This guide aims to be the most in-depth resource available on private search engines. For this 2022 update, we examine the best private search engines, search results censorship, and how to keep your data safe and secure when searching online.
In today’s world, search engines are a necessity to find what you’re looking for online. Unfortunately, however, there are two big problems you will likely encounter:
- Search engines that violate your privacy.
- Search engines that censor search results.
This private search engines guide will thoroughly examine both of these problems and provide you with the best reliable solutions and alternatives we can find. So let’s begin by examining the first problem with search engine privacy.
The search engine privacy problem
It is sad to say, but most of the big search engines today serve as data collection tools for advertising companies. That’s right, they collect your private data and use it to make money with targeted ads. This is a booming industry where your data ends up in the hands of third parties and you are the product.
Here is the information being collected by some of the larger (not private) search engines:
- Source IP address
- User agent
- Location
- Unique identifier (stored in browser cookies)
- Search queries
As you may know, the items you enter into a search engine can disclose highly personal information about you. Things like as medical conditions, employment status, financial information, political beliefs, and other private details. This data can be collected, stored, and linked to detailed digital profiles which can even contain your real identity. The only way to ensure that your data is safe is to keep it out of the hands of the data collectors. To do that, you need to use a private search engine.
Search engine censorship in 2022
Many people are getting fed up with online censorship, particularly when trying to find specific information that was previously available. Censorship can take many forms. With search engines today, censorship can come from filtering, manipulating, and/or blocking certain search results from appearing.
Unfortunately, the censorship problem affects many of the private search engines for these two reasons:
- Censorship flows downhill. Many of the alternative and private search engines are nothing more than private proxies that deliver the same search results from the big players. This means that when Google and Bing (Microsoft) engage in censorship and search result manipulation, so will your alternative search engine that delivers those same results.
- Alternative search engines themselves are also engaging in censorship. Recently the CEO of DuckDuckGo announced that they will “down-rank sites associated with Russian disinformation.” We can see both sides to the question of whether or not to engage in censorship given the geopolitical events of 2022. Nonetheless, this amounts to censorship, which is what many people are trying to avoid.
An exception to this may be with independent search engines that deploy their own crawlers, such as with Mojeek, or Brave Search. Additionally, with Searx, you can select which engines it uses.
So let’s examine some alternative private search engines you can start using today.
The best private search engines
Finding the best private search engine for your needs is a subjective process. Your circumstances and goals are unique, meaning there’s no one-size-fits-all. Things to consider include:
- Where is the service based?
- Where does it get its search results?
- Can you run your own instance?
In a perfect world, a search engine would give you great results while also respecting your privacy. Unfortunately, this isn’t a perfect world. Any of the private search engines in this guide could be the best solution for you. But you will need to test drive the ones that look the best to you to see which is really the best fit. Before we start, there is one issue you need to be aware of:
Metasearch vs search: Most private search engines are technically metasearch engines. While a search engine crawls the internet and gathers its own results, a metasearch engine pulls its search results from other search engines, such as Google, Bing, and Yandex.
There are also a few search engines that fall in the middle by deploying their own crawler, but also pulling results from other search engines.
Note: This list is not necessarily in rank order. Choose the best search engine for you based on your own unique needs and threat model.
Here are the best private search engines:
Searx – Open source and uncensored search engine
Jurisdiction: Not applicable (open source, not based in any one location)
Search results: Fully customizable! You can choose from a large selection of engines to display results.
Searx is an open source metasearch engine that gathers results from other search engines while simultaneously respecting your privacy. Even better, you control which search engines Searx pulls results from, as well as specifying the categories for search results.
Searx customizability comes in handy since Google has been known to block Searx requests. We haven’t seen a good solution to the problem, but you can avoid these kinds of problems by telling Searx to avoid Google (or any other source that causes problems).
Searx also allows you to run your own instance of the search engine. The drawback with your own instance, however, is that your search results won’t be mixed with other users. Searx is open source and available on GitHub.
Be careful if you use public instances!
Because Searx is open source and freely available for anyone to use, there are a number of different public instances you can utilize. However, just like with Tor nodes, anyone with bad intentions can set up a “rogue” instance and potentially log user activity, as Searx explains here:
What are the consequences of using public instances?
If someone uses a public instance, he/she has to trust the administrator of that instance. This means that the user of the public instance does not know whether his/her requests are logged, aggregated and sent or sold to a third party.
Unfortunately the Searx project does not run an official public instance. They do recommend public instances that are operated by various individuals or entities. But how do you know those instances aren’t logging your search results on their server? You don’t!
For all we know, a public instance might run by an advertising company, or perhaps a domestic or foreign intel agencies, or just some creeps looking to spy on your data. The only way to be sure is to run your own instance.
https://www.searx.me (gives info about the project and list of instances)
MetaGer – An open source metasearch engine with good features
Jurisdiction: Germany
Search Results: In our tests, most Megater search results came from Bing, followed by Scopia and Infotiger, another start-up search engine based in Germany. It also displays some results from Yandex and Yahoo.
MetaGer is an open source metasearch engine based in Germany. It gets search results from Bing, Yandex, Yahoo and others, as well as having its own web crawler. This interesting project started in 1996. It is now operated by a non-profit foundation in Germany called SUMA-EV (Association for Free Access to Knowledge). I tested MetaGer for this guide and found the results to be decent, with some nice features as well:
- Every search result shows the source it came from
- Search filter options (date, safe search, and language)
- Proxy viewing options “open anonymously”
- A new News/Politics results type
MetaGer does a good job of protecting your privacy, as they explain here. MetaGer converts search requests into anonymous queries through a proxy server, which also provides the “open anonymously” viewing option with all results. The service truncates your IP addresses to protect your privacy, although they do pass along user agent info to their search partners. MetaGer does not utilize cookies or any other tracking methods.
