The everyday toolbox

What it's for

Map and navigation apps, built on OpenStreetMap, that work offline.

Why it matters

Google Maps logs every trip and builds a chillingly precise location history. Organic Maps tracks nothing and shows no ads; OsmAnd targets power users (hiking, contour lines, detailed navigation).

For whom & when

Everyone. Live traffic and transit are less complete than Google’s, but everyday navigation is excellent.

What it's for

End-to-end encrypted notes and documents, to replace Google Docs, Notion or Evernote.

Why it matters

Standard Notes (by Proton) encrypts your notes by default. Joplin handles Markdown notebooks with optional encryption and the sync of your choice. CryptPad (French) offers a real-time, fully encrypted Google Docs equivalent.

For whom & when Everyone for notes; CryptPad for multi-person collaboration.

What it's for

Video-conferencing tools with no account or heavy install, to replace Zoom, Google Meet or Teams.

Why it matters

Jitsi Meet runs in the browser, no account, and can be self-hosted (it’s also the basis of Brave Talk). Element Call is end-to-end encrypted and federated via Matrix. For a simple, fully encrypted call, Signal calls also do the job.

For whom & when

Everyone. On a public Jitsi server, multi-party calls are transport-encrypted; end-to-end encryption is optional.

What it's for

Two ways to keep your photos without handing them to Google or Apple.

Why it matters

Ente is a managed, end-to-end encrypted service, with on-device recognition and search: simple and safe. Immich is a Google Photos clone you host yourself (face and object search included), for those comfortable running a server.

For whom & when

Ente for everyone; Immich for self-hosters. Note: Immich is not end-to-end encrypted, its security depends on your server.

What it's for

Disposable email aliases: a unique address per site, forwarding to your real inbox without ever revealing it.

Why it matters

You stop giving out your real address everywhere. If a site is breached or spams you, you cut that one alias, and you instantly know who leaked your data. SimpleLogin is integrated with Proton; addy.io offers unlimited aliases on the free tier.

For whom & when

Everyone, and especially pseudonymous accounts that want to compartmentalise their signups.

What it's for

A way to back up your phone and computer, encrypting the data before it leaves for any cloud.

Why it matters

iCloud/Google backups are often accessible to the provider, and thus to courts. Cryptomator encrypts your files before sending them to any cloud; restic makes automatic encrypted backups; Proton Drive is end-to-end encrypted. On iPhone, enable “Advanced Data Protection” to encrypt your iCloud backups.

For whom & when

Everyone should encrypt their backups. Golden rule: two encrypted copies, on two media, in two places.

What it's for

Getting your personal information removed from the “data brokers” that collect and resell it.

Why it matters

In Europe, the GDPR (Article 17) gives you a right to erasure: you can demand, for free, that a company delete your data, in principle within a month. Services like Incogni automate these requests at scale, for a fee.

For whom & when

Those who want to reduce their exposure. Note: data reappears over time, and this doesn’t touch public records or social media. Doing it yourself is free but tedious.