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Techy Arab

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Before we start, I’d like to give an honorable mention to self-hosting. Every app stores your data on company servers—hence hosting your own server (even on a spare laptop) is the gold standard for protecting your privacy.

I used Qwen to walk me through my first self-hosting setup. If I can do it, you can too.

Now whether you self-host or not, ordinary people (especially activists) need a framework for choosing apps. Here are the key criteria to consider the next time you evaluate an app.

Level 1 (best):

Outside Western jurisdiction: based in a country that refuses US/EU demands and surveillance cooperation (think China/Russia/Iran)
Open source (publishes its codebase online so the community can sniff out vulnerabilities and verify how user data is handled)

Level 2 (second-best):

Based in a non-cooperative country
Not open source

Take WeChat: it operates under Chinese law and may collect more data than open-source apps, but the chances of that data being shared with Western governments are near zero. Your activism against imperialism is far less likely to be weaponized against you.

Level 3 (third-best):

Based in jurisdictions that regularly comply with Western demands
Open source

Take Swiss service Proton: they may not have access to email content because of end-to-end encryption, but they hand over data like payment info, recovery emails, and IP logs to Western government agencies.

Level 4 (worst):

Based in a jurisdiction complying with Western demands
Not open source

Now that’s truly a double-whammy. Not only are you unsure how your data is being processed, but they’ll be complying with subpoenas left and right.

App Recommendations

Who do I look like, not giving you apps to explore? This is reading AND hands-on.

Maps

Organic Maps (open-source community project, best for privacy, but still maturing)
Petal Maps (by Huawei)

Petal Maps is feature-rich and polished, has minimal trackers/permissions, and works offline.

According to its tracking report on the Google Play/Aurora Store, it has exactly one tracker (its own, no third parties), and requires 39 fairly reasonable permissions.

Compare that to Google Maps’ extensive permissions: background location tracking, unrestricted contact access, media scanning, and system-level permissions that go far beyond navigation.

Or consider Yandex Maps: despite being Russian, it’s packed with big-tech trackers.

Your Turn

Now you have the framework:

Jurisdiction (outside US/EU?)
Code: open source or proprietary?
Trackers/permissions: are they minimal and reasonable?

Go get ’em, tiger.

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Apps for Activism: A Privacy-First Guide