I am currently working on a degree in the IT field. I don't know everything since I am still learning but here is what I use.. I use a virtual box(virtual machine) running a Linux distro.. I use ipvanish because they do not log your activity.. For email I use proton.. I tend to use TOR for my browser but I will also use Chrome too.

If you use Chrome or Firefox I would highly suggest adding 2 addons. One of them being HTTPS Everywhere and finally DuckDuckGo. HTTPS Everywhere will try to make all sites(that allow it) "https" meaning it is secured. DuckDuckGo is a search engine like Google. But they are more focused on privacy and doesn't track your searches. If you can't find what you want on duckduckgo search engine you can always type "!google" and it will bring google up for you. If you have any questions feel free to let me know.

If you are wondering what a virtualbox(virtual machine) is, it's a computer inside a computer. My computer runs windows, but with the virtualbox I am running Linux.

I may not know the answers, but I can at least try to help!
(All this information you may already know, I am just trying to keep in mind others who may not.)