For operation stability and security, MetaGer does keep some logs on their own servers, but this data is kept no longer than 96 hours and is automatically erased. MetaGer finances operations from user donations, as well as ads that are served through partner networks, such as Bing. These ads appear at the top of the search results. However, you can get completely ad-free search results by signing up for an MetaGer membership. (Without memberships and personal donations, MetaGer states they would not be able to continue operations.)
MetaGer runs all of its infrastructure on servers in Germany, which is a good privacy jurisdiction with strict data protection laws. The service is completely open source. For those on the Tor network, MetaGer also hosts a .onion site.
You can read more about using MetaGer, as well as their apps, plugins, and features, on their website. We’ll close here with an interesting quote I found on their site (translated from German):
Did you know that according to the Patriot Act, all internet servers and search engines physically located in the jurisdiction of the United States are obligated to disclose any information to the intelligence services? Your personal data is at risk even if the servers and search engines don’t store any information: it is sufficient if the intelligence agencies read and store everything at the internet point of connection. All MetaGer servers are located in Germany.
https://metager.org/ (English)
https://metager.de/ (German)
Mojeek – A crawler-based search engine with more privacy
Jurisdiction: United Kingdom
Search results: Mojeek uses its own crawler and is not dependent on others!
Unlike some of the other private (meta)search engines, Mojeek is true search engine with its own crawler. According to the Mojeek blog, the service surpassed 4 billion pages indexed in 2021. If you want complete search independence from the corporate data monoliths of Google and Bing, Mojeek offers an interesting proposition.
In terms of privacy, Mojeek does pretty well. It claims to be the “first ever no tracking/privacy orientated search engine” from when it first started. The Mojeek privacy policy details how user data is generally protected:
Mojeek doesn’t implement any kind of specific user tracking, whether that be at the time of visit or subsequently via standard logs, which Mojeek does keep. These logs contain the time of visit, page requested, possibly referral data, and located in a separate log browser information. IP addresses are not recorded, instead the IP address is replaced with a simple two letter code indicating the visitors country of origin. By doing this, Mojeek removes any possibility of tracking or identifying any particular user.
Hopefully Mojeek can continue to improve their search results and one day rival the big players.
https://www.mojeek.com/
Swisscows – A Switzerland-based private search engine
Jurisdiction: Switzerland
Search results: Bing
Swisscows is a Switzerland-based private search engine that does very well with privacy and security. They promise no tracking or data collection, and even have a “Swiss Fort Knox” data center for their server infrastructure. From their website:
- have our own servers and do not work with cloud or third party!
- have our Datacenter in the Swiss Alps – THIS is the safest bunker in Europe!
- have positioned everything geographically outside of EU and US.
In terms of privacy, Swisscows is one of the top choices. You can catch up on their privacy policy here. In testing out Swisscows for this guide, I found it to provide good results, which are primarily sourced from Bing.
Family-Friendly content – One unique aspect of Swisscows is that they are passionate about family-friendly content. As they explain on their about page:
- We promote moral values.
- We hate violence and pornography.
- We promote digital media education.
While some people may not like the fact that Swisscows is censoring some adult content, others may see this as a great feature, especially those who have young children.
Because Swisscows does not pass on user data from search requests, they are unable to effectively monetize their service through ad partners, which means they largely rely on donations and sponsorships to maintain operations (sponsors can get a banner ad at the top of results).
Website: https://swisscows.com
Qwant – A private search engine from France
Jurisdiction: France
Search results: Bing
Qwant is a private search engine based in France. Being based in Europe, it is held to data privacy protections that are much stricter than those in the United States and many other countries. Qwant promises to protect user privacy (no tracking) and keep people from getting stuck in the filter bubble.This is all good since Qwant primarily gets its search results from Microsoft’s Bing search engine.
Qwant’s privacy policy has changed since we last reviewed their service. Here’s an excerpt that shows their commitment to protect your privacy:
Qwant is committed to protecting your privacy, and that’s at the heart of our philosophy. What you do with Qwant is your privacy and we don’t want to know about it. We don’t keep your search history and we don’t create an advertising profile to target you. With Qwant, you are of course entitled to the rights guaranteed by the European General Data Protection Regulation of April 27, 2016, known as the “GDPR”, but most importantly, we ensure maximum respect for the principles of data minimization and “privacy by design”, i.e., we implement design methods for our services that allow us to collect and process only the data that is strictly necessary. We never try to find out who you are or what you do personally when you use our search engine.
However, when Qwant does not have the answers to your queries, they will pass along pseudonymous data to Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited. Microsoft provides search results, along with “contextual advertising based on the keywords you entered and your geographic region.”
In addition, for purposes of security and reliability of their partner Microsoft’s services, Qwant “may also collect and transfer to this partner your full IP address.” The data transferred to Microsoft is processed under the rules of article 6.1.f of the GDPR, and may be retained in accordance with Bing’s Privacy Policy for a maximum of 18 months.
While the GDPR should protect your data from abuse by Microsoft, if you don’t want Microsoft to know what you are searching for online, you need to be aware that Qwant may share that information with Microsoft under certain circumstances.
Putting that aside, Qwant has good search filtering options. You can filter results by different categories (web, news, social, images, videos, and shopping) as well as by dates. The Qwant homepage includes news stories, trending people, events, and other interest stories. According to their website, Qwant serves 189 million results per month.
Overall, Qwant is a good option for a private search engine, with many features in place to protect user privacy.
https://www.qwant.com/
Brave Search – A new search engine from the Brave browser
Jurisdiction: United States
Search results: Uses its own crawler!
Although it is still in beta, Brave Search looks quite promising. It is brought to you by the makers of Brave, which is a secure browser with built-in privacy that runs on open-source Chromium. Unlike most of the other search engines in this guide, Brave is using its own search index, rather than relying on Bing or Google.
