No - one of the key design objectives of the StartMeStick is that it stores none of your files or data. This provides a most robust form of security: no files or data to infect, lose, or leak.

However, you can plug in an external drive while using your StartMeStick and save files on to it.

One of the key design objectives of the StartMeStick is that it never changes your computer.

You may see*, but not modify or delete, the files on your computer. You may copy your files to an external drive plugged in after the StartMeStick has started. The files on your external drive will be technically editable but the StartMeStick doesn't contain the types of programs (e.g. Microsoft Word, Excel) used to edit these types of files. However, the StartMeStick is a system for using the Internet, and you can upload these files to the cloud and edit them there.

*Note: Mac, Optane, and RAID systems as well as systems encrypted with Bitlocker are not supported at this time, meaning you cannot see the files on these systems.

No, it will not.

The data is never stored anywhere, it exists only in RAM, and RAM is reset each time the computer is rebooted.

Everything you need:

1. Google Chrome Internet browser.
2. A text editor.
3. A Solitaire card game.

Yes, yes, and yes. We think all or essentially all online video and streaming sites work well with the StartMeStick. If you find one that does not, please let us know.

Yes. See how here.

Yes.

The StartMeStick does not and cannot make any 3rd party web site or application more private or secure than it otherwise is.

I.e. If you login to Facebook, post photos etc…, Facebook now has your private data to do with as they see fit. The StartMeStick ensures that all is private and secure on your endpoint, i.e. your computer, but it cannot ensure all is well and good on the endpoints you are connecting to.

There are at least 3 ways:

1. Use Chrome and turn on Sync on your computers, phones, etc… When you use your StartMeStick and sign in to Chrome, your data will Sync and your passwords will be there for you.
2. If you prefer a 3rd party password manager, we’ve arranged a discount for StartMeStick/FixMeStick customers on Dashlane. If you install the Dashlane extension in Chrome on your regular host operating system, the extension will be there in Chrome when you run the StartMeStick if you sign in to Chrome and Sync.
3. If your other or preferred password manager includes a Chrome extension, the extension will be there in Chrome when you run the StartMeStick if you sign in to Chrome and Sync.

Each StartMeStick comes with a unique serial number that it uses to get its subscription status. We do keep a history of when this serial number was used so that we can tell how many active StartMeSticks there are. This serial number is linked to the computer the StartMeStick was used on, but is in no way tied to a person and we have no way of making that link - UNLESS YOU ACTIVATE YOUR WARRANTY.

StartMeStick links the email address you provide to the serial number of the StartMeStick being used. We do this so that we can contact you about your subscription status. There is still no tracking of what you do.

Diagnostic data includes technical specifications of your computer (e.g. computer make and model, amount of RAM, file system type), and the StartMeStick’s attempt to boot on it. We use this data to diagnose issues preventing the StartMeStick from starting properly. This data is not personally identifiable. There is still no tracking of what you do.

Most modern web browsers contain a Private Browsing feature, e.g. Chrome’s Incognito Mode or Microsoft Edge’s InPrivate mode. The general principle common to each is the browser creates a new and temporary browsing session that is isolated from your regular session and all the profile specific user data within it.

The StartMeStick is like Private Browsing mode, but for your whole computer. Every time you use the StartMeStick it is a new and temporary session that is isolated from the rest of your computer and all its profile specific user data within it. When you shut down the StartMeStick nothing from that session is saved to your computer or to the StartMeStick. That’s what we mean by the StartMeStick goes back to brand new after each use.

The StartMeStick’s primary web browser, Google Chrome, supports Incognito Mode, i.e. you can use the StartMeStick, and use the browser in Incognito Mode. This is useful in cases where you want to login to your favorite websites in one Chrome window (e.g. gmail, facebook, etc...), and don’t want that profile and its data to be shared with each separate Chrome window, i.e. you want a private browsing session that is isolated from your regular session and that doesn’t save any of the data (e.g. cookies, history) after you close that window.

If you sign in to Chrome to sync your profile data from your other computers where you use Chrome, you import all that profile and personal data into Chrome and into StartMeStick for that session. When you shut down the StartMeStick none of that data is saved on the StartMeStick, but depending on your Chrome sync settings, the data may be saved by Chrome. This is the purpose of Chrome sync, afterall. You can learn how to control what data Chrome syncs here.

No, it does not. No one is truly invisible on the Internet, some just take steps to make themselves less visible than others. How less visible you want to be is a personal decision. The cost (financial cost, ease of use cost) tends to increase along with increasing levels of privacy. However, we’ve made the StartMeStick relatively inexpensive and very easy to use, and it provides a very good level of privacy.

It's private from mass surveillance, e.g. the systems used by companies and governments to collect then process our online activities en masse in order to drive our engagement and their profits, which we now understand has the nasty side effect of undermining our society.

It’s not private (or secure) from specific/dedicated attacks from skilled hackers against an individual, e.g. if you’re a government spy trying to hide your trail online, you should probably invest in something bigger than a StartMeStick.

We recommend that to everybody, whether they’re StartMeStick customers or not. The StartMeStick gets you further because in addition to its core privacy functionality,  you no longer have to trust Microsoft/Apple and all the other programs installed to not track you.

A VPN can provide ‘network privacy’ by hiding your true IP address from the websites you visit, and the websites you visit from your Internet Service Provider. VPN software can provide privacy from harmful entities on the network, e.g. websites that try to reverse engineer your identity via tracking your IP address and similar, and/or ISPs that track what you’re doing online, however, they cannot provide privacy from your browser or other programs on your computer.

Further, you can add a VPN to your StartMeStick by choosing a VPN provider that offers a Chrome extension. We’ve arranged a discount for StartMeStick/FixMeStick customers with 

If you prefer not to login and sync Chrome, you can manually add the VPN extension to Chrome each time. You have to do it each time because when you shut down the StartMeStick nothing from that session is saved to your computer or to the StartMeStick. That’s what we mean by the StartMeStick goes back to brand new after each use.

Yes. In fact, the StartMeStick is the only device of its kind that we’re aware of that works correctly on PCs with Secure Boot (essentially every PC purchased since 2012 has Secure Boot). In most cases, the StartMeStick does NOT require you to fiddle with UEFI settings, or, to turn off Secure Boot in order to boot your StartMeStick.

Not a problem. The StartMeStick will work. Remember, the StartMeStick never touches your hard disk, so it doesn’t matter if your files are encrypted or not.

Not much is impossible in computer security (or, security in any field), however, it is very improbable that a hacker could insert malicious code into the Linux operating system and that code ends up executing on a StartMeStick.

The StartMeStick is based on an extremely limited set of mainstream and mature open source files each of which has been digitally signed and used extensively by 1000s of government and commercial organizations.

For example, your adversary swaps out your keyboard for an identical looking one that has malicious firmware and captures your passwords. The StartMeStick can’t protect you in this scenario (nothing can).

For example, your adversary infects the program that boots the operating system (this is the scenario that Secure Boot aims to prevent.): The StartMeStick can’t protect you in this scenario (nothing can).

It is very, very, improbable (nothing is impossible in computer security, actually nothing in any field of security is impossible) that while using your StartMeStick it becomes infected with a malicious program, e.g. a computer virus. If you are ever concerned that your StartMeStick has somehow been compromised, you simply factory upgrade it from a known clean computer to get it back to its ‘fresh out of the box’ state.