Computer and Phone Security Guide
Windows
Uninstall Bloatware like Candy Crush, News, and Sports. You can do this in System > Apps and Features.
Disable permissions like camera and microphone for apps that don’t need them. Go to Settings > Apps > toggle permissions there.
Clear temporary data like cookies or logs. You can clear your cookies in your browser settings. To delete temporary files, press the Windows key + R > type %temp% > delete the files in the folder.
Mac
Disable Siri. System Preferences > Siri > uncheck Enable Ask Siri.
Turn on FileVault. System Preferences > Security & Privacy > turn on FileVault. This encrypts your files and always requires you to sign in.
Turn on the Firewall. System Preferences > Security & Privacy > turn on the Firewall. I recommend checking all three option boxes.
Uncheck the box for apps that should not have access to your microphone or camera. System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy
Limit Ad Tracking. System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy. You should also click Reset Advertising Identifier, which is used to track you.
Turn on automatic software updates. System Preferences > Software Updates > click Keep my Mac automatically up to date > click advanced for all of the boxes.
Android
Since Android was created by Google, it’s very hard to make it secure. Here is a more advanced guide on Android security. These are some basic things to make your phone a little more secure from hackers, but not Google.
Use a Firewall. I recommend NetGuard. NetGuard is free and open source.
Change your SIM password. Settings > Security > SIM Card Lock.
Make many accounts. You can make an account for business, school, dating, social media. It’s unlimited.
iPhones
Install a firewall. I recommend Lockdown. Lockdown is open source.
Disable location services. This disables GPS, so you might not want to do this if you use Maps or play Pokemon Go a lot. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services.
Limit ad tracking. This will stop the creepy ads of what you’re thinking about. Go to Settings > Privacy > Apple Advertising > disable Personalized Ads then reset Advertising Identifier.
Disable analytics. Go to Settings > Privacy > Analytics & Improvements > disable Share iPhone Analytics.
Disable Biometrics like Face ID and fingerprint reading. I didn’t do this because it’s very convenient, but you should 100% do this if you're a criminal. Go to Settings > Face/Touch ID & Passcode > disable all use Face/Touch ID for: settings.
Browsers
I recommend Firefox with DuckDuckGo as the search engine for computers. Firefox hardening is very complicated, so here is a summary. Disable location access. Set Enhanced Tracking Protection to strict. Set send websites a do not track signals to always. Disable password saving. Disable all Firefox Data Collection settings. Disable block dangerous and deceptive content. Disable sync. Use the add-ons uBlock Origin, HTTPS Everywhere, Privacy Badger, and Decentraleyes. These add-ons are not very resource-intensive. For more information, you can read this blog post about hardening. For mobile, I recommend DuckDuckGo or Firefox Focus. Both of these have buttons to delete your history at the bottom of the screen if you’re into that.
General
If a setting does not need to be on, turn it off.
Use a good password. This protects your data from physical access by other people. Do not reuse your passwords. Use a password generator and manager like Bitwarden. Bitwarden is free and open source. Password managers built into browsers and phones aren’t secure.
Disable everything in the Google My Activity. This makes your Google account no longer tied to you.
Use disposable emails like temp mail and 10minutemail for unneeded accounts.
Make backups of your hard drive. You should have 2. One offsite like at a friend’s house and one at your house. You can also make an encrypted cloud backup.
Turn off Bluetooth when you’re not using it. Bluetooth is a very old technology that is easy to hack.
Use several email accounts for different tasks like shopping, social media, and your personal email.
Change your DNS. I use Cloudflare which is 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1.
Find free and open source alternatives to services you use every day. You can do this with https://alternativeto.net/. Important alternatives; Apple Maps or Waze instead of Google Maps, LibreOffice instead of Google Docs, Firefox instead of Chrome, and Protonmail or Outlook instead of Gmail.
Use 2-factor authentication for everything. Especially your Google account.
Do You Need a VPN?
It can’t hurt if you have a good provider. We don’t know what VPN providers do with our information. If you think you need a VPN, I recommend ProtonVPN, which has a free plan. I don’t think they’re that important.