Here is a brief overview of the Brave Search project from their website:
Brave Search is the world’s most complete, independent, private search engine. By integrating Brave Search beta into its browser, Brave offers the first all-in-one browser / search alternative to the big tech platforms. Brave Search beta is also available in other browsers, at search.brave.com.
Given that Brave Search is relatively new, there is not a lot of information regarding the company’s policies and practices. However, there is this FAQ page that answers some questions. We are excited to see this project develop as it appears to be a strong alternative from a well-regarded organization. We’ll keep an eye on it as things progress.
https://search.brave.com/
DuckDuckGo – Popular private search engine based in the US
Jurisdiction: United States
Search results: Primarily Bing, but there are other sources as well.
DuckDuckGo (a.k.a. DDG) is perhaps the most popular private search engine. It’s popularity has grown greatly since our last review. For many people, the first thing to do when installing a new web browser is to set its default search engine to DuckDuckGo.
Based in the United States (not the ideal location from a privacy perspective), DDG was started by Gabriel Weinberg in 2008. It generates search results from over 400 sources including Wikipedia, Bing, and Yahoo. DuckDuckGo has a close partnership with Yahoo (now owned by Verizon).
In March 2022, DuckDuckGo made two interesting announcements in the wake of the situation with Russia and Ukraine.
- They will censor and “down-rank” search results that they feel are related to “disinformation” — see the Twitter announcement here.
- They will no longer source search results from Yandex, according to reports.
We’re not going to attack DDG for its decision to “down-rank” some websites, because we can see both sides of the argument, and this website is not political. However, we will point out that these actions amount to censorship, which DDG previously denounced with other search engines.
To finance operations, DuckDuckGo generates money through advertisements and affiliate programs, which is explained here. Similar to Google and other search engines, DuckDuckGo will display ads at the top of your searches. DDG has partnered with Amazon and eBay as affiliates.
Searches are saved – DuckDuckGo’s privacy policy reveals that DDG is saving all your search queries:
We also save searches, but again, not in a personally identifiable way, as we do not store IP addresses or unique User agent strings. We use aggregate, non-personal search data to improve things like misspellings.
While it would be great if DDG didn’t save any search information, saving this data without IP addresses or unique User agent strings should protect your privacy just fine.
The history of DuckDuckGo search
In researching the background DuckDuckGo, I uncovered some interesting history. The founder of DDG, Gabriel Weinberg, was also behind a social network called Names Database, which collected the real names and addresses of its users. He then sold Names Database (and all the user data) to Classmates.com for “approximately $10 million in cash” in March 2006.
DuckDuckGo was launched a few years later, in 2008 and was branded as a privacy search engine. It rose to popularity in 2013 following the Snowden revelations. DuckDuckGo remains one of the most popular private search engines to date and is well-regarded in the privacy community. Even if Mr. Weinberg were to sell DDG some day, assuming the company continued to follow existing policies on recording search data, there should be nothing to worry about.
https://duckduckgo.com
YaCy – The decentralized, open source, peer-to-peer search engine
Jurisdiction: Not applicable. (Being a decentralized and open-source platform, YaCy does not appear to fall under any particular jurisdiction, similar to Searx.)
Search results: Peer-to-peer crawler model
YaCy is an open source private search engine created in 2004 by Michael Christen. It can run stand-alone or as part of a decentralized peer-to-peer network. Here is a brief description from YaCy’s website:
It is fully decentralized, all users of the search engine network are equal, the network does not store user search requests and it is not possible for anyone to censor the content of the shared index. We want to achieve freedom of information through a free, distributed web search which is powered by the world’s users.
With YaCy, there is no central server, which could be seized or tapped by authorities. Rather, all peers in the network are equal and can be used for crawling the web or in “proxy mode” to index pages for other users. To use YaCy, you need to download the free software on your operating system, available for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. There is a demo portal here to test things out.
https://yacy.net/
Ecosia – The search engine that plants trees
Jurisdiction: Germany
Search results: Bing
Ecosia is unique on our list in that it donates a portion of profits to charity and is strictly focused on planting trees. It is based in Germany and claims to be a private search engine. However, some of the things it does make it unsuitable for our main list of truly private search engines.
One issue is that Ecosia collects all search queries and then anonymizes this data after seven days. Another is that they do a fair amount of data collecting through website analytics, including your IP address, browser agent, location, and more.
And one more thing…
Ecosia assigns a Bing tracking ID to every user:
Ecosia also assigns a “Bing Client ID” in order to improve the quality of the search results. This value is a user-specific ID which enables Bing to deliver more relevant search results also based on previous searches. The ID is saved in the Ecosia cookie and retrieved during future visits.
While the “Bing Client ID” can be manually disabled by the user, most people probably are not even aware of it. This is because Ecosia has done a good job burying this information in their privacy policy. To read the full privacy policy, you will need to scroll all the way to the bottom of the privacy page, and then click a light blue “READ MORE” button, which opens up more information.
Does Ecosia meet the criteria to be a “private search engine”? Probably not, but it’s still a good alternative to the big search engines, with commendable charity goals.
Main drawbacks:
- Not a “private search engine” by default
- Bing ID is assigned to users (but can be disabled)
- Search queries, with IP address, are saved for seven days
https://www.ecosia.org/
Yandex.com – A search engine in Russia (with censorship)
Disclaimer: Yandex is a Russian search engine that also engages in censorship, as we see with most Western-based search engines, such as Google and Bing. However, if there is information that you seek, and Western-focused search engines are of no help, then Yandex.com could be a solution for finding what you need. Proceed with caution!
Operating in Russia, we need to point out that Yandex is legally obligated to censor search results. In fact, as we mentioned in our guide on VPNs for Russia, there is massive censorship that is mandated by the government. This is the other side of the censorship coin.
