Welcome to Opt Out, where I sit down with passionate people to learn why privacy matters to them, the tools and techniques they’ve found and leveraged, and where we encourage and inspire others towards personal privacy and data-sovereignty.
The podcast Opt Out is created by Seth For Privacy. The podcast and the artwork on this page are embedded on this page using the public podcast feed (RSS).
Two years after our first episode on SimpleX, we’re back with an update on all they’ve been working on, including a new approach to chat relays with Dan from Flux.
If you're frustrated by the need for multiple hardware wallets, security keys, two-factor applications, or even phones and looking for an easier way to secure your digital life, Foundation has just what you need. Zach Herbert, co-founder and CEO of Foundation, joins me to talk through their latest product, Passport Prime, and how they're seeking to lower the barrier of entry to proper digital security with a single open-source security platform.
More about Zach
More about Foundation
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Ever wondered why your Google search results are so bad? Looking for an alternative that puts your interests first instead of an ad company’s? Today we chat with Vlad Prelovac, founder of Kagi, a new type of search engine that rethinks finding information on the internet from the ground up.
More about Vlad
More about Kagi
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We get to the bottom of what ossification is, why it's harmful to Bitcoin to push for premature ossification, and why we need to improve the building blocks available to developers to enable trustless and useful layers to be built on Bitcoin.
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I sit down with Andy Yen, founder and CEO of Proton, to discuss the release of Proton Wallet, the decision to focus on Bitcoin despite its lack of privacy, why they don't accept Monero, and much more.
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Heard of SimpleX chat and curious what it's all about? This episode, we're sitting down with Evgeny, the founder of SimpleX Chat to talk about SimpleX, privacy, data sovereignty, and the future of computing.
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This episode, we're sitting down with Eric Sirion and Matt Odell to chat about FediMints, a fascinating and unusual new proposal that seeks to ease onboarding and privacy on Bitcoin with important trade-offs.
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Welcome to the first ever live Q&A on Opt Out! We covered a ton of topics ranging from personal privacy, self-hosting, Bitcoin, Monero, privacy-preserving donations, future plans for the podcast, and much more.
Thank you to all those who joined live, and please let me know if you have any questions or want to dive more deeply into any of the topics we touched on here!
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Looking to explore alternatives to Signal and heard of Session, but not sure what sets it apart? This episode, we're sitting down with Kee Jefferys, CTO of Session, to chat about their Session messenger and it's approaches to chat, encryption, and network privacy.
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Have you been struggling to find ways to get a usable and long-lasting phone number without giving up your ID or privacy? This episode, we're sitting down with Silent.Link to chat about their phone number service via eSIMs.
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This episode, we're taking a break from the normal structure of Opt Out to focus on a conference I'll be attending and speaking at in April, Monerotopia, and learn more about it from the creator, Douglas Tuman.
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Looking for a privacy-preserving and light-weight search tool that you can self-host? This episode, we’re sitting down with Ben Busby to chat about his project, Whoogle search.
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Looking for a solution to get off of Google or Apple's walled ecosystem and take back control of your data? This episode, we're sitting down with Jos Poortvliet to chat about Nextcloud and the many solutions it has to offer.
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Have you heard about i2p but aren't sure where it fits into your network privacy toolkit? This episode, we're sitting down with Sadie and IDK from i2p to chat about i2p's approach to privacy, it's use-cases, and how it compares to similar tools like the Tor network.
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Looking for the right tool for password management, but wanting something that's open-source and encrypted by default? This episode, we're sitting down with Ryan Luibrand to chat about Bitwarden and their password manager tool.
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Have you been considering a more privacy-preserving search engine but not sure where to start? This episode, we're sitting down with Kelly from Startpage to chat about the Startpage search engine, how it works, it's limitations, and more.
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More about the Startpage Privacy Protection extension:
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Heard about application firewalls and tools like Little Snitch on Mac, but not sure where to start? This episode, we're sitting down with David and Daniel from Safing to chat about their project, Portmaster.
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Wanting to get a better grasp of what the Tor network can do for your privacy, and what it can't do? This episode, we're sitting down with Isabela to chat about the Tor network.
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This episode, we're taking a break from the normal structure of Opt Out to focus on a conference I'll be attending and speaking at in April, Bear Arms N' Bitcoin, and learn more about it from the creator, Ragnar.
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Wondering what's coming in the network anonymity and privacy space, or what alternatives are out there for Tor? This episode, we're sitting down with Harry Halpin to chat about the upcoming Nym network.
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Wondering how you can secure and spend your Bitcoin without trusting a centralized wallet or software? This episode, we're sitting down with Zach to chat about FOUNDATION devices and the Passport wallet.
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Wondering how you can manage to use Bitcoin privately? This episode, we're sitting down with Samourai Wallet to chat about their incredible FOSS Bitcoin wallet that enables private usage of Bitcoin.
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Wondering how to take back control of the data captured by data brokers before you started taking privacy more seriously? This episode, we're sitting down with Rob Shavell, co-founder of DeleteMe to chat about cleaning up the data about you that's been scooped up by data brokers across the internet.
Note: There were a few small 1-2s segments where Rob's audio cuts out, but shouldn't be too disruptive to the listening experience! Apologies for the minor technical issues in this one.
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Heard about email aliasing but not sure where to start? This episode, we're sitting down with Son from SimpleLogin to chat about email aliasing.
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Wondering why someone decides to do privacy education and research full-time? This episode, we're sitting down with Sun Knudsen to chat about his education and research on privacy, funding in the privacy and FOSS spaces, and a little bit of macOS vs Linux.
