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RestorePrivacy

RestorePrivacy

Resources to stay safe and secure online

  • Tools
    • Secure Browser
    • VPN
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    • Secure Messaging App
    • Tor
    • Identity Theft Protection
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    • Privacy Tools
  • Email
    • Secure Email
    • ProtonMail Review
    • Tutanota Review
    • Mailfence Review
    • Mailbox.org Review
    • Hushmail Review
    • Posteo Review
    • Fastmail Review
    • Runbox Review
    • CTemplar Review
    • Temporary Disposable Email
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    • Alternatives to Gmail
  • VPN
    • What is VPN
    • VPN Reviews
      • NordVPN Review
      • Surfshark Review
      • VyprVPN Review
      • Perfect Privacy Review
      • ExpressVPN Review
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      • AVG VPN Review
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      • Hotspot Shield VPN Review
      • ProtonVPN Review
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      • TorGuard Review
      • PrivadoVPN Review
    • VPN Comparison
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      • CyberGhost vs ExpressVPN
      • NordVPN vs HideMyAss
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  • Storage
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    • IDrive Review
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  • Tools
    • Secure Browser
    • VPN
    • Ad Blocker
    • Secure Email
    • Private Search Engine
    • Password Manager
    • Secure Messaging App
    • Tor
    • Identity Theft Protection
    • Unblock Websites
    • Privacy Tools
  • Email
    • Secure Email
    • ProtonMail Review
    • Tutanota Review
    • Mailfence Review
    • Mailbox.org Review
    • Hushmail Review
    • Posteo Review
    • Fastmail Review
    • Runbox Review
    • CTemplar Review
    • Temporary Disposable Email
    • Encrypted Email
    • Alternatives to Gmail
  • VPN
    • What is VPN
    • VPN Reviews
      • NordVPN Review
      • Surfshark Review
      • VyprVPN Review
      • Perfect Privacy Review
      • ExpressVPN Review
      • CyberGhost Review
      • AVG VPN Review
      • IPVanish Review
      • Hotspot Shield VPN Review
      • ProtonVPN Review
      • Atlas VPN Review
      • Private Internet Access Review
      • Avast VPN Review
      • TorGuard Review
      • PrivadoVPN Review
    • VPN Comparison
      • NordVPN vs ExpressVPN
      • NordVPN vs PIA
      • IPVanish vs ExpressVPN
      • CyberGhost vs NordVPN
      • Surfshark vs NordVPN
      • IPVanish vs NordVPN
      • ExpressVPN vs PIA
      • VyprVPN vs NordVPN
      • CyberGhost vs ExpressVPN
      • NordVPN vs HideMyAss
      • ExpressVPN vs ProtonVPN
      • ProtonVPN vs NordVPN
      • ExpressVPN vs Surfshark
      • Surfshark vs CyberGhost
      • Surfshark vs IPVanish
    • Best VPNs
      • Best VPN for Torrenting
      • Best VPN for Netflix
      • Best Free VPN
      • Best VPN for Fire TV Stick
      • Best VPN for Amazon Prime
      • Best VPN for Android
      • Best VPN for Gaming
      • Best VPN for PC
      • Best VPN for Disney Plus
      • Best VPN for Hulu
      • Best VPN for Mac
      • Best VPN for Streaming
      • Best VPN for Windows
      • Best VPN for iPhone
    • VPN Coupons
      • ExpressVPN Coupon
      • NordVPN Coupon
      • VPN Black Friday
    • VPN Guides
      • Free Trial VPN
      • Cheap VPNs
      • Static IP VPN
      • Chrome VPN
      • No Logs VPN
      • VPN for Binance
      • WireGuard VPN
      • VPN for Linux
      • VPN for Firefox
      • VPN for BBC iPlayer
    • By Country
      • Best VPN Canada
      • Best VPN USA
      • Best VPN UK
      • Best VPN Australia
      • VPN for Russia
    • VPN Router
  • Password
    • Best Password Managers
    • KeePass Review
    • NordPass Review
    • 1Password Review
    • Dashlane Review
    • LastPass Review
    • Bitwarden Review
  • Storage
    • Best Cloud Storage
    • pCloud Review
    • Nextcloud Review
    • IDrive Review
    • SpiderOak Review
    • Sync.com Review
    • MEGA Cloud Review
    • NordLocker Review
    • Tresorit Review
    • Google Drive Alternatives
  • Messenger
    • Secure Messaging Apps
    • Signal Review
    • Telegram Review
    • Wire Review
    • Threema Review
    • Session Review
  • News
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    • Mission
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    • Contact

Mission

The mission of RestorePrivacy is to give you all the information and tools you need to restore your online privacy, secure your electronic devices, and stay safe online.

Everything published on this site is honest, free of charge, and open to everyone. Nothing is locked behind a paid membership wall or email signup form.

Here’s what we’re about.

KISS principle

One of the goals with RestorePrivacy is to publish free guides that follow the KISS principle:

The KISS (Keep it simple, stupid) principle states that most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than made complicated; therefore simplicity should be a key goal in design and unnecessary complexity should be avoided.

Online privacy and security do not have to be overly complicated. Unnecessary complexity may also be a barrier for people who are interested in restoring their privacy. To help with this process, and to reach a larger audience, the guides on RestorePrivacy are written in a simple, yet informative style.

Regardless of your technical proficiency, you should be able to implement the solutions provided on this website for your unique situation.

So how else is RestorePrivacy different from other websites you see online?

No ads

RestorePrivacy does not host any ads and we do not accept payment for advertising.

Just like with paid reviews, paid advertising would create bias and an obvious conflict of interest. If this website was dependent on revenue from paid advertising, and we found problems with our advertiser’s product, what are the chances of that information being published?

