

Opt Out
Seth For Privacy
Welcome to Opt Out, where I sit down with passionate people to learn why privacy matters to them, the tools and techniques they’ve found and leveraged, and where we encourage and inspire others towards personal privacy and data-sovereignty.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 29, 2021 • 1h 22min
A Bitcoiner's journey towards privacy w/ BitcoinQnA
 Wondering what drives normal people to focus on FOSS? This episode, we're sitting down with QnA to chat about his journey towards privacy through Bitcoin and the impact of FOSS along the way.More about QnA:QnA's guest profile -- https://www.optoutpod.com/guests/bitcoin-qna/QnA's full list of recommended tools -- https://bitcoiner.guide/toolkit/QnA's recommended tools to Opt Out:FOUNDATION devices, a FOSS-first company producing the Passport, a Bitcoin hardware wallet -- https://foundationdevices.com/Samourai Wallet, a privacy-preserving Android wallet -- https://samouraiwallet.com/Pop_OS!, an easy to use Linux OS -- https://pop.system76.com/StarLabs, a Linux-first laptop company -- https://starlabs.systems/Threema, an end-to-end encrypted messenger, similar to Signal -- https://threema.ch/en/Yunohost, a FOSS platform for simplified self-hosting -- https://yunohost.org/Matrix, the protocol -- https://matrix.org/Element, a cross-platform Matrix chat client -- https://element.ioMullvad, a well-known and non-logging VPN provider -- https://mullvad.net/en/This week's project to help you Opt Out - Pop_OS!:Website -- https://pop.system76.com/My episode with Jeremy Soller from System76 -- https://www.optoutpod.com/coreboot-foss-firmware-pop_os-and-system76-w-jeremy-soller-special/Opt Out's Sponsors:Cake Wallet, an easy to use Monero mobile wallet -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#cake-walletLocalMonero, an excellent and privacy-preserving way to buy and sell Monero -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#localmoneroIVPN, an ethical, no-nonsense, non-logging VPN provider -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#ivpnSupporting Opt Out:Donations -- https://optoutpod.com/about/#donationsLeave a review on your favorite podcast platform, if possible!Share it with your friends, family, and other communities!Support the show 

Nov 13, 2021 • 2h 10min
Personal responsibility in privacy, FOSS funding models, and Bitcoin w/ Matt Odell
 Wondering why FOSS and privacy have become such a focus for Matt Odell and Citadel Dispatch, or wanting to learn more about FOSS in general? This episode, we're sitting down with Matt Odell for a bit of a different show where we focus on listener questions around FOSS, privacy, FOSS community ethos, and his journey towards privacy.More about Matt Odell:Matt Odell's guest profile -- https://www.optoutpod.com/guests/odell/Matt's podcast, Citadel Dispatch -- https://citadeldispatch.comMatt's recommended tools -- https://citadeldispatch.com/help/Matt Odell's recommended tools to Opt Out:CalyxOS, a privacy-centric de-Googled Android OS -- https://calyxos.org/Signal, an easy-to-use end-to-end encrypted messenger -- https://signal.org/Aegis OTP, a FOSS 2-factor Android app -- https://getaegis.app/Threema, an end-to-end encrypted messenger, similar to Signal -- https://threema.ch/en/Matrix, the protocol -- https://matrix.org/Element, a cross-platform Matrix chat client -- https://element.ioPop_OS!, an easy to use Linux OS -- https://pop.system76.com/System76, a Linux-first and FOSS-first hardware company -- https://system76.com/Tor browser, and easy to use anonymous web browser -- https://www.torproject.org/Samourai Wallet, a privacy-preserving Android wallet -- https://samouraiwallet.com/Sparrow wallet, a privacy-friendly and fully-featured desktop Bitcoin wallet -- https://sparrowwallet.com/Muun, a self-custody Bitcoin and Lightning wallet -- https://muun.com/F-Droid, an open-source-only Android app store -- https://f-droid.org/en/Tutanota, an encrypted email host -- https://tutanota.com/Opt Out's Sponsors:Cake Wallet, an easy to use Monero mobile wallet -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#cake-walletLocalMonero, an excellent and privacy-preserving way to buy and sell Monero -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#localmoneroIVPN, an ethical, no-nonsense, non-logging VPN provider -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#ivpnSupporting Opt Out:Donations -- https://optoutpod.com/about/#donationsLeave a review on your favorite podcast platform, if possible!Share it with your friends, family, and other communities!Support the show 

