CARS Workshop
Build Your Escape CARS
Welcome to the CARS Workshop
where the rubber meets the road!
This is your hands-on space to start creating your secure, private digital life. Here, you’ll tinker with tools and settings, fine-tune configurations.
CARS Workshop Assigned Tasks
Escape to Digital Freedom
Your first task is to set up your Escape to Digital Freedom CAR, which will provide access to the Escape to Digital Freedom Workbook.
If you’re not using Joplin, there is an Escape to Digital Freedom CAR (generic) that will guide you through setting it up on an alternative platform.
Setting up your Workbook with Joplin involves four main tasks:
Once you’re ready, go to Step 1: Escape CARS and review all the sections for your CAR and follow the provided guides on building and deploying your Escape to Digital Freedom CAR
Secure & Backup Your Escape Plan Data
Your next task will be to secure and backup your Escape Plan Data.
If you are using Joplin you have the following options:
Sounding Too Complicated?
If the removable media, cloud storage, and encryption parts all feel overwhelming right now, you can return to these later when you are ready.
Just complete the Escape to Digital Freedom CAR (install of Joplin and import the Workbook) and you can start using it immediately.
Your personal notes will still be reasonably secure, but just not secure enough given the content, so until you build this CAR, be mindful of the information being stored on your device and consider using a physical notebook for highly sensitive information.
Once you’re ready, go to Step 1: Escape CARS and review all the sections for your CAR and follow the provided guides on building and deploying your Secure & Backup your Escape Plan Data CAR
Take Joplin for a Few Training Laps
Driving Lesson for Your First CAR
Self-Instruction
You should have a fresh installation of Joplin Notes with the Escape to Digital Freedom Handbook loaded, and chances are, you don’t know much about either of them yet.
The best time to learn how to use Joplin and the Handbook is right now, while there’s no information to lose and nothing you can break.
Joplin is a note-keeping application that uses an open markup format, ensuring your information remains portable and under your control. But don’t worry—you don’t need to memorise a bunch of commands. Everything you need is accessible through the menu system, just like in most other apps. Many commands will feel familiar, and they’ll work just as you’d expect.
The Digital Freedom Tubes provide a number of curated videos, tutorials and information on Joplin:
Joplin Notes Tutorials & Information
(will open in new tab)
Play and Explore
We recommend approaching this with a mindset of play and exploration rather than caution. Try out different commands to see what they do, Joplin will usually prompt you before making any permanent changes, so you won’t accidentally delete anything without confirmation.
And if you do mess things up? No problem! Simply delete and import a fresh copy of the Escape to Digital Freedom Handbook and start over. That’s exactly what we recommend doing.
Your Game Plan:
Browser Breakaway – Basic
Next, we’ll build what we call the Browser Breakaway – Basic CAR. Despite its name, this is a very powerful CAR that can immediately enhance your privacy.
This CAR introduces basic browser isolation by using two browsers. The total number of browsers you may need will depend on how you choose to separate your digital life.
The Privacy Browser is not intended to replace your current browser but will work alongside it, helping you separate different parts of your digital life.
The Browser Breakaway – Basic CAR is “generic” meaning it is not tied to any specific technology such as a browser, you can use any privacy-focused browser that meets the specified criteria.
To make it easier, we also provide a recommended privacy browser to get started.
Privacy Browser Recommendation
If you are not sure which browser to chose we recommend starting with the Brave Browser because its one of the best “out of the box” privacy-configured browsers and ticks all the important boxes:
While I personally use an advanced browser isolation strategy, I still rely on Brave for daily tasks. Another solid privacy-focused browser I use regularly is Mullvad Browser.
Once you’re ready, go to Step 1: Escape CARS and review all the sections for your CAR and follow the provided guides on building and deploying your Browser Breakaway – Basic CAR
Browser Breakaway – Advanced CARS
Next, we’ll build what we call the Browser Breakaway – Advanced CAR. This CAR requires a lot more configuration than the Basic CAR but gives you a lot more control.
With the advanced CAR it is possible to achieve browser isolation using a single browser with a number of privacy options and add-ons.
This CAR requires the Firefox Browser but could also be built using the LibraWolf Privacy Browser (a fork of Firefox) which like Brave comes pre-configured for better privacy. LibraWolf is not available on Android or iOS and does not support feature like Firefox syncing.
Key out-of-the-box Features of Firefox for Privacy-Conscious Users
Firefox, developed by Mozilla, is a fully open-source browser designed with user privacy in mind. While it requires manual adjustments and tweaking, it offers a high level of control over privacy settings. When combined with powerful privacy add-ons, Firefox becomes one of the most customizable and privacy-focused browsers available, allowing users to achieve maximum security and anonymity tailored to their specific needs..
Recommended Privacy-Enhancing Add-ons for Firefox
To maximize privacy, security, and compartmentalization, these four essential add-ons cover tracking protection, fingerprinting resistance, script blocking, and identity separation:
uBlock Origin – A highly efficient ad and tracker blocker that eliminates intrusive ads, blocks malware domains, and prevents unnecessary connections to third-party sites, improving both privacy and page load speed. (Pre-installed on LibreWolf)
Chameleon – Enhances browser fingerprinting resistance by randomizing user-agent strings, spoofing system information, and modifying tracking-related headers to prevent websites from building a unique profile based on your device and browser settings.
NoScript – Blocks JavaScript, Flash, and other executable content by default, preventing malicious scripts from running on websites. This greatly reduces the risk of cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks, clickjacking, and drive-by malware downloads.
Multi-Account Containers – A powerful compartmentalisation tool that allows you to separate different online identities within the same browser. Each container keeps cookies, logins, and tracking data isolated, preventing cross-site tracking between work, personal, social media, and Big Tech accounts.
These four add-ons provide a comprehensive privacy solution, covering ad and tracker blocking, fingerprinting defense, script control, and compartmentalisation. While other privacy extensions exist, this setup ensures strong privacy without unnecessary redundancy
Once you’re ready, go to Step 1: Escape CARS and review all the sections for your CAR and follow the provided guides on building and deploying your Browser Breakaway – Advanced CAR