We have also previously pointed out that there is a growing need to unblock websites in Russia given all the censorship lately. In fact, Russia has been actively blocking websites since 2012 and the are now blocking major social media sites, including Facebook and Twitter, as well as international news sites, such as the BBC.
So why discuss Yandex if they also engage in censorship? Answer: If you can’t find what you’re looking for with Western-based search engines, then Yandex may be useful.
https://Yandex.com
These search engines have ad-tech owners
Now let’s look at a few search engines that are at least partially owned by advertising companies.
Why is this important to understand?
Because the business model of advertising companies is to collect as much private data as possible. A “private” search engine could be a massive data collection tool in the wrong hands.
Can an ad-tech company be trusted to guard your personal data while running a “private” search engine?
Can a fox be trusted to guard a hen house?
Proceed with caution.
1. Search Encrypt – A search engine with some big red flags
Search Encrypt is another interesting search engine that claims to offer better privacy by default than DuckDuckGo. Like DuckDuckGo, Search Encrypt uses Bing for search results. Search Encrypt describes the following features on its website:
- Expiring browsing history: Encryption keys for your searches expire when you are done searching.
- End-to-end encryption: Searches are end-to-end encrypted using AES-256 and HTTPS/SSL encryption.
- Privacy-friendly maps search
- Privacy-friendly video search
While Search Encrypt does have some interesting features, the privacy policy has a few red flags. It begins with:
Search Encrypt does not track search history in any user identifiable way.
This cryptic sentence suggests that Search Encrypt does indeed track search history, but attempts to anonymize the data. Their privacy policy further states:
Additionally, we store aggregated search data to improve product performance, but never store IP addresses or unique user identifiers in connection with such searches in order to ensure that none of the information collected in connection with your search activity is personally identifiable.
This is a pretty convoluted statement. Here are a few takeaways:
- “Aggregated search data” is being logged and stored.
- They claim to not store IP addresses “in connection with such searches” – but this does not mean that IP addresses are not getting logged and/or passed on to third parties. Rather, they are merely stating that IP addresses will not be associated with searches. Therefore it appears that IP addresses might be getting logged (another reason to use a VPN).
Search Encrypt also discloses in their privacy policy how they may share data with third parties if you alter the default settings in any way:
In circumstances where you have chosen to alter the default settings, then your personally identifiable information may be shared with third party site operators.
Lastly, it also appears that Search Encrypt may be operating out of the United States. From their Terms page:
Choice of Law and Venue.
This Agreement shall be interpreted and enforced in all respects under the laws of the State of Florida, United States as applicable to contracts to be performed entirely within Florida.
Who’s running the show?
Another question with Search Encrypt is that there isn’t much information about the company. The contact page shows an address in Cyprus and the legal venue is Florida (United States). The developer for the Search Encrypt Firefox extension (no longer listed) is “SearchIncognito” – with a history of other “private search” extensions:
How does Search Encrypt make money?
Like some other private search engines, Search Encrypt makes money through affiliates, as they explain here:
In some circumstances, we may append an affiliate code to certain sites linked to our Search Encrypt product, either directly or through search results delivered to you. In doing so, we may collect a small commission in connection with your activity, but do not pass any of your personally identifiable information to any such third party sites.
This of course could be quite profitable with the right deals and enough users. DuckDuckGo also utilizes affiliates with Amazon and eBay for revenue, in addition to advertisements. (We’ll explain more about how private search engines make money below.)
I reached out to Search Encrypt asking for additional clarification on their data collection and user privacy policies. My emails were not answered.
Main drawbacks:
- IP address and other data may be collected
- Data may be shared with third parties if you modify default settings
- Runs on Amazon servers in the US
- Non-transparent company
Jurisdiction: Contact address is in Cyprus, legal venue is in the United States (owners in China? below)
https://www.searchencrypt.com/
Update: My suspicions proved to be warranted. An article on Medium has revealed that “Search Encrypt” is basically a Chinese data collection tool for advertising companies.
How a Chinese Company Built a $250 Million Search Hijacking Empire
2. GhostPeek – A clone of Search Encrypt?
It appears that a carbon copy of Search Encrypt has been unveiled, which they are calling “Ghost Peek” and claim to be another “private search engine”.
Someone on reddit did some digging and found the same pattern and ties to China that we saw above with “Search Encrypt”
Ghostpeek, the supposedly “private” search engine, is run by a sketchy shell corporation, which in turn is owned by a personal and mobile data aggregator based in China
3. Startpage – Acquired by a US ad-tech company in 2019
Startpage was previously one of my top recommendations for private search engines. However, news surfaced in October 2019 that Startpage was at least partially acquired by System1 and the Privacy One Group. As described in my article on Startpage and System1, there are some concerning factors to consider:
- The fact that System1 has acquired a large stake in Startpage.
- The history and business model of System1, which includes gathering “as much data as possible” and profiling users.
- The board of directors change at Surfboard Holding BV (parent company of Startpage), to appoint the System1 co-founder and an outside investor.
- The long delay in alerting the public to these changes.
- The contradictory business models of System1 and a private search engine.
Choosing the best private search engine is largely about trust, and only you can decide who to trust.
Jurisdiction: Netherlands (officially, but at least partially owned by a US company)
https://www.startpage.com
Private search engine FAQs
Here are some FAQs (frequently asked questions) with regards to private search engines:
- How do private search engines make money?
- Are US-based search engines safe?
- How to keep your searches private
- Considerations when choosing a private search engine
How do private search engines make money?
Private search engines make money in three ways: contextual advertisements, affiliates, and donations. Let’s examine each of these revenue streams on their own.
