Tech you don’t know. Privacy you’ll love. And yes, it’s actually easy.

 

Level 1 Privacy Stack: Living a Normal Life Outside Big Tech

    Most people think “privacy” means moving to a cabin, smashing your phone, and writing on a typewriter. That’s nonsense. You can answer email, write proposals, edit video, and run a small business without handing your life to Google, Apple, and Microsoft.

This is Level 1: a basic privacy stack for regular people on regular computers.

Who is this for?

• Freelancers, small business owners, students, and office workers
• People who are tired of being tracked but still need to get real work done
• Anyone who wants to start leaving Big Tech (not be perfect on day one)

What is a “privacy stack”?

A privacy stack is just the set of tools you use every day—operating system (OS) (Operating System), browser, email, office apps, chat—which:

• Don’t spy on you for ad money
• Don’t lock you into one corporation
• Still let you live a normal life and do your job

1. Your Base: Linux Mint (Desktop Operating System)

Instead of Windows or macOS, you run Linux Mint:

• What it is: A free, user-friendly OS (Operating System) that looks like a normal desktop, not a hacker movie.
• Why it matters:
• No built-in ad tracking
• No forced Microsoft account
• You control updates and software

You can browse the web, plug in printers, open files, and do all the usual stuff—just without the baked-in surveillance and Microsoft asking for your first born.

2. Office Work: LibreOffice Instead of Microsoft 365

For documents, spreadsheets, and slides, you use LibreOffice:

• What it replaces: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint (and their constant cloud nagging).
• Why it matters:
• Runs offline on your machine
• Opens and saves to common formats (like .docx, .xlsx, .pptx)
• No telemetry for an ad company

You can write reports, invoices, contracts, and proposals—without streaming your work to a corporate data center.  It's free.

3. Browser + Search: Firefox and Privacy-First Search Engines

     Your browser is where most tracking happens, so we fix that first.

Firefox

• Use: Mozilla Firefox as your main browser.
• Why it matters:
• Strong built-in tracking protection
• Tons of privacy extensions
• Not owned by an ad giant

Add-ons worth installing:

• uBlock Origin (ad and tracker blocking)
• Privacy Badger (behavior-based tracker blocking)

Search Engines

Instead of Googling everything:

• DuckDuckGo or Startpage or Qwant
• These log far less about you and don’t tie every query to your full advertising profile.

You still “google stuff” all day… you’re just not feeding the Google machine.

4. Email: Proton Mail Instead of Gmail

For email, move to Proton Mail (or another privacy-focused provider):

• What it gives you:
• End-to-end encryption (where possible)
• No scanning your inbox to profile you for advertisers
• Custom domains if you’re running a business

You can keep your Gmail for logins and junk, but route important conversations through Proton Mail to slowly detach from Google.

5. Messaging and Calls: Signal Instead of Everything Else

Your private conversations should stay private.

• Use: Signal for 1:1 and group chats
• What you get:
• End-to-end encrypted messages and calls by default
• No ads, no selling your data
• Runs on your phone and desktop

You don’t have to convince everyone overnight. Start with the people who already care about privacy or already have Signal installed.

6. Creative Work: Offline Video Editing

If you create content, you don’t need cloud-connected, everything-phoning-home tools.

Good options on Linux Mint:

• Kdenlive or Shotcut for video editing
• GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) or Krita for images and graphics
• All run locally, all powerful enough for YouTube, training videos, and social clips

The key idea: your raw footage and work files stay on your drive, not auto-uploaded to somebody else’s server.

7. Bonus for Small Businesses: Privacy-Friendly Analytics

If you run a website, you still need to know what’s working—but you don’t need to spy.

Instead of Google Analytics:

• Plausible Analytics or Matomo
• Basic stats: page views, referrers, top pages
• No creepy cross-site tracking
• You control the data (especially if self-hosted)

You still get insight; you just stop contributing to the global tracking machine.

8. Other Level 1 Building Blocks

A few more “quiet upgrades” that make a big difference:

• Password manager: KeePassXC or Bitwarden
• Backups: External hard drive plus built-in backup tools
• File sync (optional): Syncthing instead of random cloud drives

All of this is boring in the best way: once it’s set up, it just works.

Why This Matters (Without Turning It Into a Manifesto)

You don’t need to be perfect. You don’t need to unplug from society.

Level 1 is about:

• Breaking automatic dependence on the big three (Google, Apple, Microsoft)
• Keeping your work, conversations, and data on your machines as much as possible
• Proving to yourself: “I can get real work done without being the product.”

     From here, you can go deeper—Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), self-hosted cloud, hardened phones—but it starts with this stack on your everyday computer.