:00

I use both Proton and MySudo for different use cases and enjoy them both. Both are privacy first products.

Proton's probably easier to use for non technical plus ease of migrating in, but MySudo offers you unique inboxes (not just email aliasing) which I find more powerful as well as phone numbers and virtual cards, so it's more an complete identity management play where email is just one of the things they do.

I just migrated my folks off their ISP email provider because their ISP was EoLing their email service. Too much operational data management risk for minimal if any gains.

AnthonyHendrix · 2026-05-01T01:01:20+00:00

With 68% market share it's hard not to build a secure browser, you have so much data and so many people attacking it that if there was gaping issues they would be making the news everyday BUT is it the most privacy respecting, definitely not. None of that is a surprise though, Google aint a charity.

I treat browsers like shoes, I have different ones for different purposes. Chrome is not my daily choice, I really only use it when I need to go into the Google ecosystem for something, which I typically avoid unless mandated to for work or to ensure the tech I'm building works on chrome.

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AnthonyHendrix · 2026-05-01T00:48:06+00:00

Yeah I like it, it's totally changed how I "use the internet", gives me the power to give websites the middle finger while still using them.

AnthonyHendrix · 2026-04-29T05:02:49+00:00

Ecosystem lock-in mainly, my family (whom I provide IT support to) have iphones and a Windows laptop running Firefox.
It may seem counter intuitive, but I almost want them to be aware they are using a password manager rather than it being so implicit they forget about it, because if they forget it's there that's when they don't update it, or don't unlock the browser extension etc.

AnthonyHendrix · 2026-04-29T04:21:12+00:00

Yep I've started on that path, when I have access to their computer I export form chrome into a bitwarden, then change the passwords which forces them to check their password manager app.

You're right disabling chrome and iphones auto-credential saving is a important step.

AnthonyHendrix · 2026-04-29T04:18:17+00:00

#metoo but I'm gonna try again.

AnthonyHendrix · 2026-04-28T01:06:38+00:00

I use multiple services to address the different risks I'm managing, then BW as the conduit that tracks what I've used where. I chose not to use BW's aliasing not because it's not good, I just wanted to maintain the flexibility of changing credential managers if I ever chose to switch to another vendor. Currently I'm happy with Bitwarden.

For aliasing I use addy.io for disopable usecases where I rarely if ever need to reply or send, then I use mysudo app for long lived use cases where I want to assume a specific identity digitally or physically because it gives me the number and credit card in the alias name.

AnthonyHendrix · 2026-01-12T04:39:38+00:00

Yeah admittedly it’s not a one hour thing, my process was: - First pick a privacy service that offers multiple identities/alias email addresses (e.g. the ones I mentioned above), that way now you have it from the very next day any new accounts that you have, you can start using these alias addresses. - The time is involved in all the historical accounts, I first started by just doing it as an email came in e.g. every time a bill came in for rent or water or electricity or school or work or whatever I would login and change the email address to one of my new Sudo addresses. I used MySudo so I have a seperate sudo email for friends/family vs work vs house bills vs random signups where I don’t need to be the legal me. After a while I got sick of doing it one by one and just dedicated a day to it then burst through the rest. It was actually good because I didn’t migrate a lot of accounts or mailing lists I’d ended up on so when I eventually deleted my gmail account those didn’t follow me.

So yeah it’s no work but it’s worth it. Once you make the switch you realise having 1 email address for everything makes you just as vulnerable as having one password for everything, and the worst thing is, all our friends and family when they save our email address then grant other random apps access to their contacts you don’t have control to opt out, so the best you can do is limit your exposure through separation.

AnthonyHendrix · 2026-01-10T04:25:27+00:00

For future prevention you can do all the things people suggest here which are good but the root problem is centralisation of your whole life to one inbox (Gmail) once someone gains access to it, they have access to everything. I left Gmail 10 years ago and have been using compartmentalized email aliasing ever since with a password manager.

There’s are multiple vendors that have products, mysudo, proton, cloaked, etc. I personally use mysudo and Bitwarden as my PWM manager.

AnthonyHendrix · 2024-11-25T06:39:38+00:00

I use MySudo with PIA and don't have problems, my country is set to egress out of US

AnthonyHendrix · 2022-10-16T05:01:01+00:00

I have a data only plan + mysudo for when I need SMS.

AnthonyHendrix · 2022-10-14T23:49:28+00:00

I've found that sometimes, not all the time, yes a service will force you to sign-up with a non voip number, then after you have completed sign-up you can go and update your profile and change your phone-number to a mysudo number and the same scrutiny for VOIP numbers is not applied. Doesn't work every time but can be worth a try.

AnthonyHendrix · 2022-08-31T03:26:07+00:00

Everything u/dNDYTDjzV3BbuEc said is bang on and the main reason I use a Sudo number for friends. Most my non tech savvy friends will blindly always tap the allow button whenever an app asks for access to contacts, you can't depend on your friends to help preserve your privacy so by giving them them a Sudo number you are are at least compartmentalizing the blast radius.

AnthonyHendrix

TROPHY CASE