If you live in the UK or Australia, you’re watching the internet go through a slow, bureaucratic lockdown. Age verification for websites like Wikipedia. Music and map apps demanding ID. Search enginges facing content controls. VPNs being eyed for regulation.

This is not the time for abstract concern. This is the time to prepare, especially if you live somewhere that isn’t enduring much censorship yet. These landscapes shift quickly, and it’s much, much easier to prepare to deal with censorship before that censorship actually arrives.

1. Download the tools now while you still can

Before anything else, download these tools to your computer and phone. Keep offline installers if you can. Read the documentation on these sites to learn how these tools work.

Desktop

• Tor Browser
• Mullvad VPN
• Tails OS
• SimpleX Chat
• Veracrypt

Mobile

Android:

• F-Droid
• Orbot
• Briar
• Obfuscapk
• Oblivion

iOS:

• ProtonVPN
• DeltaChat

2. Set up local encryption today

sudo apt install veracrypt

# Create a new encrypted container
veracrypt --text --create secure_container.hc

# Mount it later to access the contents
veracrypt --text --mount /path/to/secure_container.hc /mnt/mount_point

Use a strong passphrase, not a recycled one. Store the password offline. Consider a decoy container, too. This is where you can put whatever it is you don’t want people to be able to catch you with.

3. Test Tor with bridges

• Enable bridges in Tor Browser settings
• Request or manually configure obfs4, snowflake, or meek
• Test access:

curl --socks5-hostname 127.0.0.1:9150 https://check.torproject.org/

4. Set up split networking

Create browser profiles:

• Daily use - clean, trackable
• Hidden - Tor/VPN only
• Testing - no logins, disposable identity

Never log into anything from more than one profile. Don’t do your online banking in the hidden profile if you’ve also logged in with your daily use profile. Don’t log into Twitter X in your hidden profile with the same username and password you used when you did it in your testing profile.

Set up torsocks for running CLI tools through Tor.

sudo apt install torsocks
TORSOCKS_TOR_PORT=9050 torsocks curl https://check.torproject.org

5. Build a minimal stash

mkdir offline-tools
# Add all the things you downloaded above - installers, binaries, etc.
tar czf offline-tools.tar.gz offline-tools/
age -p -o offline-tools.tar.gz.age offline-tools.tar.gz

age encrypts the contents of your .tar.gz with a password you configure.

# Access the encrypted backup you made
age -d -o offline-tools.tar.gz offline-tools.tar.gz.age
tar xzf offline-tools.tar.gz

This is an alternative to using a Veracrypt container as described above. Or you can put the .tar.gz.age file inside a Veracrypt container if you’re feeling paranoid. Use different passwords for age and veracrypt if you choose to do that.

Include:

• .deb or .apk installers
• Bridge configs and example torrc
• Public keys, other contact info (Briar, DeltaChat, Session, etc.) for trusted contacts
• Setup notes (assume you’ll forget under pressure)

Back it up. Removable media. Cloud. Anywhere you’ll still have access if things go sideways.

Final thought

This isn’t prep for a distant dystopia. It’s a practical guide for living in a narrowing present. The tools are still available… for most of us… for now. The connections still work… for now. You don’t need a bunker, you just need foresight and a folder.

Don’t wait for the blocklists to catch up. Download everything while it’s still legal.