1. Contextual advertisements
Just like with Google and Bing, many private search engines make money by placing advertisements in the search results, usually based on the search terms you entered. The difference between private search engines and Google or Bing is that private search engines should only be serving ads based on your search term, rather than from all other data collection sources (email, browsing, etc.).
Note: Some private search engines pass a truncated (anonymized) version of your IP address to the search partner, in order to serve relevant ads for your general location.
2. Affiliate revenue
Many private search engines make money through affiliate programs. DuckDuckGo is an example of this; they are a member of both the Amazon and eBay affiliate programs:
DuckDuckGo is part of the affiliate programs of the eCommerce websites Amazon and eBay. When you visit those sites through DuckDuckGo, including when using !bangs, and subsequently make a purchase, we receive a small commission.
You may also see “online shopping” options above your search results, which are another form of affiliate revenue. Both Qwant and DuckDuckGo use affiliate “shopping” results as sources of income.
Note: When you buy something through an affiliate link, it never increases the price you pay. Rather, it simply transfers a small percentage of the profits (i.e. a commission) to the affiliate, which in this case is the private search engine.
3. Donations
Private search engines may also make money from donations. Anybody can donate to the project, regardless of whether it is an individual developer, a non-profit organization, or a private for-profit business.
If a search engine does not have other sources of revenue or good advertising deals with partners, donations become very important to ensure continued operations. For example, Swisscows, MetaGer, and YaCy all have donation options.
Are US-based search engines safe?
Choosing a private search engine is all based on your unique needs and threat model. Therefore a private search engine that Bob considers to be safe, may not be adequate for Alice.
With regards to US-based search engines, and any other US businesses that handles (or has potential access) to private data, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- The United States has extensive surveillance programs, which are carried out by various branches of government, such as the NSA.
- The US has a long history of working with (and forcing) private tech companies to facilitate bulk data collection efforts – see the PRISM program for details. (This raises questions about private search engines that are being hosted on Amazon infrastructure, a large US-based company.)
- US companies could be served National Security Letters or other lawful data collection demands, while also being prohibited from disclosing this due to gag orders.
These laws and capabilities essentially give the US government the authority to compel a legitimate privacy-focused company to function as a data collection tool for state agencies.
If a privacy-focused business were to be compromised, it would likely happen behind closed doors, without a word (or warning) to the users. This was the case with Lavabit, and rather than comply with the data requests, the founder was basically forced to shut down the business.
As a general rule, RestorePrivacy does not recommend services that are based in the US. Nonetheless, it all depends on your threat model and how much privacy and security you need.
How to keep your searches private
Here are five basic tips for keeping your searches (and data in general) more private.
1. Use a private search engine
Using one of the private search engines in this guide will help keep your data safe from third parties. See the reviews to determine which private search engine best suits your needs.
2. Use a private and secure browser
Just like with search engines, your browser can also reveal lots of private information about you to third parties:
- Browsing history: all the websites you visit
- Login credentials: usernames and passwords
- Cookies and trackers: these are placed on your browser by the sites you visit
- Autofill information: names, addresses, phone numbers, etc.
- Metadata, which can be used for tracking and identification (browser fingerprinting)
Many of the private search engines in this guide offer browser extensions to replace the default search engine for your browser. DuckDuckGo has even become listed as an alternative search engine for browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome.
See our guide on secure browsers here.
3. Use a good VPN service
If you use a good VPN service, you won’t have to worry about search engines logging your IP address and location. A VPN will encrypt your traffic for safe transit across the internet, while also replacing your IP address and location with that of the VPN server you’re connected to. There are many other uses for VPN services and they are an important privacy tool, especially since internet providers in many countries are now collecting browsing history.
Below are my top VPN recommendations:
- NordVPN: A fast, secure, audited VPN with advanced privacy features and a strict no-logs policy, based in Panama (with a 60% discount coupon).
- Surfshark VPN: A no-logs VPN service with a large lineup of privacy and security features, based in The Netherlands.
- ExpressVPN – A reliable, secure, and user-friendly VPN service that is based in the British Virgin Islands with a no-logs policy (audited twice).
And you can get more information on our top recommendations of the best VPN services here.
4. Use a good ad blocker
A reliable ad blocker is another important privacy tool since ads have become a major threat to your privacy. Many ads now quietly collect data for third-party advertising networks. Other ads (known as malvertising), actually install malware on your computer or mobile device. The best thing to do these days is to simply block ads and tracking networks.
There are of course many other privacy tools to consider. However, a good private search engine, a secure browser, a reliable VPN, and a safe ad blocker are the top priorities for basic digital self defense.
5. Log out!
Lastly, whenever possible, stay logged out of Big Tech accounts (Gmail, YouTube, Amazon, etc.) when surfing the web, since their trackers will record your browsing activity and link this to your data profile.
Another option is to use one browser for staying logged into various accounts, but then use a separate browser for general browsing activity (this is known as browser compartmentalization).
Considerations when choosing a private search engine
Here are some things to consider when looking for the best search engine for privacy:
- Search results – Some search engines may do well in the privacy category, but they don’t return very good results. Some will actively engage in censorship, or display censored search results from Google or Bing.
- Privacy – Consider what information the search engine is logging, as well as the data that may be passed off to third parties and search partners (such as Bing).
- Jurisdiction – Jurisdiction is an important factor to consider because it ultimately affects your data and privacy. Services based in the US, for example, are subject to the Patriot Act, National Security Letters, and may also be forced to collect user data without being allowed to disclose anything (due to gag orders).
- Features – Some private search engines offer useful features, such as anonymous viewing (via proxy servers), search result filtering options, plugins, extensions, and more.
- Mobile apps – More than a year ago, Google reported that they process more search requests from mobile devices than they do from desktops. We live on our mobile devices, so a search engine that offers a mobile app for your specific device could be a big benefit.
