Choosing your tools
No tool or piece of software will give you absolute protection. Which tool is right depends on who might come for your information, and the loudest product is rarely the answer.
Steps
7 steps
to tick a step and keep a streak. Reading needs no account.
Security is a practice, not a purchase.
A tool helps only beside habits that hold across every device and account you use.
Model the threat before you choose.
Name who might target you and what they want. An expensive answer to the wrong question protects nothing.
Prefer tools whose code can be reviewed.
Open source lets other people check the claims, although being open is not by itself proof of safety.
Distrust a tool that claims to be perfect.
"NSA-proof" and "military-grade" are marketing. Look for makers who state their limits and ship regular updates.
Ask where the maker is, and what they can reach.
Governments can compel a company to hand over data. The best design is one where the maker cannot read your data at all.
Read the history before you install.
Look for past security incidents, release notes with real detail, and what critics say.
Neither phone platform wins outright.
Android and iOS each trade something away, and the balance moves. Keeping whichever you have up to date matters more.