Secure Operating Systems
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Every app, every browser, every file runs on top of your operating system. If the OS is compromised — or is itself doing surveillance — everything above it is undermined.

Windows and macOS both collect telemetry: usage data sent back to Microsoft and Apple by default. Both are closed-source, meaning their behavior cannot be fully independently audited. Both comply with law enforcement requests.

The alternative is Linux and its specialized derivatives.

Linux — The Foundation
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Linux is a family of free, open-source operating systems. Unlike Windows and macOS, the source code is publicly available and auditable. Linux does not have a business model that depends on collecting your data.

Common, accessible starting points:

Linux Mint — closest to a Windows-like experience, recommended for first-time Linux users
Ubuntu — widely used, large support community
Fedora — slightly more cutting-edge, strong security defaults

Linux runs well on most computers from the past decade — including hardware that Windows 11 refuses to support. Our UpRiv|Upcycle program installs Linux on refurbished computers for exactly this reason. If you have received a computer through our program, it is already running Linux.

Tails — Leave No Trace
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Tails is a Linux-based operating system designed for a specific purpose: leave no trace on the computer you use it on.

Tails runs from a USB drive. When you plug it in and boot from it, it loads entirely into RAM. When you shut it down, it leaves nothing behind on the host computer — no files, no browsing history, no account information. It routes all traffic through Tor automatically.

Tails is designed for:

Journalists and sources who need to communicate without leaving traces
Whistleblowers
People using a shared, untrusted, or potentially compromised computer
High-surveillance environments where device seizure is a real risk

Get Tails: tails.boum.org — includes a detailed installation guide

The installation process creates a “persistent storage” option encrypted with a passphrase — allowing you to save specific files and settings across sessions, while everything else still disappears on shutdown.

Qubes OS — Isolation Through Compartmentalization
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Qubes OS takes a different approach. Rather than running everything in a single operating environment, Qubes runs different activities in isolated virtual machines (called qubes) that cannot interact with each other.

For example:

One qube for browsing untrusted sites
One qube for banking
One qube for sensitive work documents
One qube for communication

If malware infects your browsing qube through a malicious website, it is trapped there. It cannot access your documents, your banking, or your communications. The compromise is contained.

Qubes is considered by many security researchers to be the most secure desktop OS available. Edward Snowden uses it. It is also demanding:

Requires a powerful computer (16GB+ RAM recommended)
Significant learning curve
Not suitable as a first Linux experience

Get Qubes OS: qubes-os.org

Which Should You Use?
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Situation	Recommendation
Everyday privacy-conscious use	Linux Mint or Ubuntu
Received a Collective computer	Already running Linux — you’re set
Need to work on a potentially compromised machine	Tails from USB
High-risk situation, sophisticated adversary	Qubes OS
Need to leave absolutely no trace	Tails

Further Resources
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Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Surveillance Self-Defense — guides tailored to specific threat models
Security in a Box — tools and tactics for human rights defenders
Privacy Guides — maintained, community-reviewed tool recommendations