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What Search-Engine Is The Best For Privacy?

D

Dan-Kode

Guest
Hey there.

So in the past few weeks, I've started to get really serious about my Privacy. I've limited Data-Collection for Companies like Google and I want to start getting away from their Products now.

One of the Google Products that I have successfully gotten away from is their Search-Engine.

I switched from DuckDuckGo but once I looked into it for a few minutes(And looking at a Post made by @Tealk), I've ditched DuckDuckGo due to them being in the US and the fact that they could hand Data over at anytime.

So in the meantime, I've switched over to Qwant which is a Search-Engine based in France. Apparently Qwant respects a lot of your Privacy and I want to know your thoughts about it. I also want to know about any other Privacy Search-Engines.
 
For beginners:
Startpage: The search engine forwards your search queries to Google and plays the mediator, so to speak - with the advantage that you remain "anonymous" to Google. As soon as you start searching with StartPage, your search results are no longer personalized by Google. So be prepared for results that are "neutral". So you can escape your own filter bubble a bit. It's questionable, however, why one server is located in Palo Alto (USA) in addition to servers in Amsterdam and Haarlem (Netherlands).

Qwant: Similar to Startpage, Qwant does not deliver personalized search results - the search results are the same for everyone. There is also a Lite version that does not require JavaScript. In contrast to Startpage and MetaGer, the search results are usually based on the Qwant data records and are still linked to the results of Bing. The servers are located in the European Union.

MetaGer: Behind the search engine is the non-profit association SUMA-EV. Your search word is simultaneously passed on to approx. 20 - 30 search engines and the results are then displayed. Just like Startpage and Qwant, MetaGer does not collect and store personal data. Bonus: MetaGer can be accessed directly from the Tor network as a hidden service.

For advanced:
searx: The meta search engine (GNU Affero General Public License) is suitable for self-hosting and is therefore guaranteed free of tracking and advertising. Alternatively, you can also choose from an existing instance that provides clubs or private individuals - sometimes also as a hidden service via Tor. Searx can "tap" up to 70 different search engines or information sources. Among the best known are Bing, Google, Reddit, Wikipedia, Yahoo and Yandex.

I installed my own searx instance on a small server.
I am very satisfied with the results of searx. I find the desired results much faster than my colleagues in google or before in Qwant.
 
Thanks.

I'll continue using Qwant for a few days and then maybe try Searx after that.
 
The devil is in the details, though. DuckDuckGo is a US company and is therefore subject to American law and the Patriot Act. A court could now force the operators, for example, to release the TLS keys, as happened with the e-mail provider Lavabit. Basically DuckDuckGo is obliged to cooperate with authorities like the FBI, NSA, CIA and Co. For this reason alone, DuckDuckGo's data protection promises should be treated with caution - this of course applies to all search engines based in the USA.

Which many don't know either:
  • DuckDuckGo is hosted in the Amazon cloud (Amazon Web Services). As a privacy sensitive user this leaves me with an uncomfortable feeling, as Amazon is also the cloud service provider of the CIA.
  • The founder of DuckDuckGo, Gabriel Weinberg, also founded the social network Names Database in the past and later sold it to Classmates.com for 10 million. In short, he already has experience in collecting and selling user data.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act
Against this background, I can't understand the recommendation for DuckDuckGo as a search engine that respects the privacy of its users.
 
The devil is in the details, though. DuckDuckGo is a US company and is therefore subject to American law and the Patriot Act. A court could now force the operators, for example, to release the TLS keys, as happened with the e-mail provider Lavabit. Basically DuckDuckGo is obliged to cooperate with authorities like the FBI, NSA, CIA and Co. For this reason alone, DuckDuckGo's data protection promises should be treated with caution - this of course applies to all search engines based in the USA.

Which many don't know either:
  • DuckDuckGo is hosted in the Amazon cloud (Amazon Web Services). As a privacy sensitive user this leaves me with an uncomfortable feeling, as Amazon is also the cloud service provider of the CIA.
  • The founder of DuckDuckGo, Gabriel Weinberg, also founded the social network Names Database in the past and later sold it to Classmates.com for 10 million. In short, he already has experience in collecting and selling user data.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act
Against this background, I can't understand the recommendation for DuckDuckGo as a search engine that respects the privacy of its users.
I honestly thank you for mentioning how DuckDuckGo could simply hand Data over anytime a while ago. I'm now a happy SearX/Qwant User.

