KVM

Privacy Pros: FOSS, comes preinstalled with most linux distros and runs with no translation layer. Graphics, disk, and network are by default run on virtualized hardware.

Privacy Cons: Malware can infect the host system if certain measures are put in place. Uses the same network as the host if in NAT mode.

Privacy Tips: Make sure you have Intel VT or AMD-V in order to use. Use bridged network mode to give the VM its own network and use the free tier of Proton VPN to give it its own isolated and protected VPN connection. Use Virt Manager for an easy GUI to manager KVM.

Kernel Virtual Machine

KVM (for Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is a full virtualization solution for Linux on x86 hardware containing virtualization extensions (Intel VT or AMD-V). It consists of a loadable kernel module, kvm.ko, that provides the core virtualization infrastructure and a processor specific module, kvm-intel.ko or kvm-amd.ko.

Using KVM, one can run multiple virtual machines running unmodified Linux or Windows images. Each virtual machine has private virtualized hardware: a network card, disk, graphics adapter, etc.

KVM is open source software. The kernel component of KVM is included in mainline Linux, as of 2.6.20. The userspace component of KVM is included in mainline QEMU, as of 1.3.