The New Oil

Black Friday is quickly bearing down upon us. For those not in the know, Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving in the US, and traditionally marks the official start of Christmas shopping season, and as such, many vendors, retailers, and manufacturers offer steep discounts on their products and services.

This year, I’d like to start what I hope to make an annual tradition. In this blog post, I’d like to make a list of all known privacy- and security-related Black Friday deals. If you’re reading this closer to a future Black Friday after 2024, check out thenewoil.org/black-friday to be taken to the latest version of this blog. If you spot a deal that isn’t listed here, please send it to me so I can add it. I will try to update as often as I can.

Note that not every service listed here is also listed on The New Oil. The New Oil tries to only list specific services that are relevant to a beginner audience and also meet certain criteria. Anything listed here is not necessarily an endorsement of the service or product. However, I will attempt to list any service I believe is privacy/security-focused, regardless if it qualifies for TNO listing or not. In other words: do your own research before buying anything on this list.

These services are listed in alphabetical order, not order of recommendation or anything like that.

Last but not least, some of the links here are affiliate links that will give us a small benefit if you purchase using them. You can see our policy for affiliate links here.

Ente

(Referral Code FDVPU2 for an extra 10 GB of storage on any paid plan)

Cloud-based photo storage and manager. Up to 65% off. They say this will be their final Black Friday sale only available to early adopters.

Filen

Encrypted cloud storage. Up to 50% off.

Google Pixels

Pixel phones are the perfect devices for degoogled operating systems like Calyx or Graphene. Black Friday officially kicks off on Nov 21, and will include up to $150 off on select devices.

Proton

Encrypted email, calendar, cloud storage, password manager, email aliasing service, VPN, and Bitcoin wallet. Up to 70% off.

Tuta

Encrypted email and calendar, 62% off their Legend Plan.

Standard Notes

Encrypted note-taking app available on all operating systems. 50% off.

StartMail

Private email with unlimited email aliasing. 50% off plus 3 extra months on the annual plan. (Note that StartMail is not truly end-to-end encrypted, but they are privacy-focused.)

Conclusion

I'm not a fan of mindless consumerism. If you need a new phone and Black Friday is your chance to grab a great deal on a phone, great! But if you just saw a discount and went “well, I guess my phone is kind of getting older,” then you're not actually saving money. Don't buy one of these services unless you actually need the features they offer or you use them already and want to support them. But if you fall into one of those categories, hopefully this post will help you score a great deal while supporting a good project. A win-win for everyone.

You can find more recommended services and programs at TheNewOil.org, and you can find our other content across the web here or support our work in a variety of ways here. You can also leave a comment on this post here: Discuss...