Oct 31, 2021 • 1h 13min
Balancing privacy with mental health, plus second realms w/ j43
 Wondering how to find the right balance of privacy and convenience, or struggling with the mental strain of a journey towards personal privacy? This episode, we're sitting down with j43 to chat about the mental strain that can be caused by a journey towards privacy, and a deeper look at parallel economies or "second realms".More about j43:j43's guest profile -- https://www.optoutpod.com/guests/j43/j43's recommended ways to Opt Out:Use HTTPS only!Blocking trackers, at DNS/IP whenever possibleBlending into the noise, having a portion of your digital identity that looks more "normal" to corporations and 3rd partiesDYOR and find a good VPN provider that you trustDon't rely 100% on Tor for privacy aloneThis week's project to help you Opt Out - Nextcloud:Site -- https://nextcloud.com/Self-hosting -- https://nextcloud.com/install/#instructions-serverSelf-hosting via my Docker Compose project -- https://github.com/sethforprivacy/self-hosted-servicesSelf-hosting via Yunohost -- https://diverter.hostyourown.tools/uncle-jims-cloud/Davx for syncing calendar/contacts with mobile -- https://f-droid.org/en/packages/at.bitfire.davdroid/Opt Out's Sponsors:Cake Wallet, an easy to use Monero mobile wallet -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#cake-walletLocalMonero, an excellent and privacy-preserving way to buy and sell Monero -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#localmoneroIVPN, an ethical, no-nonsense, non-logging VPN provider -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#ivpnSupporting Opt Out:Donations -- https://optoutpod.com/about/#donationsLeave a review on your favorite podcast platform, if possible!Share it with your friends, family, and other communities!Support the show 

Oct 18, 2021 • 1h 54min
Global surveillance, VPNs, and Tor w/ Smuggler
 Wondering how global surveillance could realistically work, or how VPNs can play a role in your privacy? This episode, we're sitting down with Smuggler to chat about global surveillance, a realistic look at VPNs (and Tor!), and his journey as a cypherpunk.More about Smuggler:Smuggler's guest profile -- https://www.optoutpod.com/guests/smuggler/Cypherpunk Bitstream Podcast -- https://taz0.org/bitstream/Smuggler's blog -- https://opaque.link/Smuggler's paper on global surveillance -- https://opaque.link/post/2011-06-16-global-spying/Smuggler's recommended tools to Opt Out:CashGlasses and mask for physical privacyFace-to-face meetingsShipping containers as a Faraday cageVoice masking technologyThis week's project to help you Opt Out - Whoogle:Github -- https://github.com/benbusby/whoogle-searchMy instance: https://search.sethforprivacy.comMy instance on Tor: http://nuifgsnbb2mcyza74o7illtqmuaqbwu4flam3cdmsrnudwcmkqur37qd.onionSetting it as your primary search instance -- https://github.com/benbusby/whoogle-search#set-whoogle-as-your-primary-search-engineOpt Out's Sponsors:Cake Wallet, an easy to use Monero mobile wallet -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#cake-walletLocalMonero, an excellent and privacy-preserving way to buy and sell Monero -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#localmoneroIVPN, an ethical, no-nonsense, non-logging VPN provider -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#ivpnSupporting Opt Out:Donations -- https://optoutpod.com/about/#donationsLeave a review on your favorite podcast platform, if possible!Share it with your friends, family, and other communities!Support the show 