- Trust – Trust is difficult to quantify and measure, but it’s a very important consideration. When considering the trust factor, you may want to look at the history of the company and the individuals behind it.
Finding the best search engine for your needs is a subjective process, and there’s no single “best private search engine” that applies to everyone. Check out our reviews, the test drive a few different options to find the best fit for you.
This private search engines guide was last updated on March 10, 2022.
A scoring matrix or grades based in specific categories (e.g. jurisdiction, speed, results, etc.) would be incredibly helpful. Some of those results could potentially be subjective but i think a huge help. Really appreciate the article!
Hello Sven, I’d like to see an indepth review of Kaspersky VPN plus anti-virus.
Since the company is located in Russia, a country
that is just as bad at spying on their citizens like the USA
does with the CIA, FBI, NSA, etc . . . I would use another vpn provider and anti virus.
Kaspersky Lab, located at bldg. 3, 39A,
Leningradskoe Shosse, Moscow, 125212, Russian Federation
WHAT PERSONAL DATA DO WE PROCESS AND HOW DO WE USE IT
My Kaspersky, Kaspersky Account, Kaspersky Small Office Security Management
Console, and Anti-Theft Web Management (hereinafter referred to as the “Service”)
The categories of data
In order to use the Service and have access
to all of its functions, you will provide following personal data:
your email address and password when you register on our Service;
mobile phone number;
information about your devices and licenses;
information you provided to Kaspersky Lab’s technical support;
expiration date of your bank card and the last 4 symbols of your bank card number;
statistical information about your browser (domain names, IP addresses, network provider, browser types and other information about client environment, which Kaspersky Lab applications you use and how you use them, the web page you were visiting immediately prior to visiting our website, pages of our website that you visited, the time spent on those pages, information you searched for on our website, access times and dates, and other statistics from people who visit our site);
full list of data collected on managed devices by My Kaspersky, please refer to section “Conditions regarding data processing”;
full list of data collected on managed devices by Kaspersky Small Office Security Management Console, please refer to section “Conditions regarding data processing”.
The categories of data
In order to use the Service and have access
to all of its functions, you will provide following personal data:
username and password;
first name;
last name;
email address;
your personal preferences;
comments to other users.
Also, do you know where/which document viewer like xls viewer without ads without analytics, not tracking. Its very hard to fi d document viewer with privacy friendly, i tried libre office but it wont open read only sheets xlxs files which arent savable.
Duckduckgo being unbiased, i dont know but duckduckgo seems shady , i dont have proof or anything but its just shady, metager.org is best for me. For now.
Sven,
Good Work!
Thank you.
Brant
One other search engine that I think would be a good choice is Ghostery’s Glow. According to it’s website, Glow does not log user’s search history and does not filter search results either.
https://glowstery.com/
Any general comments on Dissenter, Gab’s version of Brave?
I wouldn’t use it. I tired it a short time ago and a virus tried to infect my computer when I used the Dissenter feature on it. I don’t even think Gab maintains it anymore and I believe when you use it’s chat feature, your conversations may be retained on Gab’s servers.
I suggest using Brave or even Firefox instead.
How do you feel about the Brave browser itself? Any other recommendations?
Also was wondering why presearch was not on this list and what your thoughts are on it?
Lastly, in practice what are you personally using?
We are fans of Brave browser, it tops the list of our recommended secure and private browsers.
I don’t know about “presearch”.
I use a mix of search engines from this guide, mostly the top six in the list.
Presearch is great AFAIK – probably a good one to research…
https://www.presearch.io
Decentralized + some blockchain involvement.
I tried Brave, and it gave the same old mainstream media results, and pretty much left out or marginalized alternative news sites.
Same. When I went to Brave and typed in Epoch Times, it brought up sites that promote it as right-wing conspiracy. When I went to Escocia, it brought up some of those (a little further down); however, at the top of their search was general matter of fact information, including Epoch’s website, not Wikipedia’s take on it.
If you use DuckDuckGo’s browser or search engine, in light of this, you may want to change your search engine or browser. Censorship is not ever acceptable.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/duckduckgo-to-down-rank-sites-associated-with-russian-disinformation
Yep I *just* updated this guide with information about this situation.
Great! Thank you! People should message Gabriel Weinberg and shame him or demand he reverse his policy. Otherwise, I am spreading the word among people I know and interact with online about this.
Dropping DDG today.
What’s still lacking for me, even in the privacy based search engines, are results that are relevant, not monetarily influenced, and don’t include duplicate results. For example, I’ve been searching for free access to specific audiobooks, and the results are often largely comprised of businesses like Amazon or Audible with multiple listings of each. I realize their pages list “free” trials, but they shouldn’t pop up more than once, and they shouldn’t always be among the first listings. Certainly a less relevant listing of theirs, such as a book of the same author but different title should not appear before a completely free source that matches my search exactly. But like the issue of privacy, it’s all money driven. There are numerous articles offering advice on how businesses can maximize their internet exposure and assure they appear in the top results by making it appear they’re relevant to the search query even when they’re not. I understand the companies need to make money to continue offering the service, but they seem to have lost sight of what service they’re supposed to be offering and to whom. As some of the other commenters have pointed out, there’s no real privacy- it’s a matter of degrees. I think it’s all part of a larger issue, that being who these companies answer to and what their purpose is. Companies usually have to please their customers to stay in business, but with search engines, they aren’t directly earning money from those utilizing the service. Their revenue comes from the advertisers, and more and more it seems like those are the actual customers they’re choosing to serve.. In doing so, the purpose has shifted from that of an information center to a virtual mall. If we could shift back to focusing on reliable, accurate information, there’d be no need to violate anyone’s privacy. I can put up with a reasonable number of ads, clearly labeled, but I’d like a search engine that offered real privacy as well as filters such as removing businesses that would hone my results to what I’m actually looking for. Anything that costs money should be limited to the shopping page.
