Please help me get some type of web security app or?

I'm a dinosaur and completely lost and could really use some help.
My PC died last year and I've been using an android tablet. I broke the screen on it, and I want to use its replacement but I'd like to get some security and anonymity on the new one.

BTW, the microphone is turned off, but for some reason ads for stuff I may have mentioned in conversation appear, so I still use the old one.

I downloaded tor, however it wouldn't open and seemed stuck in connection mode or some cryptic digital switchboard to Hell.

I've seen ads for "virtual shield", is that or something similar the way to go on a tablet?

Thank you monkeys.

Oh yeah, how do I REALLY make sure the mic is off?

 

My advice - If you don't go with Lucy, get an old laptop from CL, make sure you check the price of RAM before you buy. Many older ones use RAM that is hard to find and thus expensive. I'd suggest you plan for 8GB. Tape over the camera. Watch YT for disassembly videos so you can locate and physically disable the mike.

I flat out don't trust any OS for privacy nearly as much as I do Linux. This is buy a HUGE factor and that includes Android, Apple, all of them. AFAIK these come with the computer version of STD's built in by design.

My ten year old Lenovo Z585 is a good choice if you run across one. It runs like a race car, memory for it is still reasonable so stuffed it with 16GB. The screen is every bit as bright as the day I bought it and it gets used hours each day. The weakness, and why you might find one inexpensively is the power supply jack is weak because the plug has a 90 degree bend that puts the jack under stress. Simple fix using sticky back velcro to hold it in place. Keyboards are easy to swap out, I've worn out two of them.

Get an inexpensive SSD so you can start fresh with no crud from the old HDD. You can get 250 GB for $40-$50 at Newegg. Install Linux, if you are new to Linux, then Mint* is a great choice. Ergo's are almost Windows 7 and it runs like a bat out of hell. It comes with Libre Office which does 99% of what Spycrosoft Office does. Great step by step video here: play this on your tablet as you install. Make the bootable thumb drive from Windwoes or another Linux box. I'll even send you one if you have trouble making it.

Set the BIOS to boot from USB ahead of the hard drive. This way you can run TAILS from a thumb drive. TAILS is a more secure version of linux plus TOR. You still want to get TOR downloaded to to your Linux install. For normal browsing and usage boot from the hard drive. When the balloon goes up boot from the TAILS thumb drive for extra security. None of this is as complicated as it sounds.

* Main Page - Linux Mint they have a step by step guide on how to creat a boot thumb drive. Installation is as easy as boot from the TD and double click on the "Install Linux" icon on the screen.

 

You can get a computer without a mic or camera, but that would mean resigning yourself to older used machines that only run older OS's which themselves have a lot of security holes in addition to having very limited capabilities. Going forward, computers with no camera or mic will be harder to find as the available stock of these devices is retired to the junk pile.

For my purposes, I use a Mac with Symantec 360 security software. Apple takes security more seriously than the rest, and they do not open their platform to any no-name backroom coder who thinks they have the next big idea.

I trust Symantec 360 to keep out any malware that may mess with my camera/mic, and the deal includes a VPN. I can have up to 5 devices on my account so my iPhone and iPad are protected too. The VPN is kind of flakey on the portable devices.

It's not a 100% solution but it's probably as good as I'll get without giving up a lot of functionality.

 

Super glue in the mike and on the camera. stops those issues on my laptop.

 

I'm a dinosaur folks, is there an app or something similar that's more or less plug and play?
I'm still a pretty fair carpenter, but I'm clueless on this subject, however I'm learning.

Oh yeah, something else; the keyboard keeps disappearing and automatically keeps defaulting to the microphone on the new Lenovo.
I've swapped it back a bunch of times and it doesn't seem to matter and won't give me the keyboard.

I can't even use it as a reader because I can't access the keyboard.

 

I've used it, so it can't be returned unless the keyboard issue is a warranty issue.
It's a Lenovo TAB 8 w/Android 7.0
16gb
1gb ram
Quad-core 64bit 1.3 GHz

 

Thank you.
Apparently in my futile attempt to shut off the mic I disabled the keyboard, so that's handled.

What about the tor app or express vpn? I see tor mentioned frequently by folks here.

 

I have a VPN question for you guys. I have a blazing (LOL) 4M download and .7M upload at best speeds, so would using VPN slow pages from loading even more since the servers are worldwide?

 

But then you will know all my secrets, LOL. Don't want all my gun porn habits found out.

 

What about latency with your setup?

 

I threw in the towel. I downloaded ExpressVPN and will give it the benefit of the thirty day free trial.

Thanks for the input folks.