Thanks! I did ask the same question in that thread but got no response.
I have the same setup as you then. I was just wondering if I needed to do more in terms of privacy online as I’m not really that knowledgeable on it. But seems like I’m covered
For the same level of aversion to lack of privacy that I have, yes ;). There are people that use VPNs for a reason, but I do not feel like that’s necessary.
But 1Blocker is also a VPN right? I don’t need to add like a NordVPN to this lineup right? 1Blocker does sort of the same except it doesn’t let me choose a location
No, that’s not correct. An AdBlocker works inside your browser, the VPN works way below that, at the TCP/IP level. They are different tools for different needs.
Now, what are your privacy requirements and how are they important to you?
Okay thanks for clearing that up!
I don’t really have privacy requirements. I’m an ordinary user with a strong interest in this stuff. I just want the best for myself in any respect of technology, which is why I listen to MPU.
So that’s why I’m curious as to if I should go deeper on my privacy needs, because I’m not that knowledgeable about it.
I’ve been pretty happy with Wipr for Safari and https://ublockorigin.com for Firefox. I’ve run Pihole and Adguard Home (server instance) for DNS, but have been testing NextDNS for the last month or so and have been very happy with it as well. I’m not very familiar with Apple Private Relay, but I think that essentially gives you a VPN + Encrypted DNS via Safari.
An advantage to something like NextDNS (or Pihole/AdGuard Home/VPN with DNS Encrypted) is you can route ALL traffic from your workstation through, and not just your browser. If you’re not running network monitoring tools like Little Snitch, you may find apps (Adobe/MS Teams/Apple News to name a few) may be “calling home” more than you think. DNS will catch some of those if they’re known tracker/ad type calls home. For example, Apple News needs to contact servers/API’s to get news, but something like NextDNS will block some/most of the ads/tracking calls going out.
This is a pretty good tool for checking ad blocking and tracking: Test Ad Block - Toolz
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Okay thanks! Seems pretty advanced. Not sure it’s necessary for my basic needs
1Blocker is not a VPN but it acts (pretends) as one when you turn on their firewall feature which blocks outside the Safari. I believe AdGuard dues the same. These apps do it to intercept App traffic to block Ad Urls.
I used to use AdGuard and even used Disconnect for a while as well but switched to 1Blocker a couple of years ago and have been very happy with it. It’s also made by an indie developer that is very responsive (I had to contact support once).
Highly recommend it, like many others on this thread.
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Yeah I’ve been pretty happy with it too. So I do t think I need to do anything else with regards to my privacy
Consider running Adguard (or pi-hole) on a device on your network and set the dns on your router to Adguard. You then get ad blocking for the whole house. (And if you want add blocking outside of the house several ways to make this work pretty easily as well such as with tailscale).
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That would do the same as 1Blocker installed on all devices no?
Well it would provide similar function, except you have to set it up on every device individually instead of managing all devices from one dashboard/one install. Would be much more simplistic for multiple devices.
You also get other benefits, such as blocking ads on streaming TVs etc that you can’t install an ad blocker. Also, it blocks a lot of IOT devices that like to phone home a lot for no good reason.
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