Keep your data safe from prying eyes and dodgy digits by locking yourself away in a darkened room and downloading some of these privacy and security apps.
If you’re the kind of person who ‘cunningly’ spells password with two 5s, it’s time to stop. 1Password creates insanely complex passwords and injects them into browsers so you don’t have to remember them. It’ll store other details too, including payment cards, secure notes, and multiple identities – in case you decide to become a spy.
The catchline for this browser is ‘privacy, simplified’, but the user experience also feels simplified – and maybe a bit too much. Still, you’re getting a free app that blocks tracker networks, offers private searching, details how websites fare in terms of privacy, and lets you nuke your entire browsing history with the touch of a button.
Sometimes the web increasingly feels like a bunch of walled gardens, but NordVPN envisions an internet with no borders. Once it’s running, your online activity is encrypted and hidden from snoopers, and you can defeat geoblocked services by spoofing your location to any continent except Antarctica. (Sorry, penguin lovers.)
Free / Android
Short of gluing it to your pants, it’s always possible for your phone to be misplaced or pilfered. When that happens, Find My Device (on another phone, obviously) lets you track your Android device, make it play a sound, or erase the thing when all hope’s lost. An Apple fan? Use the equally good Find My iPhone.
Free / iOS
Forget its anti-theft tools (just use Find My iPhone) and contacts backups – this one makes our list because of two handy online security features. One can scan your email address to see whether it’s been leaked in a security breach; another is a phishing protector designed to keep you safe online.
Free (IAPs) / Android
This one has a bunch of tools to secure your Android device, including a free virus cleaner and a feature to keep people away from specific apps by locking them behind a passcode. Then there’s CaptureCam, which locks your device and takes a snap of whoever’s stolen it. Sadly, you can’t then zap them with a laser.
