Browsing with privacy is not just about using another browser or installing a VPN. We also need to change some habits and avoid the things we once considered normal. For example, the frontends of many popular web services can be replaced with more private and anonymous alternatives. The LibRedirect project brings them together in one place, and they work better than we imagined…
When you watch a video on YouTube, you most likely use its official address. If you sign in with your Google account, all your activity will be associated with it (even if you disable history), otherwise, YouTube will offer a local feed based on your IP address. If you want to mask that address, you can always use something like Tor, but JavaScript keeps sharing information about your system… and if you disable JavaScript, YouTube stops working. Classic.
This is the case that the LibRedirect project presents to justify the need for alternative frontends. From a technical point of view, LibRedirect is an extension compatible with Chrome and Firefox that redirects YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, and dozens of other sites to private frontends, but it also works as an index to explore those frontends one by one.
LibRedirect: Alternative and Private Frontends for the Most Important Websites
Want examples? Invidious and Piped can replace YouTube without a hitch. Nitter does the same with Twitter, ProxiTok with TikTok, and then we find Rimgo as an Imgur alternative, LibreMDb for IMDb, Wikiless for Wikipedia, Tent for Bandcamp… the list goes on. Besides minimizing data collection and improving user privacy, these frontends are very useful for browsing with old computers.
Now, if you visit the links that appear in LibRedirect, you will most likely be sent to the official profiles of each project on GitHub, Codeberg, and other similar portals. There you will find their public mirrors (for example, Invidious has dozens, including versions compatible with Tor and I2P) and many relevant technical details.
Personally, I prefer to use LibRedirect as an index, but don't hesitate to take advantage of its extension. Installing LibRedirect on Chrome (and other Chromium flavors) requires a manual process, while Firefox users can download it directly from its official store.
Official site and download: Click here
