Privacy script builder
Privacy:
Deselects all scripts. Good starting point to review and select individual tweaks.
Privacy:
Provides a balanced approach between privacy and functionality.
- Retains functionality of all apps and system services.
- Clears non-essential OS and app telemetry data and caches.
- Keeps essential security services enabled.
Privacy:
Focuses heavily on privacy by disabling some non-critical functions that could leak data.
- Disables optional OS and app services that could leak data.
- Clears non-essential caches, histories, temporary files while retaining browser bookmarks.
- Keeps vital security services and critical application functionality.
- Review each script to make sure you are comfortable with the disabled functionality.
- Some non-critical applications or features may no longer function as expected.
Privacy:
Strongest privacy by disabling any functionality that may risk data exposure.
- Not recommended for daily use as it breaks important functionality.
- Do not run it without having backups and system snapshots, unless you're on a disposable system.
Clear terminal history
Reading terminal history is one of the attack techniques. The existence of bash history files is defined as an unsecured credential attack technique by MITRE 1.
Clear third-party application data
Scripts in this category clear data for third-party applications installed on the operating system. Third-party applications are not typically distributed as part of the operating system and are installed separately.
Clear system and kernel usage data
Your system (operating system along with other software on it) and kernel store data that may reveal your behavior and can be considered sensitive. These scripts clean up the data that could potentially expose your user data.
Clear recently used files list
Revealing data about recent files used by a user has privacy risks, such as exposing your actions and files that you wish to keep private.
Clear package manager data
Package managers store caches, statistics, and logs that may reveal data on how you use the package managers and software downloaded from them, such as your choice of software.
Clear shared caches
The scripts in this category bulk delete all cache entries for the given scope. These scripts are designed to affect more than a single application and do a wide range of cleaning.
Empty trash
The trash location is standardized by The FreeDesktop.org Trash specification 1. It uses the
$XDG_DATA_HOME/Trashdirectory 1, which defaults to$HOME/.local/share/Trash2.Flatpak applications may use the same trash using special APIs 3. However, Snap applications do not have an API to use the global trash 4.
Clear screenshots
GNOME's default screenshot folder (as seen in Pop!_OS and Elementary OS) is
~/Pictures/Screenshots/1. Flameshot also uses the same default folder as GNOME 2. Despite being GNOME-based, Ubuntu changes this default to~/Pictures/with files that look like "Screenshot from ***.png" 3.KDE (Spectacle) saves screenshots in the
~/Pictures/folder with the default name format ofScreenshot_%Y%M%D_%H%m%S.**4.Other applications use different paths, e.g. ksnip uses
ksnip_$Y$M$D-$T.pngby default in the home folder 5.
Disable Debian telemetry
Debian, also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project 1. Debian-based distributions include Ubuntu, Kali Linux, MX Linux, Pardus, Parrot OS, PureOS, Raspberry Pi OS, TAILS, and others 2.
Debian contains some telemetry client libraries, and some packages depend or build-depend on them 3. Some pre-installed packages send data or facilitate sending data, which may risk your privacy to some extent 4.
ApplyDisable Arch Linux telemetry
Arch Linux is an independently developed, x86-64 general-purpose Linux distribution that strives to provide the latest stable versions of most software by following a rolling-release model 1. The default installation is a minimal base system, configured by the user to only add what is specifically required.
ApplyDisable Ubuntu telemetry
Apply
Disable Visual Studio Code data collection
Visual Studio Code, also commonly referred to as VS Code, is a source-code editor made by Microsoft 1.
Visual Studio Code makes outgoing network requests to collect data in the background without users invoking a feature that requires online access 2. The requests include, but are not limited to, automatic extension update checks, querying settings for A/B experiments, and fetching online data for auto-completion 2.
In addition, Visual Studio Code collects and transmits telemetry data to Microsoft servers, such as 3:
ApplyConfigure Firefox
Mozilla Firefox, colloquially known as Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser created by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation 1.
By default, Firefox collects telemetry data and has other features that gather information about your downloaded files and browsed webpages 23.
The scripts provided here adjust your Firefox installation to prevent its data collection.
ApplyDisable Python history for future interactive commands
Python is a high-level, general-purpose programming language 1. Most Python implementations (including CPython) include a read-eval-print loop (REPL), permitting them to function as a command-line interpreter for which users enter statements sequentially and receive results immediately 1.
Python saves interactive commands in the
~/.python_historyfile 2 3. This script ensures that this file is immutable by changing the file attributes 4, so Python can no longer update the file.ApplyDisable .NET telemetry
.NET, previously known as .NET Core 1, is a free, open-source, and cross-platform developer platform that allows the creation of various types of applications 2.
The .NET Software Development Kit (SDK) includes a telemetry feature, enabled by default 3, that collects and sends usage data to Microsoft upon the execution of .NET Command-Line Interface (CLI) commands. This data comprises your operating system, hardware specifics, geographic location, and .NET usage/installation information 3. A fraction of this collected data is made publicly available at .NET CLI Telemetry Data | dotnet.microsoft.com.
This script sets the
DOTNET_CLI_TELEMETRY_OPTOUTenvironment variable to1, opting you out of the .NET telemetry collection 3. It is crucial to establish this setting prior to the .NET installation since the installation process also sends telemetry data 3.ApplyDisable PowerShell Core telemetry
PowerShell Core, a cross-platform (Windows, Linux, and macOS) automation and configuration tool/framework, incorporates a command-line shell, a related scripting language, and a framework for processing cmdlets 1.
It sends telemetry data to Microsoft servers, revealing your software usage, geolocation, and additional environment data 2.
This script sets the
env:POWERSHELL_TELEMETRY_OPTOUTenvironment variable to1, opting you out of PowerShell Core's telemetry collection.Apply