If you’ve ever wanted to dive deeper into personal privacy and security, there’s no better resource out there than Escape the Technocracy. I chat with the creators on why they started the project, what to expect from it, and where they’re taking it next. More about Gabriel and Urban Gabriel’s guest profile – https://optoutpod.com/guests/gabriel-custodiet/ Urban’s guest profile – https://optoutpod.com/guests/urbanhacker/ More about Escape the Technocracy Website: https://escapethetechnocracy.com/...
Sep 10, 2025•58 min
Tired of Bitcoin conferences for suits and TradFi bros? Nifty has been making Bitcoin conferences great again with Bitcoin++ for years now, and she’s joining me on Opt Out to chat all things Bitcoin dev, Bitcoin++, and more. More about Nifty Nifty’s guest profile – https://optoutpod.com/guests/nifty-nei/ More about Bitcoin++ Website: https://btcpp.dev/ Bitcoin++’s Twitter: https://x.com/btcplusplus Supporting Opt Out Donations – https://optoutpod.com/donate Leave a review on your favorite podcas...
Jun 29, 2025•48 min
The VPN paradigm has grown stale, with simple one-party providers being the best available. But what if we could further minimize trust by shift to a two-party hop system? Obscura is doing just that, and we’re sitting down with their founder Carl Dong to learn all about it. More about Carl Carl’s guest profile – https://optoutpod.com/guests/carl-dong/ More about Obscura Website: https://obscura.net/ Obscura’s Twitter: https://x.com/obscuravpn Technical Blog Post on Obscura: https://obscura.net/b...
Mar 30, 2025•1 hr 2 min
AI is all the rage, but with it come new privacy questions and concerns. Marks from OpenSecret joins to walk us through how we can have our AI-generated cake and eat it too. More about Marks Marks’ guest profile – https://optoutpod.com/guests/marks/ More about OpenSecret and Maple AI OpenSecret’s website – https://opensecret.cloud How does OpenSecret work? – https://blog.opensecret.cloud/opensecret-technicals/ Maple AI’s website – https://trymaple.ai Supporting Opt Out Donations – https://optout...
Mar 27, 2025•55 min
Two years after our first episode on SimpleX, we’re back with an update on all they’ve been working on, including a new approach to chat relays with Dan from Flux. More about our guests Evgeny’s guest profile – https://optoutpod.com/guests/evgeny-poberezkin/ Dan’s guest profile – https://optoutpod.com/guests/dan-keller/ More about SimpleX Website – https://simplex.chat/ Quantum-resistant encryption blog post – https://simplex.chat/blog/20240314-simplex-chat-v5-6-quantum-resistance-signal-double-...
Jan 24, 2025•1 hr 8 min
If you're frustrated by the need for multiple hardware wallets, security keys, two-factor applications, or even phones and looking for an easier way to secure your digital life, Foundation has just what you need. Zach Herbert, co-founder and CEO of Foundation, joins me to talk through their latest product, Passport Prime, and how they're seeking to lower the barrier of entry to proper digital security with a single open-source security platform. More about Zach Zach’s guest profile – https://opt...
Dec 16, 2024•1 hr 10 min
Ever wondered why your Google search results are so bad? Looking for an alternative that puts your interests first instead of an ad company’s? Today we chat with Vlad Prelovac, founder of Kagi, a new type of search engine that rethinks finding information on the internet from the ground up. More about Vlad Vlad’s guest profile – https://optoutpod.com/guests/vlad-prelovac/ More about Kagi Kagi’s website – https://kagi.com/ Orion, Kagi’s fast, zero-telemetry browser for macOS and iOS – https://bro...
Nov 23, 2024•46 min
We get to the bottom of what ossification is, why it's harmful to Bitcoin to push for premature ossification, and why we need to improve the building blocks available to developers to enable trustless and useful layers to be built on Bitcoin. More about Jameson: Jameson's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/jameson-lopp/ More about ossification: Lopp's recent blog post: https://blog.lopp.net/on-ossification/ Lopp's debate with Jimmy Song on ossification: https://x.com/LuganoPlanB/statu...
Nov 14, 2024•1 hr 20 min
I sit down with Andy Yen, founder and CEO of Proton, to discuss the release of Proton Wallet, the decision to focus on Bitcoin despite its lack of privacy, why they don't accept Monero, and much more. More about Andy: Andy's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/andy-yen/ More about Proton Wallet: Website: https://wallet.proton.me/ Launch blog post: https://proton.me/blog/proton-wallet-launch Bitcoin via email primer: https://proton.me/support/wallet-bitcoin-via-email Supporting Opt Out:...
Jul 31, 2024•55 min
Heard of SimpleX chat and curious what it's all about? This episode, we're sitting down with Evgeny, the founder of SimpleX Chat to talk about SimpleX, privacy, data sovereignty, and the future of computing. More about Evgeny: Evgeny's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/evgeny-poberezkin/ More about SimpleX: Website: https://simplex.chat/ Chat protocol: https://github.com/simplex-chat/simplex-chat/blob/stable/docs/protocol/simplex-chat.md Whitepaper, including threat modeling: https:/...