But @Tealk, is right. DuckDuckGo could hand your Data over at any moment. In fact, they could be doing it right now and you simply don't know it. Another thing that I find funny is the fact that they claim to "Not track you or collect any Personal-Information" yet they state that they only collect your IP Address. That's surely got to raise some eyebrows. Not to mention, that's False-Advertising.

I'm pretty sure I did once hear that DuckDuckGo was operated under AWS. Which, Amazon, being another Data-Mining Company, that's extremely bad. Especially if you have Users who trust in you and when you claim to not track anyone. I'm also pretty sure I hear/read about the Names Database somewhere online in the past. It's quite shocking that the Founder of DuckDuckGo, Gabriel Weinberg, once sold User-Data in the past. And as you said, he already has collecting and selling this Data to any Government, 3rd-Parties or Advertisers.

I'm glad I stopped using the Search-Engine now. I think people should start looking into alternatives to DuckDuckGo, similar to how people are looking for alternatives to Google. Qwant and SearX, in my opinion(Now that I've tried both), are some good Search-Engines for Privacy.
 
Best 8 Privacy-Oriented Alternative Search Engines To Google

1. DuckDuckGo

2. Qwant

3. Startpage

4. Privatelee

5. Swisscows

6. searX

7. Peekier

8. MetaGer
 
Last edited by a moderator:
MetaGer: Behind the search engine is the non-profit association SUMA-EV. Your search word is simultaneously passed on to approx. 20 - 30 search engines and the results are then displayed. Just like Startpage and Qwant, MetaGer does not collect and store personal data. Bonus: MetaGer can be accessed directly from the Tor network as a hidden service.
Note: I'm the same person who Posted this Thread, just under a new Account.

So, umm...I remembered about the existence of MetaGer but is it in terms of Privacy(In your opinion anyway), good? I mean, looking at their Privacy-Policy, they state that they generate things like the IP and the URL and Name of the Website that you visited and keep it for 96 hours. Which makes me wonder as to why they store it for 96 hours.

I'd like your opinion on it.
 
DuckDuckGo. By far the best-known service that is marketed as a private search engine, DuckDuckGo is a powerful metasearch tool that gathers the results from more than 400 sources including Yahoo, Bing, and Wikipedia.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Note: I'm the same person who Posted this Thread, just under a new Account.

So, umm...I remembered about the existence of MetaGer but is it in terms of Privacy(In your opinion anyway), good? I mean, looking at their Privacy-Policy, they state that they generate things like the IP and the URL and Name of the Website that you visited and keep it for 96 hours. Which makes me wonder as to why they store it for 96 hours.

I'd like your opinion on it.
I have to take a look, thank you.
But you can reach it via Tor network

By far the best-known service that is marketed as a private search engine,
And only because they say so themselves is that true? Anyone who believes advertising unreservedly is stupid
 
DuckDuckGo is a personal search engine. It insists on deploying privacy on the Internet. However, there is one problem we found that raises privacy concerns. But more privacy is a good thing, across the board, even if it is not enough to protect you from all angles.
 
Google is the best search engine in the world!
Google is in no way, the best Search-Engine in the world. And they aren't just a Search-Engine. They're a monopoly. They control about almost the entire Mobile-OS Market, are dominant with Online-Advertising and develop the world's worst and most overrated Browser ever(Chrome).

You have to be very naive to use such services voluntarily.
Well, if you're in your house then using a Google Service is voluntarily but by volunteering to use their Products, is like signing a deal with the Devil himself. But, if you're in a place like a School/University, a public library or some other place that uses MS Windows + other Microsoft and Google crap, you're going to be forced to use Products by those two companies(Especially in the Schools and Universities).
 
We don't have any alternatives in schools/universities.
That's why Google and Microsoft are the best.
 

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