Very interesting insights. Funnily I use all of the services you cautiously recommend, including GrapheneOS, but not HarmonyOS, hard pass on that one. As a German I am also legally required to prefer Tuta. :) I still have that OG 1€/Month contract.
Edit: Your last point is a good idea, although I think the more popular an open source app is, the less likely it is to be malicious. A lot more eyes on it and the xz backdoor was caught pretty much immediately.
I have this bad gut feeling about Signal and Proton, I have no evidence tho.
Probably because it learned to do that from humans being in these situations.
Keep the bootloader unlocked and adb enabled in case you mess up.
Drastically reducing website traffic speedrun any%
Damn, thats fuckin’ metal, bro. Also, the text to gif gave me a flashback of ~15 years ago.
None of these are verifiably private. SimpleX, Matrix and PGP encrypted messages (you can use any messenger here) are some truly private options.
I wouldn’t trust proton. Data this sensitive has to be stored offline (unless you sent it encrypted) and only accessed with 100% open source software (no proprietary blobs). If you want to go extra tinfoil hat compile it yourself.
Edit: Left side recommendations are good, though.
Just use PGP everywhere, it doesn’t matter where you chat then.
For Proton it is the “tech bro”-y feeling and for Signal it is wondering about financing. Also, if you are paying for your own audits there is an obvious conflict of interest.