Feb 27, 2023•1 hr 36 min•Season 3Ep. 2
This episode, we're sitting down with Eric Sirion and Matt Odell to chat about FediMints, a fascinating and unusual new proposal that seeks to ease onboarding and privacy on Bitcoin with important trade-offs. More about Eric Sirion and Matt Odell: Eric Sirion's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/eric-sirion/ Matt Odell's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/odell/ More about FediMints: Website -- https://fedimint.org/ Github Organization -- https://github.com/fedimint FediMin...
Jul 10, 2022•1 hr 32 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Welcome to the first ever live Q&A on Opt Out! We covered a ton of topics ranging from personal privacy, self-hosting, Bitcoin, Monero, privacy-preserving donations, future plans for the podcast, and much more. Thank you to all those who joined live, and please let me know if you have any questions or want to dive more deeply into any of the topics we touched on here! Mentioned resources: https://sethforprivacy.com/posts/how-monero-uniquely-enables-circular-economies/ https://localmonero.co/...
Jul 03, 2022•1 hr 43 min
Looking to explore alternatives to Signal and heard of Session, but not sure what sets it apart? This episode, we're sitting down with Kee Jefferys, CTO of Session, to chat about their Session messenger and it's approaches to chat, encryption, and network privacy. More about Kee Jefferys: Kee's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/kee-jefferys/ More about Session: Website -- https://getsession.org/ Twitter -- https://twitter.com/session_app Github -- https://github.com/oxen-io Non-profi...
Apr 17, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Have you been struggling to find ways to get a usable and long-lasting phone number without giving up your ID or privacy? This episode, we're sitting down with Silent.Link to chat about their phone number service via eSIMs. More about Silent.Link: Website -- https://silent.link/ Twitter -- https://twitter.com/silentlink1 Matrix -- matrix://@support:silent.link Email -- support@silent.link Opt Out's Sponsors: Cake Wallet, an easy to use Monero mobile wallet -- https://optoutpod.com/sponsors/#cake...
Mar 27, 2022•38 min•Season 2Ep. 13
This episode, we're taking a break from the normal structure of Opt Out to focus on a conference I'll be attending and speaking at in April, Monerotopia, and learn more about it from the creator, Douglas Tuman. More about Douglas Tuman: Douglas' guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/douglas-tuman/ More about Monerotopia: April 7th, 2022 – Miami Beach, FL Website -- https://monerotopia.com/ Buy a ticket ASAP -- https://monerotopia.com/product/majority-ticket/ Supporting Opt Out: Donations...
Mar 25, 2022•43 min
Looking for a privacy-preserving and light-weight search tool that you can self-host? This episode, we’re sitting down with Ben Busby to chat about his project, Whoogle search. More about Ben Busby: Ben’s guest profile – https://optoutpod.com/guests/ben-busby/ More about Whoogle: Github – https://github.com/benbusby/whoogle-search Installing Whoogle – https://github.com/benbusby/whoogle-search#install My Whoogle instance – https://search.sethforprivacy.com/ Opt Out’s Sponsors: Cake Wallet, an ea...
Mar 20, 2022•59 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Looking for a solution to get off of Google or Apple's walled ecosystem and take back control of your data? This episode, we're sitting down with Jos Poortvliet to chat about Nextcloud and the many solutions it has to offer. More about Jos Poortvliet: Jos' guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/jos-poortvliet/ More about Nextcloud: Site - https://nextcloud.com/ Getting started - https://nextcloud.com/yourdata/ Self-hosting guide - https://nextcloud.com/install/#instructions-server Alterna...
Mar 13, 2022•1 hr 39 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Have you heard about i2p but aren't sure where it fits into your network privacy toolkit? This episode, we're sitting down with Sadie and IDK from i2p to chat about i2p's approach to privacy, it's use-cases, and how it compares to similar tools like the Tor network. More about idk and Sadie: idk's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/idk/ Sadie's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/sadie-mascis/ More about i2p: Site -- https://geti2p.net/en/ Source code -- https://i2pgit.org/ ...
Mar 06, 2022•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 10
Looking for the right tool for password management, but wanting something that's open-source and encrypted by default? This episode, we're sitting down with Ryan Luibrand to chat about Bitwarden and their password manager tool. More about Ryan Luibrand: Ryan's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/ryan-luibrand/ More about Bitwarden: Website -- https://bitwarden.com/ Roadmap -- https://community.bitwarden.com/t/bitwarden-roadmap/12865 Web3 Blog Mentioned -- https://bitwarden.com/blog/wha...
Feb 27, 2022•59 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Have you been considering a more privacy-preserving search engine but not sure where to start? This episode, we're sitting down with Kelly from Startpage to chat about the Startpage search engine, how it works, it's limitations, and more. More about Kelly Finnerty: Kelly's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/kelly-finnerty/ More about Startpage Search: Website -- https://www.startpage.com/ About Startpage -- https://www.startpage.com/en/about-us How does Startpage preserve privacy? -- ...
