Skimmer

Brave is not spyware. That website you linked is horrible and full of misinformation. They also claim that Firefox, and even Tor Browser, are spyware. They act as if any and all connections a browser makes are automatically bad and used for spying/tracking.

I won't disagree with the other criticisms of Brave that you made, but just wanted to point that out. That website is just highly unreliable and makes verifiably false claims about the browsers it reviews.

I don't think you can install microG in this case unfortunately, since 1: the lack of signature spoofing by your stock OS, and 2: the signatures/package name microG uses have already been used by the official Google Play Services in this case, so I don't believe Android will let you re-use them for microG.

I would just recommend uninstalling any Google apps and Samsung bloatware and any other garbage that you can through ADB in this case if you haven't yet. It can be a bit hacky and isn't perfect, but its definitely the best option you have since you're unable to install any custom OS.

I tried Gmaps WV but it still needs google play services to work.

GMaps WV definitely doesn't need Google Play Services to work FYI, though nowadays its developer recommends just using Google Maps with uBlock Origin in incognito in a browser like Mull instead anyways.

You're off to a good start, I'd recommend reading through and following this guide, its the best resource out there at the moment for Linux hardening/security imo.

As far as anti-viruses/virus removals/etc go:

• For Windows & macOS, I would just enable and use the built-in anti-virus protection (Defender on Windows, XProtect on macOS).
• On macOS, I would also enable and use the built-in firewall (Nearly every other OS already comes with a firewall enabled out of the box, no idea why macOS doesn't enable theirs by default...), as well as Lockdown Mode if you're able to.
• On Linux, I would use ClamAV & ClamTK.
• On Android, I would use Hypatia & Auditor.

I would also strongly recommend making use of DNS level protection through a service like NextDNS, ensuring you have a good content blocker like uBlock Origin in your browser, and using Safe Browsing in your browser (As long as you use a good browser like Brave or Firefox, then Safe Browsing won't endanger your privacy, it just improves your security and protection, so I'd recommend using it).

As far as encryption goes, I would recommend just using whatever is built-in to your OS, such as BitLocker on Windows, FileVault on macOS, & LUKS on Linux. You can also use VeraCrypt if you wish to as well, may be preferable in some cases, though I personally don't bother.

Googling it and according to one answer the only difference between uBlock Origin and AdGuard browser extensions is that uBlock has a feature where they can hide stuff instead of completely blocking it.

Does AdGuard have anything equivalent to uBlock Origin's advanced blocking modes? That's mainly what I meant by "advanced features".

The entire desktop app, yes. That does DNS blocking. Not the browser extensions, no blocked features there.

I know their Safari extension has some blocked functionality without paying, but fair enough, it may be different for other platforms, I'll edit my reply then. Thanks for the correction. I stand by the other point though, I think uBlock Origin has an inherent advantage and added trust by being non-profit and fully community driven vs. AdGuard being ran by a for-profit company.

AdGuard being ran by a for-profit company and some of the functionality being locked behind a paywall probably doesn't help its case compared to uBlock Origin, though AdGuard is definitely the next best option currently. I also just find uBlock Origin supports more advanced features.

(Edit: Apparantly the paywall only applies to the Safari extension and their desktop app, but not the extension on most platforms, see the reply below, my other points still stand)

There isn't much worth responding to in your wall of label-dodging sophistry.

What are you still trying to insinuate by this? Why can't you just accept the fact that we have different opinions and there's nothing wrong with that, instead of accusing me of "label-dodging sophistry" or whatever else you can come up with. I never personally attacked you or your politics at all, so its just hard for me to understand why you're being like this. It isn't that deep. You're just treating me like I went out of my way to shit on you or your politics, when I never did, my point was completely irrelevant of any political belief I or you may have, unlike what you keep trying to frame it as.

Politics exist, "bullshit" to you or not. Almost everything imaginable has political context and connections even if you plug your ears and make loud noises.

Wow, I didn't realize I said politics didn't exist, thanks for informing me of that. Is there anything else I never said that I should know about?

Like no shit, of course politics exist, and sure, a lot of things in life are political, but usually not to this extent that they are currently, and some people just want an escape from it through places like a general memes community that has nothing to do with politics in nature, that's all I was trying to say. People have a right to criticize or be annoyed by that, that was my point, but you can't seem to comprehend that.

You're not sorry. Spare me the Reddit cliches.

FWIW I do genuinely feel bad for having to respond this way to you, I'm perfectly open to talking to people with different perspectives or opinions than I have, but instead you chose to make a bad faith comment attacking me and completely twisting what I said, it's unfortunate.

I don't think you're willing to leave your bubble and see that the world is larger and more intersectionally connected than your selfish whining about how the world other people inhabit isn't as comfortably easy for you to ignore anymore.

I think you base your entire life off of your political beliefs and can't understand that others don't feel the same way. It isn't that hard to understand.

I've considered setting up a passthrough VM like this (and almost did), I'm just reluctant to I guess because of how much work it takes to configure and get going, and how little I actually use Windows anyways, so I just stick to dualbooting when I really need it. I definitely wish the process of setting up the passthrough VM was easier, but like you pointed out, it'd probably be a good learning experience.

Yep, they're horrible. I always disable internet on them, uninstall any apps I can, and generally do what I can to avoid using the built-in smart TV, but I shouldn't have to do this, its unfortunate and sucks to deal with. They just take advantage of consumers who don't know better, wish the TV market wasn't like this. :/

How did you misconstrue and twist my point this badly? You just made a few massive jumps here that make no sense to me at all, and I'm not sure as to what brought you to those conclusions based off my reply. Maybe this is a joke that I'm missing?

Things you are fine with aren't bullshit to you and therefore they are nonpolitical.

???? Political things are political. Nonpolitical things are nonpolitical. What I'm "fine with" has nothing to do with what I find political or not, and I never claimed otherwise. No idea where you got that from or what in my reply alluded you to that. Did you read a different comment and just accidentally reply to mine? Genuinely wondering at this point, that would explain it for sure.

At the end of the day, I'm not promoting or defending a specific political agenda like you're making it out as, you have no idea who I am or what my political beliefs are or what I'm "fine with", I'm just saying I think political shit as a whole shouldn't be as prevalent as it is here in a random general memes community that has nothing to do with politics, and people are totally justified to be annoyed by or wanting to criticize that. I just don't understand at all why you're trying to make this out as some double standard, when it doesn't exist.

Things that affect other people, making other people concerned about them, are bullshit to you because you got yours.

Are you trolling? This is a general memes community, not a political recruitment center, like what??? Plenty of political and social issues directly impact me, but its irrelevant, and I still think its weird to force them into places that are completely unrelated, like a general memes community for instance. Not everyone makes or wants their entire life to be about politics, sorry I guess?

I also never called any specific political issues or concerns bullshit... I assume you misunderstood my saying of "real life's bullshit", but I think it's clear and painfully obvious what I meant by that with the context, that life is full of issues and shit that go on 24/7, and sometimes people just want an escape and break from it over the internet, so no idea how or why you're twisting it this much, just like you've managed to twist everything else I said here. :/

I'm sorry but I don't believe you made this comment in good faith at all, this is by far the dumbest and weirdest comment I have ever received in my life, if this was Reddit, I would give you an award for it, gg, like literally... what am I reading here? All you did was completely twist what I said and jump to massive conclusions about me, you should genuinely be ashamed, this is just embarrassing.