Blocking Ads and Internet Privacy

Here are multiple products/services you can use to improve your internet experience by blocking ads, increasing privacy, and fighting back against our corporate overlords.

Every day, our lives become more and more online. With big tech companies showing no interest in wanting to slow down climate change and the current political climate, it has become increasingly important to take control of your online activity, not be at the will of corporations, and stay private and secure online. By unsubscribing to the main source of income for most corporations online - not viewing ads and not willingly handing your data over - we can show companies that our futures are not something they can play with without us doing something about it. It's also simply just really refreshing to be able to use your device how you want and to not be bombarded with ads or AI all the time.

Any service you use collects data about you to sell to advertisers. Both the services and advertisers are at risk of data breaches. For example, a big ad company called Gravy Analytics recently had a massive data breach that exposed millions of users (possibly including you). Gravy and companies like them already sell the information they gather about you to various sources, like location data to the US government, including ICE (Cox).

With how much data big tech collects about us every second, De-Googling and Rejecting Corporations is also a good step towards privacy. Also see the Ad Blocking and Privacy extensions I recommend.

Ad Blocking

NextDNS

• NextDNS is a DNS, which, to oversimplify, does backend work when connecting your devices to addresses on the internet.
• It blocks virtually all ads, trackers, and security threats across all devices while being faster than default settings. It works on websites and apps by blocking connections to web addresses that have unwanted things.
• It doesn't work on platforms that get their ads and content from the same place, like social media or streaming. Browser ad blockers and ReVanced, NewPipe, or Grayjay pick up the slack.
• It allows allows you to set custom addresses to block. I've blocked sites like Amazon, ChatGPT, and Twitter/X so even if I accidentally click on a link for one of those sites, I don't add to their user counts.
• There is a monthly limit for free accounts, but I’ve never reached it. Available on anything with an internet connection.
• Also see Blokada.

AdNauseam

• AdNauseam is an ad blocker for browsers. It will block anything on a browser NextDNS doesn’t already.
• It is the same as uBlock Origin, except it also messes with the advertisers and has a gallery to visually show you everything you block. AdNauseam is recommended, but if you have a purer heart than I, maybe you'd rather use uBlock Origin. Note that "uBlock" and "uBlock Origin" are different extensions run by different people. uBlock Origin is the superior and recommended version.
• With either, you can use Element Picker mode to block specific elements that bother you. I like to block any ads put on sites by the website owner (like the New York Times advertising their own subscriptions on their own website), useless and invasive AI features, videos that autoplay in the corner whether you like it or not, and barriers that normally stop you from seeing content unless you pay or give your email.
• Google doesn't allow the full versions on the Chrome Web Store. For full ad blocking functionality, see Browsers and Search Engines.
• Both are free and open-source. Both are available on most browsers.

ReVanced

• ReVanced allows for you to essentially mod the apps of various platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Spotify, or even Duolingo.
• On top of blocking ads, the mods often give you premium features or useful settings, like SponsorBlock or the ability to download videos to your device on YouTube or limiting your feed to followed profiles on Instagram.
• You need to download apks (app files) from the internet to modify them. ReVanced automatically gives you a search you can do to find them. If the app you download is in the apkm format, to use it you'll need to split it using AntiSplit M.
• Sometimes the apps may break when the platforms release new updates. If that happens, just repatch it.
• Free and open-source. Only available on Android.
• Also see NewPipe and Grayjay.

Blokada

• Blokada is another option for system-wide ad blocking, but NextDNS is preferable. If you run out of credits on NextDNS, you could use it.
• It pretty much does the same thing as NextDNS, but it works as a VPN instead of a DNS.
• Available on most mobile platforms, but only fully functional on Android.

NewPipe

• NewPipe is a third-party client for YouTube and other apps.
• ReVanced has more features, but this sends even less data to Google.
• It blocks ads and allows for the downloading of content directly to your device.
• Free and open-source. Only available on Android.
• Also see ReVanced and Grayjay.

VPNs

• make you more secure and private online, but they don't make you untouchable
• change where services think you are in the world, thus giving you access to things from other countries you normally wouldn’t have access to
• can make services forget who you are or make them think you’re a new user
• unblock things that are blocked by the Wi-Fi network you’re on, since you’re accessing the internet through the VPN rather than through your Wi-Fi
• slow your internet speeds, depending on what VPN you’re using and where it is

Proton VPN

I recommend Proton VPN. It's the industry standard, most recommended by experts, and very secure. It is owned by a nonprofit that is constantly making new alternatives to Google products. There are limits for free accounts, but it’s good enough for simple privacy and location changing. Open-source. Available on most mobile and PC platforms.

Browser Extensions

These extensions are linked to and for Firefox, but they or similar versions can likely be found on other browsers. Some of these are pretty overkill; these are just the ones I have installed. Here is a Firefox collection for all the extensions. My favorites and the ones that I especially recommend you to check out are in bold. All are free, open-source, and on most desktop and mobile platforms unless otherwise noted. Also see the Additional Extensions.

Other Things

Antivirus

You really don't need an additional antivirus software nowadays. In my experience, tech experts suggest that Windows Defender Antivirus is enough. If you really want to be extra secure, you could run a Malwarebytes check every now and then to be sure (Newman).

Blocking Cookies

They may sound tasty, but rejecting cookies is a really easy way to increase your internet privacy. Make it a habit that whenever you enter a new website, you reject cookies rather than accepting them. The site will still work (sites don't let you reject essential cookies), and you won't be sending tracking and diagnostic info.

Communication

Many popular ways of communicating online are extremely insecure and not private, like standard texting, WhatsApp, or through Instagram. For secure and private communication, use Signal or a peer-to-peer service like Briar. Both are free and open-source. Signal is available on most mobile and PC platforms. Briar is available on Android.

Passwords

It is crucial to use different passwords on every account you create. If you reuse passwords, use simple passwords like "1234", or even if you use variations of the same password, you're putting yourself at risk. All it takes is one service with bad security to have a data breach for your password that you use on all platforms to be out there. I recommend using a password manager and generating a completely unique password with completely random characters for every account you make for maximum security. If you're using a password manager, there's no reason not to make the passwords as long and as complicated as the service will let you; other than if you need to be able to easily type it on devices without your password manager. I recommend either Proton Pass or Bitwarden. Both have limits on free accounts and are available on most mobile platforms, most PC platforms, and from any browser. Apart from using the one built in to your password manager, the password generator I'd recommend is Proton's Password generator. Also, consider adding multi-factor authentication on your accounts.