How much additional effort should I put into my privacy and security?

[FranklyFlawless]

@Pictel

Thinking more about other efforts you can put into privacy and security, is the Librem 5 enough, or just a step?

It is a step, or more specifically, a stopgap until I acquire the Liberty Phone.

See also:

Personal Introduction and Interests/AMA

Hello Purism community, I am Frank. I have been lurking the Purism community forums since late 2018 when I first learned about the Librem 5. I have read thousands of forum threads/posts starting from then, and additionally consumed nearly every blog article from before 2018 until April 2023, right when @Kyle_Rankin left Purism. During this “unprecedented” period, I acquired myself a Librem 14 with PureBoot Bundle Anti-Interdiction, as well as a Librem 5 USA with Anti-Interdiction Service, using…

@Pictel

With the Librem 5 we may have better capabilities for privacy and security on a software and hardware level, but what about cellular or through the internet?

For cellular, there is the Hardware Encrypted COMSEC Bundle:

Hardware Encrypted COMSEC Bundle by Purism – Purism

For Internet, Firefox ESR is the same as on the desktop, so you can configure it using Firefox profiles, user.js, pre-installed extensions, and so on.

@Pictel

Are some privacy and security features added into the Librem 5 to make browser the internet or using calls and texts better?

Firefox ESR may have the default search engine set to DuckDuckGo on initial setup, but I am not entirely certain. Matrix support in Chatty was added to the Librem 5, but the hardware encryption mentioned above is a more modern implementation:

Toward Matrix support in Chats - Part 2 – Purism

@Pictel

Or would one have to get new service, a new email, better browser, and whatever else in addition to the Librem 5 if one wanted full control over their personal use on such a device?

None of the above and not applicable.

@Pictel

Are those extra steps necessary, or is one step at a time better than none?

I prefer the latter, but the former depends on your use case and/or threat model.