Feb 20, 2022•54 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Heard about application firewalls and tools like Little Snitch on Mac, but not sure where to start? This episode, we're sitting down with David and Daniel from Safing to chat about their project, Portmaster. More about David Gunnarsson and Daniel Hovie: David's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/david-gunnarsson/ Daniel's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/daniel-hovie/ More about Safing.io and Portmaster: Website -- https://safing.io/ Portmaster -- https://safing.io/portma...
Feb 13, 2022•55 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Wanting to get a better grasp of what the Tor network can do for your privacy, and what it can't do? This episode, we're sitting down with Isabela to chat about the Tor network. More about Isabela Bagueros: Isabela's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/isabela-bagueros/ More about Tor: Website -- https://www.torproject.org/ Tor Browser -- https://www.torproject.org/download/ Community hub -- https://community.torproject.org/ Community and bug reports -- https://forum.torproject.org/ To...
Feb 06, 2022•1 hr 31 min•Season 2Ep. 6
This episode, we're taking a break from the normal structure of Opt Out to focus on a conference I'll be attending and speaking at in April, Bear Arms N' Bitcoin, and learn more about it from the creator, Ragnar. More about Ragnar Lifthasir: Ragnar's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/ragnar-lifthrasir More about Bear Arms N' Bitcoin: Website -- https://gunsnbitcoin.com/ Early-bird ticket -- https://gunsnbitcoin.com/product/early-bird-ticket/ Discounted room rate for the conference --...
Feb 02, 2022•39 min
Wondering what's coming in the network anonymity and privacy space, or what alternatives are out there for Tor? This episode, we're sitting down with Harry Halpin to chat about the upcoming Nym network. More about Harry Halpin: Harry's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/harry-halpin/ More about the Nym Network: Site -- https://nymtech.net/ Getting involved -- https://nymtech.net/get-involved/ Comparisons to VPNs, Tor, i2p, etc. -- https://nymtech.net/about/#faq Nym Network explorer --...
Jan 30, 2022•1 hr 29 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Wondering how you can secure and spend your Bitcoin without trusting a centralized wallet or software? This episode, we're sitting down with Zach to chat about FOUNDATION devices and the Passport wallet. More about Zach Herbert: Zach's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/zach-herbert/ More about FOUNDATION devices: Site -- https://foundationdevices.com/ The Passport Bitcoin wallet -- https://foundationdevices.com/passport/details/ Github -- https://github.com/Foundation-Devices Opt Out...
Jan 23, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Wondering how you can manage to use Bitcoin privately? This episode, we're sitting down with Samourai Wallet to chat about their incredible FOSS Bitcoin wallet that enables private usage of Bitcoin. More about Samourai: Samourai's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/samourai-wallet/ More about Samourai Wallet: The site -- https://samouraiwallet.com/ The code -- https://code.samourai.io/explore/groups Simple guide to mixing Bitcoin using Samourai Wallet by BitcoinQnA -- https://bitcoine...
Jan 16, 2022•1 hr 25 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Wondering how to take back control of the data captured by data brokers before you started taking privacy more seriously? This episode, we're sitting down with Rob Shavell, co-founder of DeleteMe to chat about cleaning up the data about you that's been scooped up by data brokers across the internet. Note: There were a few small 1-2s segments where Rob's audio cuts out, but shouldn't be too disruptive to the listening experience! Apologies for the minor technical issues in this one. More about Ro...
Jan 09, 2022•58 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Heard about email aliasing but not sure where to start? This episode, we're sitting down with Son from SimpleLogin to chat about email aliasing. More about Son: Son's guest profile -- https://optoutpod.com/guests/son/ More about SimpleLogin: Website -- https://simplelogin.io/ Github -- https://github.com/simple-login/app Documentation -- https://simplelogin.io/docs/ Techlore review -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMWfsOVrDkw TheNewOil review -- https://blog.thenewoil.org/2021-review-anonaddy-...
Jan 03, 2022•43 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Wondering why someone decides to do privacy education and research full-time? This episode, we're sitting down with Sun Knudsen to chat about his education and research on privacy, funding in the privacy and FOSS spaces, and a little bit of macOS vs Linux. More about Sun Knudsen: Sun Knudsen's guest profile -- https://www.optoutpod.com/guests/sun-knudsen/ Sun Knudsen's recommended tools to Opt Out: Tails, a portable operating system that protects against surveillance and censorship -- https://ta...
Dec 21, 2021•1 hr 42 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Wanting to find a solid VPN provider, but struggling to break through all of the marketing fluff and grandiose claims? This episode, we're sitting down with Viktor, a member of the IVPN team, the newest sponsor of Opt Out to discuss the ethos behind IVPN, their approach to providing privacy to users, and some of the history of IVPN. More about Viktor: Viktor's guest profile -- https://www.optoutpod.com/guests/viktor-vecsei/ More about IVPN: Website -- https://www.ivpn.net/ Twitter -- https://twi...
Dec 03, 2021•43 min