Hi.
I went back to StartPage (which sometimes asks you to confirm a Captcha..), because DDG started showing me answers to surveys, in Russian link. Of course, I passed several antivirus scans that found no infection and my antivirus is excellent. They must have some internal problem. For now, StartPage is fine. I await the stable version of the Brave search engine to test it. While beta, it doesn’t work well for me.
Regards.
It seems like Swisscows had some ads included while ago:
https://github.com/easylist/easylist/commit/6f40c404b8eb1cd2288315068f0e802a76dc0d4f (easylist blocklist repo)
New and upcoming search engines to check out:
https://xayn.com
https://betterinternetsearch.com
https://you.com
https://kagi.com
Hello there,
what about PRIVACY WALL? Does anyone know anything about it?
I am currently sticking with GHOSTERY GLOW.
Hello, both Privacy Wall and Ghostery Glow use Bing index. According to Privacy Walls privacy policy, it doesn’t collect user data but its search provider (Bing) does. So you might as well use Bing directly or use relays/proxies.
Ghostery Glow seems like a relay, it collects anonymous data to improve its service and anonymizes user data meaning Bing doesn’t get personal info.
Sven,
I have a question. I use Brave as my main browser of choice for pretty much all of my web browsing. And I use several of the private search engines that you recommend 99% of the time. However, on occasion I need to do a “deep” search for something and therefore have to use Google for that since they sometimes have the best search results. I also have the recommended ad blockers on my brave browser, and I also use a good VPN.
My question is, if I use Google on occasion, can they still “track” my searches if I use private browser like Brave, a good ad blocker like ublock origin, and a good recommended VPN from your list? I would imagine they can’t if I have that setup but I may be wrong.
Hi Luke, who knows how advanced Google tracking algorithms/tools are to be honest. But you are probably sitting pretty good with everything you just mentioned.
@Luke I think Sven may be right when he says Google lightly may not matter. However, I use Startpage from time to time and get pretty decent results since it acts as a proxy between a user and Google but, thankfully, helps you avoid the tracking and data mining.
I know that red flags have been raised about Startpage on this website but (with respect to Sven and others behind RP) I have gotten good search results as if I was to use Google proper using Startpage. I would suggest, before using Google, to use Startpage and see how it works out.
Interesting! If Bing becomes the default search engine with Firefox, I wonder if this means the writing is on the wall for Mozilla and Google to part ways.
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/software/mozilla-tests-microsoft-bing-as-the-default-firefox-search-engine/
@Mike,
That is interesting. I will remark how many times the article points out how much money Google pays and I wonder if Microsoft is willing to pay more?
Not that Microsoft makes me any more open to FireFox, but it is interesting things.
Hi Sven,
Thanks for the list of search engines. I wish there was a single search engine that was truly private and kept no logs whatsoever, and wasn’t in a Snowden-flagged country. I have some concerns about some of them.
1. Swisscows — “They promise no tracking or data collection” yet on their website, they state “After 7 days we remove all personal information (like the IP address and user agent) from the search data.” So they DO collect personal data like IP addresses. They also state they “anonymize all search queries after 7 days.” So before seven days, the data is not anonymized. I don’t see how this is private. And clearly, they keep logs.
2. Metager — They keep the full IP address, not the truncated one, for 96 hours. “we store the full IP address and a timestamp for a maximum of 96 hours.” But even the truncated address is not that private. And they give part of the IP address along with the user agent to their advertising buddies: “we give the first two blocks of the IP in connection with parts of the so-called user agent to our advertising partners.” Germany is part of the Fourteen Eyes, so …
3. Searx — Looks interesting, but as you stated, instances could be compromised. And it isn’t convenient as you have to get it through github.
4. Qwant — France is in the Nine Eyes. So any promises they make about privacy don’t mean much. Their use of contextual advertising still means someone is following me around the web. They gather IP address, user agent, search terms and “pseudonymize what we need to keep for statistics and for transfer to our technology and business partners.” So there are logs kept, and data is passed along in some form. And they have business partners, whatever that means …
5. DuckDuckGo — DuckDuckGo sends up major red flags for me. It is located in the United States, known for spying on its citizens. While they do not keep logs, they do things like “ We also save searches, but again, not in a personally identifiable way” (but it has been proven that it is easy to link information so that data is not so anonymous). For reasons unknown, they are still promoting Ixquick, which is the same as Startpage, which has now been bought by a corrupt company. DuckDuckGo “may add an affiliate code to some eCommerce sites (e.g. Amazon & eBay) that results in small commissions being paid back to DuckDuckGo when you make purchases at those sites.” While they try to reassure me that there is nothing nefarious going on with this, it doesn’t make me feel better. They allow you to save a passphrase in their cloud, and while that is not mandatory, it is a privacy concern.
6. Mojeek — Located in a Five Eyes country. At least they don’t store IP addresses (unless they are a honey pot. How do we know they don’t? I wouldn’t normally think this sort of thing, but it is a Five Eyes country, after all.) Mojeek has investors, but has not provided a list of companies that have invested. I found references to individuals, in an attached website, but I could not place any of those individuals with companies. I find it difficult to believe that they only have individuals investing and no companies.
7. YaCy — looks interesting, but no way for me to use it with a regular browser.
8. Brave — After Brave touted its private browser, I tried it out and put it through paces testing it on various privacy websites. It failed miserably. That doesn’t give me a lot of confidence in its search engine. Plus, it is located in the US. I combed through their policies and am not satisfied. It’s funded in part by Digital Finance Group and R/GA Ventures.
9. Ecosia — Thank you for saving me from this one. And here I’ve been thinking that this one is relatively private. Little did they know they are transferring my information to Bing. Even if they say that if I turn on “no tracking,“ they won’t. I don’t necessarily believe them.
