Frequently Asked Questions
Do you accept fiat money?
No, we only accept cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency offers more privacy and fits better with our mission of a more decentralized and uncensored internet.
We reject central banking as legitimate. Inflation is a form of slavery.
If you don’t know where to get cryptocurrency fast or privately, check our previous article on the subject.
What cryptocurrencies do you accept?
Monero, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Polygon MATIC (on the native Polygon blockchain), and Tether (on the Tron blockchain) via the Website
We also accept Bitcoin Lightning and Solana via Over the Counter Service. We do NOT accept meme coins.
Do you use a third party cryptocurrency payment processor?
No, we do not use any third party payment processing. We run our own Bitcoin and Monero nodes to give our customers the maximum amount of privacy.
Do you rely on any third parties for your website?
No, we do not use any third parties to give our customers the maximum amount of privacy. We reject Google Analytics and Captcha, Cloudflare, Amazon AWS, and all big tech companies engaged in censorship.
Does your website work without JavaScript?
Yes, you can create an account and buy products with JavaScript completely disabled.
But at checkout, when you pick which cryptocurrency to pay with, you have to hit “Update” after you select it, and then re-select the same cryptocurrency again after it updates at checkout.
Also under our current implementation, you need JavaScript to reply or talk to us directly on the website. If you dislike JavaScript, we recommend contacting customer support via Session, Signal, or XMPP.
Does your website work on Tor?
Yes, we have a Tor Onion hidden service which you can access here:
privacypkybrxebcjicfhgwsb3coatqechwnc5xow4udxwa6jemylmyd.onion
Does your website have a Web 3 website?
Yes, we have a Web 3 site hosted on IPFS (Filecoin) which you can access via both Unstoppable domains and Ethereum Name Service using the links below:
SimplifiedPrivacy.x
SimplifiedPrivacy.ens
Emails
What does it mean to say that the email servers are “decentralized”?
This means that we do NOT buy a server for our company which you’d share with multiple other clients. Instead, each customer gets their own cloud VPS which is purchased anonymously through Tor in cryptocurrency. So the hosting provider doesn’t even know that you’re our customer and you take control of your own private cloud.
The benefits of decentralized servers are increased privacy and less ability of powerful entities to control you or us.
Linux
What Linux distributions do you offer support for?
Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Debian, Whonix, Kicksecure, Fedora
What Linux distribution do you recommend for those brand new to Linux?
Linux Mint, because it’s so beginner-friendly but also Debian based. This will allow you to easily transition to more advanced privacy Debian-based distros like Whonix or Kicksecure later.
Why do you not recommend Ubuntu for noobs?
We do offer support for Ubuntu, it’s just not our primary recommendation for new users. Ubuntu has the advantage of having the most amount of software documentation directly for it, however it has the disadvantage of a centralized snap store that slows down opening programs. Most Ubuntu programs will work on Mint or Debian and the documentation is similar. Ubuntu also functions perfectly fine as a server, since this often has less reliance on the snap store.
My computer won’t start. What do I do?
Step (1) Buy Bitcoin or Monero on your phone. (For example ChangeNOW has a No KYC service, use LocalBitcoins.com, or a regular cheaper centralized exchange)
Step (2) Install Signal messenger.
Step (3) Buy a 1-hour technical support time slot on our website with Signal as your chosen contact method. In your order, give us as much detail as you can on your system type, the events that led up to the failure, and what errors you’re getting. If it’s a complete black screen immediately without even going into the bootloader, it may be a hardware issue, which we would be unable to help.
What happens if I buy Linux tech support, but you can’t help me?
If you clearly described the problem in your initial order, we’ll refund you before we even begin or within the first hour. After the first hour, if you wish us to continue we’d have to charge to compensate the staff working on your case. If your problem is due to hardware malfunction and was not clearly documented in the initial booking, then we would be unable to refund your cryptocurrency.
Customized Privacy Advice
What restrictions are there on custom privacy advice?
We can not help you do anything illegal in western developed countries. We reserve the right to suspend service if you openly tell us you are doing criminal activity or reference it.
Can I ask about what governments are capable of doing surveillance wise?
We can not help you do criminal activity, but we can answer technology questions in general about sophisticated well-funded and motivated adversaries to help you avoid illegal unconstitutional mass surveillance going on in some countries or places.
Cryptocurrency Consultation
Can you “mix” my crypto for me?
No, we will NOT take escrow of any cryptocurrency for any purpose. We only accept crypto as payment for our technology sector goods and services.