Another problem with ads, generally speaking, is that they violate your privacy and can also be a security risk. (Nearly all ads also function as tracking.)

No sponsorships or paid reviews

RestorePrivacy does not accept any sponsorships or payments to promote products or services. Products and services are only recommended based on our own test results and research.

RestorePrivacy does not do any paid reviews. Many websites are paid to write reviews by the companies/services they are “reviewing”. This can come in many forms, but essentially the product or service is buying a good review. Unfortunately, this is quite common online.

With RestorePrivacy, all products/services are reviewed independently and we are never paid to conduct a review or test the service. Lastly, we will never be paid to change or modify any review.

No paid rankings, paid content, or paid linking schemes

RestorePrivacy will never be paid to rank/recommend certain products or services over others.

We will also never publish paid content or do “sponsored” posts. While the site does highlight a variety of different security and privacy tools, we are never paid to do so.

And finally, we do not participate in any kind of paid link scheme. In other words, we will never be paid to link to certain websites, blogs, articles, etc. We follow standard webmaster guidelines and do not accept payment for links or content in any form.

No invasive tracking

RestorePrivacy does not use Google Analytics or other invasive tracking software. Instead, the site uses Clicky, which anonymizes visitor IP addresses, is fully compliant with GDPR data privacy regulations, and is officially certified by Privacy Shield for data protection compliance.

Complete independence

Another disturbing trend you can see in online media is the tendency for the review website and the products being reviewed to be owned by the same entity.

There are various reports floating around about VPN companies creating or buying out review websites. There are also examples of VPN review sites having direct ownership of VPNs they recommend to their readers. This also the case with various “privacy” websites.

Needless to say, RestorePrivacy remains completely independent and has no ownership or financial stake in ANY of the products or services appearing here.

Additionally, RestorePrivacy is not owned by any VPN service, digital media company, or any other entity. Instead, RestorePrivacy is owned and operated by a single privacy activist and incorporated as a single-member LLC, with no outside owners or external financial interests

Meet the RestorePrivacy team

Our operation consists of a small team of like-minded privacy and security enthusiasts.

Bill Mann

Bill Mann

Bill specializes in explaining complex technical topics to a non-technical audience. In his 30+ year career, he has covered many of the technological advances that shape our lives today.

From the earliest civilian uses of the internet and personal computers to the mind-boggling technologies of today, his writing has helped regular people understand systems they might otherwise find incomprehensible.

Today, Bill uses those skills to help people protect their privacy and security against the ever-growing assaults on both.


Heinrich Long

Heinrich

Heinrich was born in a small town in the Midwest (USA) before setting sail for offshore destinations. Although he long chafed at the global loss of digital privacy, after Edward Snowden’s revelations in 2013, Heinrich realized it was long past time to join the fight. Heinrich enjoys traveling the world, while also keeping his location secret and digital tracks covered.


Sven Taylor

Sven

Sven Taylor is the founder of RestorePrivacy. With a passion for digital privacy and online freedom, he created this website to provide you with honest, useful, and up-to-date information about online privacy, security, and related topics. His focus is on privacy research, writing guides, testing privacy tools, and website admin. When he’s not working on this site, Sven enjoys spending time outdoors, fishing, and hanging out with family.


Social media accounts

The only social media account used by RestorePrivacy is the official Twitter account here.

Neither Sven Taylor, nor RestorePrivacy, nor the owner of the site have any other social media accounts. Any other accounts you may see, aside from the official Twitter account here, are fakes.

How does RestorePrivacy pay the bills?

From the beginning, we have had donation options for our readers to support this site and cover the costs. Unfortunately, we learned that practically nobody donates to a site that offers free information. Covering the costs to run the site (full time) via donations is simply not possible.

RestorePrivacy refuses to run ads for three main reasons:

  1. Ads would abuse the privacy of our readers (ads function as advanced tracking and data collection tools for advertising networks – use an ad blocker)
  2. Ads can be a security risk (see malvertising)
  3. Ads could create a conflict of interest

And as noted above, we also refuse to have any kind of sponsorships or paid content of any kind.

This restricts the ability of the website to make money. In order to continue operating the site and covering all costs and time involved, RestorePrivacy has a select few affiliates that align with our mission. If you purchase a router on Amazon or a VPN subscription through a link on this site, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. As a general rule, we refuse to work with companies that have bad track records and/or dishonest practices.

Aside from hosting and other fixed costs of running a website, an enormous amount of time is invested in researching, writing, and testing various privacy and security tools.

Support RestorePrivacy

There are four main ways you can support RestorePrivacy and our mission to bring you high-quality information on privacy and security topics:

  1. Share information from this site with others – spread the word.
  2. Link to RestorePrivacy’s articles and guides.
  3. Purchase products/services through links on the site. (We may earn a small commission if you choose to buy, at no additional cost to you – not a penny!)
  4. Donate to RestorePrivacy.

If you want to support RestorePrivacy with a donation, here is our Bitcoin address:

1DyDcJgSg1LUMN8TmQSEbA7m8vwYc4zWqY

All donations are appreciated!

Contact

We can be contacted via the contact form here.

RestorePrivacy Checklist

  1. Secure browser: Modified Firefox or Brave
  2. VPN: NordVPN (68% Off Coupon) or Surfshark
  3. Ad blocker: uBlock Origin or AdGuard
  4. Secure email: Mailfence or Tutanota
  5. Secure Messenger: Signal or Threema
  6. Private search engine: MetaGer or Swisscows
  7. Password manager: NordPass or Bitwarden

Support this Project

RestorePrivacy was created to provide you with honest, useful, and up-to-date information about online privacy and security topics. You can support this project through donations, purchasing items through our links (we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you), and sharing this information with others. See our mission here.

RestorePrivacy is also on Twitter

We’re available for Press and media inquiries here.

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