Privacy Tips from the Threema Team

If you search the Internet for tips on protecting your online privacy, you’ll find plenty: set a unique password for each service, download updates as soon as possible, and use privacy-friendly alternatives to Big Tech. That’s certainly a great start, but there’s more to it. In this post, we’ve compiled some of the best privacy tips from the Threema team – ranging from general advice to very specific measures.

Protecting your online privacy doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. Plenty of guides on the topic show that this is possible, and even a simple search on your preferred search engine (bonus points if it’s not Google) will give you good results.

If you want to start with the basics, you’ll find what you’re looking for in the “Short Guide to Digital Self-Defense” of Switzerland’s civil rights and consumer protection organization “Digitale Gesellschaft,” for example. In addition to basic explanations, the guide provides a list of privacy-friendly alternatives to Google, WhatsApp, and others. The Privacy Checkup website also offers a list of recommendations for software that reliably protects your privacy.

At Threema, we don’t just focus on privacy professionally; we also prioritize it in our personal lives. We asked our team for their best tips and gathered a list that goes well beyond the basics. From general tips to those requiring more technical know-how, consider this list as inspiration to further reduce your digital footprint.

Small Changes, Big Impact

• Think about what information a service actually needs: Many providers ask for data that isn’t necessary for the service to work. By providing only what is absolutely necessary, you reduce your digital footprint and prevent unnecessary profiling. For example, your order will still arrive even if you only provide your last name.

• Shop online anonymously: Search for products in private mode, and, ideally, place orders without creating a customer account. In some cases, this can prevent stores from creating a long-term profile of your interests or adjusting prices based on your user behavior.

• Don’t use your browser’s autofill feature: Autofill features store personal data in your browser. This poses a security risk if someone gains access to your computer or malware reads your data.

• Automatically reject cookies: Tools like Consent-O-Matic automatically reject tracking consent on websites. This saves time and ensures you don’t accidentally disclose too much data.

The Right Tools

• Use alternatives to Google Search: Privacy-friendly search engines like DuckDuckGo, Brave Search, or Startpage do not store personal data about your queries and do not create user profiles. This prevents you from being tracked via targeted ads and ensures you receive unbiased results.

• Use a trustworthy VPN: A VPN like Mullvad masks your IP address and hides your Internet connection from service providers. This makes it much harder for third parties to track your location and browsing behavior.

• Use calendar and reminder apps that store data locally or use end-to-end encryption: This ensures that neither the provider nor hackers can access your private appointments and reminders. The data is either stored only on your device or encrypted in such a way that only you can view the content.

• Use CryptPad instead of Microsoft Word: CryptPad is a tool for shared documents where all content is end-to-end encrypted. This means that neither the provider nor third parties can read your texts – unlike with Google Docs or Microsoft Word.

Securing Your Smartphone

• Use GrapheneOS: GrapheneOS is a highly secure Android variant that prioritizes security and privacy. It does not include any Google services and thus protects users from Google’s data collection.

• On GrapheneOS, allow Internet access only for absolutely necessary apps: With GrapheneOS, you can completely disable Internet access for apps, even if the app actually requests it. This prevents programs from secretly sending data to servers in the background, even though they could function offline.

• Use iCloud Private Relay on iOS: This feature masks your IP address and DNS requests in Safari. This makes it more difficult for websites – and even for Apple – to track your exact browsing behavior and location.

• Enable Advanced Data Protection on iOS: With Advanced Data Protection, almost all of your iCloud data – photos, notes, backups – is end-to-end encrypted, so that even Apple no longer has access to it. You alone hold the key to your data.

• Only grant location access and sensor permissions when absolutely necessary: Many apps request permissions they don’t actually need to function. By restricting these permissions, you prevent movement or location profiles from being secretly created in the background.

Strategically Protect Your Communication and Identity

• Switch to encrypted communication channels: If you’re contacted via insecure channels like email, suggest moving the conversation to an end-to-end encrypted channel. This ensures that no third parties can read the contents of your conversation.

• Only share read receipts with specific people in Threema: In the Threema app, you can individually specify who is allowed to see whether you’ve already read a message. This helps you protect your privacy and avoid the pressure of having to reply to every message immediately.

Protection on the Go and in Everyday Life

• Use cash: Unlike cards or apps, cash payments leave no digital traces. This prevents banks or payment service providers from creating a detailed profile of your purchasing behavior. This ensures your spending remains private and anonymous.

• Get a local SIM card when traveling: A local SIM prevents your home provider or foreign network operators from tracking your movements without interruption. This way, you avoid having to provide your personal phone number to local services, and you can use the new number to temporarily sign up for messaging apps that are useful for travel but require a phone number.

• Create new accounts on booking platforms for each trip: This prevents platforms from building a detailed profile of your travel habits and preferences over the years. It makes it harder to link different trips to your identity.

While we know next to nothing about our users, it’s reasonable to assume that many, if not most, are proficient in data protection and online privacy. If you have important privacy tips, please share them on our social-media channels, and maybe they’ll make it into the second installment of this series.