However, we can teach you how to do cryptocurrency transactions in a more private way on your own, through widely available free and open source software that we did not make and utilizing publicly available knowledge. We are in full legal compliance with regulations from major western developed countries.
Legal
What are your terms of service?
We can not help you do anything we consider to be illegal in major western developed countries. We reserve the right to use our own discretion to evaluate the potential legality of your requests.
Can I ask tax or legal advice?
No, we can not provide tax or legal advice on privacy or cryptocurrency in any country. We can only offer our subjective technology opinions.
Can I sue you (in any country) if your advice doesn’t help me or I get hacked?
No, our subjective opinions and advice are not legally binding. In technology services, nothing is guaranteed. Even large sophisticated companies, with academically proven security measurements, can get hacked. This is why we promote privacy to prevent these companies from getting data to begin with. We can not be responsible for unknown developments worldwide in all the software you use.
Can I ask where to find good illegal darkweb onion services?
No, we can not provide recommendations to illegal darkweb onion services.
Are you responsible for the legality of third party recommendations?
No, we are not able to take on legal liability for third party websites and services that we recommend. Our subjective untrained opinion of their legality is not legally binding to us since we are not selling services to be your lawyer.
Phone information coming soon
Over the Counter
What is “Over the Counter Service”?
This refers to buying goods or services directly over encrypted messengers, including Session, Signal, XMPP, Matrix, and Nostr. We currently support only these platforms for direct purchases, but you can ask questions in general by email
Session ID:
Simple
Signal #:
+855 68 504 905 (spaces matter)
XMPP:
XMPP@SimplifiedPrivacy.is
Matrix:
@Matrix:SimplifiedPrivacy.is
Nostr Public Key:
npub14slk4lshtylkrqg9z0dvng09gn58h88frvnax7uga3v0h25szj4qzjt5d6
Which products are available via “over the counter” messaging?
Degoogled GrapheneOS Phones
Rare Session Usernames
Server setups (for XMPP, email, Tor entrance bridges, NextCloud, Monero nodes)
Linux Tech Support
Privacy or Cryptocurrency Consulting Services
What are the benefits of Over the Counter Service?
Over the counter service is end-to-end encrypted, meaning that your data stays on devices in our physical possession. While our website is very secure by all reasonable standards, like most businesses, the database is on a server outside our physical offices. Our hosting provider is in Iceland, where there are strong privacy laws and traditional SSL encryption for the data in transit. Despite all these precautions, some customers prefer to keep their data only on our staff’s physical home office devices. In order for an e-commerce web server to function, it needs the encryption keys in memory. So if you don’t trust any cloud for your threat model, then please use our end-to-end over the counter service on Session, Signal, or XMPP.
With over the counter service, you can ask questions about the product or service. The website purchases also allow two-way communication, but it currently requires the customer to enable JavaScript, which is unacceptable for some extremely high threat model customers with “zero-trust.”
Session Names
How does a Session name work?
Session IDs are strings of random numbers and letters. For example our Session ID is:
0528b10d96899ebc289d4856f3c0854bcf6ce0e9f0cf57c27af73b6c5a17ef030c
You can think of Session IDs like a cryptocurrency wallet address that, instead of money being sent to it, messages are sent to it. In contrast, Session “Names” are an assignment of a shorter phrase to that Session ID address. For example we assigned “Simple” to the long Session ID listed above. So when you type “Simple” in the new message box, it will automatically route you to our long random Session ID of 0528b10d96899ebc289d4856f3c0854bcf6ce0e9f0cf57c27af73b6c5a17ef030c.
Can a single Session ID (the random numbers/letters) have multiple different names tied to it?
Yes! There is no limit on the number of short chosen names that can be assigned to a single long random Session ID. You’d receive all the messages from all these different names of the same account. In fact, the receiver would not even know which short name the sender used.
Does having a short Session name jeopardize my privacy over random letters?
Absolutely not. In fact, it increases your privacy since you can easily remember the name and say it to people in person, which is the most secure medium of exchange.
Also, you still keep the same Session ID (random numbers and letters) as the official address that messages are sent to. The only difference is the sender’s messenger automatically looks up in the DNS (domain name system) what the long random Session ID address the short chosen domain name routes to. This works similar to how a .com domain is matched to an IP address.
So the node server that delivers the messages to you does not even know if you have a short name. To the delivery node, you’re still long random numbers/letters. Only the sender knows your short name. And even if hypothetically the delivery node did know, it still can’t gather any information about who sent it or what’s inside.
If someone knows my chosen short name, can they find out my true long/random Session ID?