Oct 5, 2021 • 1h 24min
Transitioning to Linux and CalyxOS w/ Chris Blec
 NOTE: Apologies for the audio issues in this one, there was packet loss on Chris's side that only was apparent once we finished. If you have questions about a specific question please email me at seth@optoutpod.com or reach out on Twitter and I'll do my best to clarify it!Wondering what it's like to take the dive and switch to Linux and CalyxOS at once? How does the recent push for vaccine mandates impact our journey towards privacy? This episode, we're sitting down with Chris Blec to chat about his journey to Linux and CalyxOS, security and privacy in cryptocurrency, our thoughts on the privacy implications of vaccine mandates, and much more.More about Chris Blec:Chris Blec's guest profile -- https://www.optoutpod.com/guests/chris-blec/Defi Watch -- https://defiwatch.net/Proof of Decentralization podcast -- https://anchor.fm/proof-of-decentralizationChris Blec's recommended tools to Opt Out:Privacy.com, a payment card aliasing service -- https://privacy.com/Simple Login, an email aliasing service -- https://simplelogin.io/Catch-all email addresses via ProtonMail -- https://protonmail.com/support/knowledge-base/catch-all/This week's project to help you Opt Out - Teddit:Teddit -- https://teddit.netGit -- https://codeberg.org/teddit/tedditMy public Teddit instance -- https://teddit.sethforprivacy.comOpt Out's Sponsors:Cake Wallet, an easy to use Monero mobile wallet -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#cake-walletLocalMonero, an excellent and privacy-preserving way to buy and sell Monero -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#localmoneroIVPN, an ethical, no-nonsense, non-logging VPN provider -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#ivpnSupporting Opt Out:Donations -- https://optoutpod.com/about/#donationsLeave a review on your favorite podcast platform, if possible!Share it with your friends, family, and other communities!Support the show 

Sep 30, 2021 • 1h 5min
Coreboot, FOSS firmware, Pop_OS!, and System76 w/ Jeremy Soller
 Have you been thinking about switching to Linux for your daily driver, or wondering what Coreboot or open-source firmware are? This episode, we're sitting down with Jeremy Soller to chat about System76, the company that makes my laptop (among others) and are behind Pop_OS!, a user-friendly Linux distribution.More about Jeremy Soller:Jeremy Soller's guest profile -- https://www.optoutpod.com/guests/jeremy-soller/More about System76:Website -- https://system76.com/About System76 -- https://system76.com/aboutPop_OS! -- https://pop.system76.com/Pop_OS! chat -- https://chat.pop-os.orgSystem76 open firmware -- https://github.com/system76/firmware-openThe System76 Lemur Pro, my laptop -- https://system76.com/laptops/lemurMore about Coreboot:Docs -- https://doc.coreboot.org/Jeremy Soller's recommended tools to Opt Out:Tor browser, and easy to use anonymous web browser -- https://www.torproject.org/BitcoinFirefox, a FOSS and privacy-preserving browser -- https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/My recommended Firefox hardening guide -- https://chrisx.xyz/blog/yet-another-firefox-hardening-guide/Opt Out's Sponsors:Cake Wallet, an easy to use Monero mobile wallet -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#cake-walletLocalMonero, an excellent and privacy-preserving way to buy and sell Monero -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#localmoneroIVPN, an ethical, no-nonsense, non-logging VPN provider -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#ivpnSupporting Opt Out:Donations -- https://optoutpod.com/about/#donationsLeave a review on your favorite podcast platform, if possible!Share it with your friends, family, and other communities!Support the show 

Sep 19, 2021 • 1h 7min
Cryptoanarchy and freedom w/ Pavol Lupták
 What is crypto-anarchy? How can I opt out if my country has become too authoritarian or dangerous to remain in? This episode, we're sitting down with Pavol Lupták to chat about what crypto-anarchy is and why permanent residencies can be a way to physically (and financially) opt out of broken systems.More about Pavol Lupták:Pavol Lupták's guest profile -- https://www.optoutpod.com/guests/pavol-luptak/A slideshow on Pavol's top 30 mobile tools for privacy -- https://slides.com/nethemba/my-top-30-sovereignty-appsLiberation.Travel website -- https://liberation.travel/The mission of Liberation.Travel -- https://liberation.travel/the-mission-of-liberation-travel/Pavol Lupták's recommended tools to Opt Out:Incognito, a privacy-centric exchange platform -- https://incognito.org/Session, a metadata-reduced Signal fork -- https://getsession.org/Purism Librem 14, a security-first Linux laptop - https://puri.sm/products/librem-14/QubesOS, a privacy-preserving and security-focused Linux distro -- https://www.qubes-os.org/CalyxOS, a privacy-centric de-Googled Android OS -- https://calyxos.org/Monero, a privacy-preserving cryptocurrency that functions as digital cash -- https://www.getmonero.org/This week's project to help you Opt Out - Monero:Website -- https://getmonero.orgMore info on Monero -- https://www.monerooutreach.org/gallery/know-monero.htmlWhy we need Monero -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8quGD9W7B2I and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq6w03E2DS4Cake Wallet, an easy to use Monero mobile wallet -- https://cakewallet.com/LocalMonero, an excellent and privacy-preserving way to buy and sell Monero -- https://localmonero.coHow to buy Monero -- https://www.monerooutreach.org/how-to-buy-monero.htmlHow to run a Monero node -- https://sethforprivacy.com/guides/run-a-monero-node/How to mine Monero -- https://sethforprivacy.com/guides/mining-monero/Github -- https://github.com/monero-project/moneroOpt Out's Sponsors:Cake Wallet, an easy to use Monero mobile wallet -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#cake-walletLocalMonero, an excellent and privacy-preserving way to buy and sell Monero -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#localmoneroIVPN, an ethical, no-nonsense, non-logging VPN provider -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#ivpnSupporting Opt Out:Donations -- https://optoutpod.com/about/#donationsSupport the show 

