Edward Snowden’s revealings about unconstitutional, global surveillance by (American) intelligence agencies were a wake-up call for America and the world back in 2013.
Since then, I tried to avoid unnecessary data in my communication channels and set up several internet pseudonyms to communicate more safely.
With the internationalization of my company, I refined my concept how to store emails safely on my offline hard drive.
If you like, follow these 6 easy steps:
1. Define your Home Base
Unless you are a digital nomad without regular home base, get yourself a safe place where you setup a stationary pc in a protected area.
This place can be a rented apartment in a city or a house you own on the countryside.
2. Get a Stable Internet Connection
Ask your provider for the cheapest and most reliable connection for your home base.
3. Define your Original Data
In case you use several computers, think about which computer will be your “master computer”. Store your original data there.
4. Setup your Computer
Buy a laptop computer or personal computer with an operating system you are comfortable with.
Use open-source software, where possible.
5. Install Mozilla Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird is a free and open-source cross-platform email client, personal information manager, news client, RSS and chat client developed by the Mozilla Foundation and operated by subsidiary MZLA Technologies Corporation. The project strategy was originally modeled after that of Mozilla’s Firefoxweb browser.
Source: Mozilla Thunderbird, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mozilla_Thunderbird&oldid=1074344985 (last visited Apr. 2, 2022).
Follow the setup procedure and choose POP3.
Pick a folder on your hard drive where you wish to store your emails.
Set the server settings as follows:
In this way, the emails are downloaded from the server and stored in your email folder on your harddrive.
The cloud email storage is always empty so that even if somebody hacks your account, he cannot find any relevant information.
In case you had an improper Thunderbird installation before:
To delete your profile manually, enter %APPDATA% into the search window.
To delete all profiles, delete the complete folder Thunderbird.
Start from scratch as described above.
6. Make regular Backups
As the saying goes, one backup is no backup.
Think about how you will ensure a regular backup of your original data (see above) on several backup media.
Buy a USB drive and a fire-proof and water-proof safe to store it.
Buy a synchronization software, e.g. Super Flexible File Synchronizer.
Buy a USB flash drive with password-protected memory.
Make regular backups using different profiles in Syncovery software.
Hide your backups in a safe place, if appropriate also outside of your home base.