Yes easily, since the platform automatically opens messages to this address.
If someone knows my true long/random Session ID, can they find out what chosen short names are attached to it?
No! This is completely hidden from everyone, including even you. There is no Reverse DNS. So you can NOT look up what short names are tied to a Session ID (the random numbers and letters).
Can short names be transferred to a different long/random Session ID?
Yes absolutely. This is done through the Oxen Wallet. The primary purpose of the Oxen Wallet is to control ownership of the short names (like a DNS record). The short name can be transferred to another wallet, such as an NFT, through updating the public decentralized DNS ledger.
The Oxen cryptocurrency wallet controls the short name and assigns it to the Session ID. So it’s quite possible to be using a short username tied to your Session ID messenger that you do not control if someone else controls the Oxen Wallet. At any time, the wallet owner could reassign the short name to a different long Session ID.
If someone knows my true long/random Session ID, can they find out what chosen short names are attached to it?
No! This is completely hidden from everyone, including even you. There is no Reverse DNS. So you can NOT look up what short names are tied to a Session ID (the random numbers and letters).
Do you need permission from the Session ID owner to assign a short username to it?
No permission is required; you can assign a short name to the owner against his (or her) will. For example if I do not like you, I can assign the short name “asshole” to your favorite Session ID. However, you would not even know this happened because there is NO reverse DNS and your display name would NOT change. The only difference is if someone opens the new message tab and then types in “asshole,” they’d be sending to you.
How does buying a Session name through Simplified Privacy work?
You can either buy it through the website or our over the counter service directly on Session. You will need the Session ID/account to which you want the name transferred, and you will also need an Oxen Wallet to receive control of the name (DNS) record.
Do I need Oxen cryptocurrency to buy a Session name from Simplified Privacy?
No, you don’t need Oxen. We can save you time by accepting Monero, Bitcoin, Bitcoin cash, Litecoin, Polygon, and Tether, which are more liquid. Just to get Oxen, you’d need to waste time registering an account with an Oxen supporting exchange, which often requires JavaScript, 2FA, insecure burner email accounts, and privacy invasive analytics from Google and Cloudflare. Also, the name you want may be taken, and by browsing our large selection, you can save additional time testing obscure combinations.
XMPP
What is XMPP?
XMPP and Signal are both end-to-end encrypted messengers. However Signal is not only a protocol, but a specific network. Signal uses a centralized Amazon server and therefore has some ability to monitor metadata (which is who you’re talking to and when). On the other hand, XMPP is just code. Anyone can host their own XMPP server and communicate with both other servers or inside their own.
What are the benefits of having your own XMPP server over just using Signal messenger?
Having your own XMPP server is the equivalent to running your own Signal service instead of relying on the Signal Foundation’s poor choice of Amazon’s AWS. Among Amazon’s biggest customers is the CIA. Academic papers have proven that despite Signal’s “sealed sender” protocol, the metadata can still be discovered.
With your own XMPP server, you completely hide and control your metadata. This metadata is the relationship map of who you’re talking to and when. And also it hides your IP address, so you can use a fast Wireguard VPN instead of Tor and still be relatively anonymous.
What are the benefits of XMPP over Session?
While Session hides the metadata, to do so it onion routes the messages. Having messages hop around 3 different servers slows down the speed and, in it’s current implementation, Session has issues syncing with a degoogled Android. On the other hand, XMPP is blazing fast, especially if you’re talking to someone on your own server.
What are the benefits of XMPP over Matrix?
Matrix is similar to XMPP but has a less efficient implementation. So for Matrix you need to spend more money on a better VPS. On other hand, XMPP is so well-coded and efficient that you can spend under 10 dollars a month and have blazing fast messages. XMPP performs better over Tor or VPNs.
Summarize in one word the advantage XMPP has over other encrypted messaging services?
Signal – Metadata
Session – Speed
Matrix – Cost
How does Simplified Privacy’s XMPP setup service work?
We use a decentralized and camouflaged system to maximize your privacy and freedom. First we buy a tiny VPS (virtual private server) with a provider, country, and domain name of your choosing. Or if you already have a server, we can use that for you. We then set up XMPP to run on the VPS and hand over the passwords and logins to you. Once you change the password, you are in complete control, and the responsibility to pay the VPS renewals in cryptocurrency falls on you.
Does Simplified Privacy host the XMPP servers?
