13 Apps And Extensions To Help You Stay Woke

Bleak but essential tools for the modern world.

1. Archives + Absences

joshbegley.com

joshbegley.com

This app alerts you every time the police kills someone in the United States.

Free for iOS.

2. Buycott

buycott.com

buycott.com

This app lets you scan barcodes to learn if products are made with illegal labor, animal testing, or other unethical methods.

Free for iOS, Android and Chrome.

3. Circle of 6

circleof6app.com

Originally designed to combat campus sexual assault, this app lets groups of friends keep tabs on each other while going out.

Free for iOS and Android.

4. Dronestream

dronestre.am

The creator of this project made news last year when Apple removed their app, Metadata+, from the App Store. The app sent users an alert every time someone was killed by a U.S. drone strike. Metadata+ is no longer available, though it still works if you downloaded it before it was removed by Apple. But the project still exists as a Twitter account and a public API, which developers can use to create graphic representations of the drone strike data.

5. Mobile Justice

aclu.org

The Mobile Justice app lets you record video and audio and send it securely to your local American Civil Liberties Union office, which is handy in case police confiscate your phone during a protest or other incident. The app also has easy-to-access information about your legal rights when dealing with police.

Free for iOS and Android (select your state-specific version via the ACLU).

6. Stop and Frisk Watch

itunes.apple.com

itunes.apple.com

This app is a version of Mobile Justice designed specifically to help combat New York's controversial "stop and frisk" laws.

Free for iOS and Android.

7. Signal

itunes.apple.com

itunes.apple.com

Signal is an encrypted chat and voice call app. It works just like your favorite messaging apps, but uses end-to-end encryption. Basically this means your data is coded as it travels, and each person has a key to unlock secure messages on their own end, so the phone or internet company can't see your messages.

Free for iOS and Android.

8. EZING

ezing.de

ezing.de

Ezing is an encrypted messaging app for Android that uses a protocol you're already very familiar with: email.

Free for Android.

9. Oh Crap!

oh-crap-app.com

oh-crap-app.com

This app is designed for the moment you get pulled over. It includes information about your rights in various situations, as well as quick access to local lawyers.

Free on iOS and Android.

10. HTTPS Everywhere

chrome.google.com

HTTPS Everywhere is a web extension that forces all web traffic over HTTPS if it tries to load over HTTP. Basically, it encrypts all your web browsing.

Get it for your preferred browser.

11. Ghostery

youtube.com

Ghostery is a web extension that shows you which companies are tracking your data, and lets you choose which trackers to block. The video does a good job of explaining why you should know about what companies are tracking your web activity.

Get it for your preferred browser.

12. Disconnect Search

youtube.com

Disconnect Search is a web extension that lets you search just like normal, but without Google (or whomever) tracking your searches and connecting them to other information about you. Note: Disconnect Search is distinct from Disconnect, which is basically the same as Ghostery.

Get it for Chrome.

13. 1Blocker

itunes.apple.com

itunes.apple.com

1Blocker is a tracker and ad blocker specifically for Safari on the iPhone. An added bonus of blocking ads: you use less data.

Free on iOS.

Did we miss an important one? Tell us about it in the comments.