Sep 15, 2021 • 26min
Sponsor Special w/ Alex from LocalMonero and AgoraDesk
 What's the best way to buy and sell Monero while maintaining personal privacy? This episode, we're sitting down with Alex, co-founder of LocalMonero, the newest sponsor of Opt Out.More about Alex:Alex's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/alex-localmonero/More about LocalMonero:LocalMonero's website -- https://localmonero.coLocalMonero onion address -- http://nehdddktmhvqklsnkjqcbpmb63htee2iznpcbs5tgzctipxykpj6yrid.onion/LocalMonero i2p address -- http://lm.i2p/LocalMonero Reddit --  https://www.reddit.com/r/LocalMoneroLocalMonero Telegram -- https://t.me/LocalMoneroLocalMonero Forum -- https://forums.localmonero.co/More about AgoraDesk:AgoraDesk's website -- https://agoradesk.comAgoraDesk onion address -- http://2jopbxfi2mrw6pfpmufm7smacrgniglr7a4raaila3kwlhlumflxfxad.onion/AgoraDesk i2p address -- http://agoradesk.i2p/AgoraDesk Reddit -- https://www.reddit.com/r/AgoraDeskAgoraDesk Telegram -- https://t.me/AgoraDeskOpt Out's Sponsors:Cake Wallet, an easy to use Monero mobile wallet -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#cake-walletLocalMonero, an excellent and privacy-preserving way to buy and sell Monero -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#localmoneroIVPN, an ethical, no-nonsense, non-logging VPN provider -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#ivpnSupporting Opt Out:Donations -- https://optoutpod.com/about/#donationsLeave a review on your favorite podcast platform, if possible!Share it with your friends, family, and other communities!Support the show 

Sep 15, 2021 • 25min
Sponsor Special w/ Vik Sharma from Cake Wallet
 Wondering what mobile Monero wallet I use and recommend and why I chose to take Cake Wallet on as a sponsor? This episode, we're sitting down with Vik Sharma, owner of Cake Wallet, the newest sponsor of Opt Out.More about Vik Sharma:Vik's guest profile -- https://www.optoutpod.com/guests/vik-sharma/More about Cake Wallet:Website -- https://cakewallet.comReddit -- https://www.reddit.com/r/cakewallet/Telegram -- https://t.me/cakewallet_botTwitter -- https://twitter.com/cakewalletGithub -- https://github.com/cake-tech/cake_walletOpt Out's Sponsors:Cake Wallet, an easy to use Monero mobile wallet -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#cake-walletLocalMonero, an excellent and privacy-preserving way to buy and sell Monero -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#localmoneroIVPN, an ethical, no-nonsense, non-logging VPN provider -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#ivpnSupporting Opt Out:Donations -- https://optoutpod.com/about/#donationsLeave a review on your favorite podcast platform, if possible!Share it with your friends, family, and other communities!Support the show 

Sep 6, 2021 • 1h 8min
Decentralized and censorship-resistant messaging platforms w/ Sean O'Brien
 Sean O'Brien, a privacy and security practitioner and founder of Privacy Lab at Yale, dives into the world of decentralized messaging. He discusses the urgent need for alternatives to centralized platforms, highlighting Panquake as a censorship-resistant option. O'Brien demystifies privacy myths, tackles the fragility of the advertising model, and shares practical tools for enhancing digital security. Listeners will walk away inspired to adopt realistic privacy practices and empower themselves against surveillance. 