No, we do not host it and therefore have no ability to monitor your behavior. We do not rent or own servers, and we completely avoid any centralized systems. Instead, we just set you up on a VPS cloud provider of your choice. Or you can provide us with the login or SSH for a VPS you already bought. This decentralized system hides who is even our customer or what they’re doing. Also more importantly, it removes the ability of anyone to force us to compromise your privacy (if we had to hand over your password to a third party VPS cloud). When we’re finished setting up the server, we hand over the passwords for you to change.
Does Simplified Privacy keep on-going access to my XMPP server?
No, we hand over all passwords to you on a third party VPS provider. So once you change it, we have no ability to monitor or control you in any way. We also transfer the VPS account to an email you control, and we lose access.
Does Simplified Privacy offer technical support for XMPP servers?
Yes, we offer 1 year of support for any malfunction. However, you have to agree to not modify the XMPP or DNS settings because that is a likely source of breaking it. If you request support, you have to give us the new passwords to get in. If we can not fix the problem, we reserve the right to wipe the VPS and re-set it fresh. This could erase any accounts or message data you have.
Can I erase even my purchase account data immediately?
Yes, we can wipe everything, but then you lose your right to customer support.
Tor Entrance
What is a Tor Bridge?
Tor is a decentralized mixnet network that has entrance servers. Since these entrance servers are public, connecting to them let’s external actors know you’re using Tor. Bridges are a more private option to enter Tor and were originally intended to evade censorship. Anyone can host their own entrance or bridge server.
What are the benefits to running my own Tor Bridge?
Malicious actors such as governments run Tor servers for the purpose of de-anonymizing users. Some estimates put malicious nodes as high as 25% of the entire Tor network. If you control the server of your own entrance, then you know it’s not malicious and will respect your privacy. Only the bridge sees your real IP address (or your VPN if you use that first).
Why should I run my own bridge over entrance guard or exit node?
Bridges have lower requirements on CPU and RAM and therefore cost less for the VPS. In addition, bridges offer more privacy by making better attempts at masking the connection type. Therefore we only sell bridge setups because of the clear benefits to the customer.
How does Simplified Privacy’s Tor Bridge setup service work?
No, we do not host it and therefore have no ability to monitor your behavior. We do not rent or own servers, and we completely avoid any centralized systems. Instead, we just set you up on a VPS cloud provider of your choice. Or you can provide us with the login or SSH for a VPS you already bought. This decentralized system hides who is even our customer or what they’re doing. Also more importantly, it removes the ability of anyone to force us to compromise your privacy (if we had to hand over your password to a third party VPS cloud). When we’re finished setting up the server, we hand over the passwords for you to change.
Does Simplified Privacy keep on-going access to my Tor Bridge server?
No, we hand over all passwords to you on a third party VPS provider. So once you change it, we have no ability to monitor or control you in any way. We also transfer the VPS account to an email you control, and we lose access.
How does Simplified Privacy’s XMPP setup service work?
We use a decentralized and camouflaged system to maximize your privacy and freedom. First we buy a tiny VPS (virtual private server) with a provider, country, and domain name of your choosing. Or if you already have a server, we can use that for you. We then set up XMPP to run on the VPS and hand over the passwords and logins to you. Once you change the password, you are in complete control, and the responsibility to pay the VPS renewals in cryptocurrency falls on you.
Does Simplified Privacy offer technical support for Tor Bridge servers?
Yes, we offer 1 year of support for any malfunction. However, you have to agree to not modify the Tor or DNS settings because that is a likely source of breaking it. If you request support, you have to give us the new passwords to get in. If we can not fix it, we reserve the right to wipe the VPS and re-set it up again fresh.
How do I use my own Tor bridges?
Tor Browser or Whonix both have the ability to input a custom bridge. We will deliver the product directly to you via your chosen contact method with clear instructions, and we’ll answer any questions you might have.
How much money is required for a Tor bridge setup?
We charge a flat $120 fee to register your VPS account, setup the server, configure the software settings, transfer the email on the account to yours, and consult with you on how to use it. Then in addition, you have to pay the monthly (or yearly if you choose it) plan on the third party VPS. Please see the product info page for current pricing on VPS providers.
Is my Tor bridge shared by other people?
Our company does not share it, but the Tor network does so automatically. This is actually good because it provides other people that your traffic could have potentially been.
What operating system do you use to set up Tor bridge servers?
Debian Linux, because it’s the most stable, reliable, and (most importantly) the most common on the Tor network. We want you to blend in with the rest of the Tor network and even with our other customers. Anonymity loves company, and we aim to make all our customers the same. In addition, Debian is offered by the widest variety of VPS providers, so we can spread our customers around the entire internet. This cripples the ability of any VPS provider to monitor or censor us.