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This week's project to help you Opt Out - i2p:
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Wanting to find a solid VPN provider, but struggling to break through all of the marketing fluff and grandiose claims? This episode, we're sitting down with Viktor, a member of the IVPN team, the newest sponsor of Opt Out to discuss the ethos behind IVPN, their approach to providing privacy to users, and some of the history of IVPN.
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Wondering what drives normal people to focus on FOSS? This episode, we're sitting down with QnA to chat about his journey towards privacy through Bitcoin and the impact of FOSS along the way.
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QnA's recommended tools to Opt Out:
This week's project to help you Opt Out - Pop_OS!:
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Wondering why FOSS and privacy have become such a focus for Matt Odell and Citadel Dispatch, or wanting to learn more about FOSS in general? This episode, we're sitting down with Matt Odell for a bit of a different show where we focus on listener questions around FOSS, privacy, FOSS community ethos, and his journey towards privacy.
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Wondering how to find the right balance of privacy and convenience, or struggling with the mental strain of a journey towards personal privacy? This episode, we're sitting down with j43 to chat about the mental strain that can be caused by a journey towards privacy, and a deeper look at parallel economies or "second realms".
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This week's project to help you Opt Out - Nextcloud:
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Wondering how global surveillance could realistically work, or how VPNs can play a role in your privacy? This episode, we're sitting down with Smuggler to chat about global surveillance, a realistic look at VPNs (and Tor!), and his journey as a cypherpunk.
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Smuggler's recommended tools to Opt Out:
This week's project to help you Opt Out - Whoogle:
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NOTE: Apologies for the audio issues in this one, there was packet loss on Chris's side that only was apparent once we finished. If you have questions about a specific question please email me at [email protected] or reach out on Twitter and I'll do my best to clarify it!
Wondering what it's like to take the dive and switch to Linux and CalyxOS at once? How does the recent push for vaccine mandates impact our journey towards privacy? This episode, we're sitting down with Chris Blec to chat about his journey to Linux and CalyxOS, security and privacy in cryptocurrency, our thoughts on the privacy implications of vaccine mandates, and much more.
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This week's project to help you Opt Out - Teddit:
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Have you been thinking about switching to Linux for your daily driver, or wondering what Coreboot or open-source firmware are? This episode, we're sitting down with Jeremy Soller to chat about System76, the company that makes my laptop (among others) and are behind Pop_OS!, a user-friendly Linux distribution.
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What is crypto-anarchy? How can I opt out if my country has become too authoritarian or dangerous to remain in? This episode, we're sitting down with Pavol Lupták to chat about what crypto-anarchy is and why permanent residencies can be a way to physically (and financially) opt out of broken systems.
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This week's project to help you Opt Out - Monero:
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Wondering what mobile Monero wallet I use and recommend and why I chose to take Cake Wallet on as a sponsor? This episode, we're sitting down with Vik Sharma, owner of Cake Wallet, the newest sponsor of Opt Out.
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What's the best way to buy and sell Monero while maintaining personal privacy? This episode, we're sitting down with Alex, co-founder of LocalMonero, the newest sponsor of Opt Out.
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Wondering what alternatives are available for Twitter or similar centralized and censored services? This episode, we're sitting down with Sean O'Brien to chat about the need for decentralized and censorship-resistant micro-blogging and short messaging platforms.
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This week's project to help you Opt Out - Threema:
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Where does privacy fit in to opting out of a broken (or breaking) economy or society? How can we build parallel economies using privacy tools? This episode, we're sitting down Juraj Bednar to chat about his own personal privacy journey, how parallel economies can (and will!) work, and what role Bitcoin plays in building up a parallel economy around us.
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This week's project to help you Opt Out - NewPipe:
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Ever wondered how you can easily self-host tools, or thought about hosting tools for friends or family to use? This episode, we're sitting down Diverter to chat about his favorite hosting solution, Yunohost, the importance of hosting tools for friends, family, and online communities as "Uncle Jim", and where Bitcoin fits into his toolkit.
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This week's project to help you Opt Out - Nitter:
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Wondering how you can contribute to FOSS projects without being able to code, or why privacy needs to be the default option in tools you use? This episode, we're sitting down with Justin Ehrenhofer to chat about contributing to FOSS projects as a non-dev, why privacy by default matters, and where Monero fits into his toolkit.
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This week's project to help you Opt Out - Bitwarden:
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Wondering what the difference is between privacy, security, and anonymity and how the three intersect? How about what a threat model is and how to develop one for yourself? This episode, we're sitting down with Nathan from The New Oil to chat about threat modeling, the intersection of privacy, security, and anonymity, and how open-source software is central to opting out of surveillance.
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This week's project to help you Opt Out - PeerTube:
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Wanting to learn more about mobile privacy, but not sure where to start? This episode, we sat down with Max Tannahill to chat about mobile OSs, surveillance, and cryptocurrency.
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This week's project to help you Opt Out - Standard Notes:
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This week, I got the pleasure of sitting down with k3tan to chat about privacy, self-hosting, and some of his favorite tools.
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This week's project to help you Opt Out - CalyxOS:
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This week, I got the pleasure of sitting down with Henry from Techlore to chat about digital minimalism, privacy education, and some of the tools and projects that Henry recommends for taking back control of our privacy and data in an ever increasing world of data capture, tracking, and sharing.
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Henry's recommended tools to opt out:
This week's project to help you opt out - Matrix:
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Welcome to Opt Out!
I hope you enjoy this short intro which I’m using to introduce the podcast and go ahead and get it published across all major platforms in preparation for our first episode on 6/1.
Thanks for listening, and be sure to subscribe on your favorite app or to the RSS feed at https://www.optoutpod.com!
En liten tjänst av I'm With Friends. Finns även på engelska.