I am at a loss at this point. I don’t know what search engine I can use that is safe, does not hold any logs, is not financed by unsavory corporations, isn’t in a country in cahoots with the US, and has my privacy in mind.
With search engines, I agree, nothing is perfect. One thing you can do is mix it up and use a variety of different search engines. At least with this method, one single search engine entity will not be able to collect everything. This is all we can do for now, use the best options we have.
Greetings
I will say I wish I had better technology.. ! Since I don’t really know which phone I should buy for better privacy and less EMF exposure as well as where to buy a used one because of my budget.. I am stuck with an iPhone 6s
I am in Montreal Erea Canada.
My questions
After having read many comments.. Would you still use Brave search engine?
I am using Duck duck go and Startpage however After what I have read I shall get rid of Duck ..
Is a VNP free!? Can I find a safe one for free?! Any suggestions as well as for a mobile phone if it is not too much to ask.
I am tired of the A> pple.. Would you keep on using their product
I hope you can give me advice
Would you change for a Samsung .. if yes .. which one.. how many Gig .. at very reasonable cost because of my situation
Thank you
Yes, Brave Search is very new, but I’m optimistic they will get the bugs worked out long term.
Free VPNs rely on the business model of collecting user data (your browsing history) and selling it for profit. There are some VPNs that rely on the “freemium” business model, which is to give you a limited amount of bandwidth for free, in the hopes that you upgrade to a paid plan. Two examples of this are with ProtonVPN and AtlasVPN. This is why we recommend high-quality, paid VPN services.
It looks to me that, in light of the latest shinanegans with DuckDuckGo, the two best on the list are Metager and Mojeek. However, with the concerns raised by @iae (that I think are legitimate) about jurisdiction and the potential for logging or retaining data (like the issue raised with Metager), perhaps a solution would be to ask each search engine to use a Warrant Canary.
I might learn toward Metager since they are not only open source but also transparent about their retaining IP addresses and I give them props for that. But if they’re going to do that, I am thinking a Warrant Canary might be a good way to assure users their data is not being misused or passed on to authorities without their knowledge.
iae, search engines need resources and money to run. To scale, the engines need to know the data usage to understand the market. The Internet is not free and not many are willing to pay to search, that’s why most engines rely on ads or affiliates for revenue. That being said, privacy can still go hand in hand with search engine.
Search engines like Swisscows, Qwant and Ecosia are a bit tricky because whilst they do not save IP address and search terms, they are obligated to share them with their search and ad provider i.e. Bing. DuckDuckGo (DDG) also uses Bing but as per its privacy policy, it does not need to share such info with Bing. But unlike Swisscows, Qwant and Ecosia, DDG itself saves searches minus IP address.
A good Searx instance is https://search.fuckoffgoogle.net . (Pardon the name.) Mojeek and Brave–just because they’re in the Eyes country, doesn’t it mean they’re all bad. Both use their own index. Brave is young, give it time.
To sum it up, here’s a list of other search engines that are more private than most that you can try, along with their index:
Google:
1. Whoogle https://whoogle.sdf.org
2. StartPage https://startpage.com
Bing:
1. Metager https://metager.de or https://metager.org
2. Peekier https://peekier.com
3. WhaleSlide https://whaleslide.com
Own index:
1. Mojeek https://mojeek.com
2. Gigablast https://gigablast.com or https://private.sh
3. Ghostery Glow https://glowstery.com or https://ghosterysearch.com
4. Brave Search https://search.brave.com
5. Right Dao https://rightdao.com
6. Wiby https://wiby.me or https://wiby.org
Metasearch or multiple index (Google and/or Bing and/or others):
1. Searx https://search.fuckoffgoogle.net
2. eTools https://etools.ch
3. Ellpedia https://en.ellpedia.com
Hey iae,
We do only have individuals investing in Mojeek; those indviduals can be found on companies house here: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/06918197/officers. If you click the links on their names you can find companies that they also hold positions in, but none of these companies have given us money, it has been the people themselves as patient private investors. If you flip over to the Persons With Significant Control tab you’ll find that our founder still has above 50% but below 75% of the ownership of voting rights. I completely understand your skepticism, happy seeking.
Josh
YaCy, once installed, can be used with a regular browser. (It creates a localhost url like: http://localhost:8090/index.html that can be added to firefox or brave as a search engine.
@iae and maybe others
Don’t take this the wrong way but you have a lot of requirements there, and frankly, it may seem like in order to reassure you the company’s data center would have to be located on a desert island somewhere in the Pacific, I e have 0 eyes if that’s even possible, produce top notch quality search results, not even remotely associated with Google, not track traffic, not use advertisers or analytics, and be of course free, because let’s face it, if it weren’t free (which it wouldn’t be, due to following no business model known to man) they could track your payment unless you use bitcoin. – Besides all this they would be too broke to let anybody know they even exist.;)
Maybe we all need to take a deep breath and determine our personal threat model and then act accordingly, which for some of us might mean staying off the internet all together.
I mean, all of us have been kicking around online for over twenty years at least and back in the beginning no one paid any attention to any these things. Google and trackers have been several steps ahead of us at all times, don’t you think? Any measures we are taking today to protect the little privacy we may have left is at best damage control for what we neglected to do in the past.
Do any of you agree with me on this?
Agreed. Let’s aim for the least harm rather than the most private and secure.
Nice balance of common sense & logic Brad. No need for a tinfoil hat.
I agree however I should be able to use my device the way I want I’m new to smartphones cuz I didn’t see a reason for it, still had my 3G LG flip phone from 2015 it’s not like I have no idea what Android does since I have a Huawei honor mate tablet which is certified by Google since it’s a little older before it was banned over a financial reason, Just bought a Motorola Edge 2021 and only cuz I got that letter from my carrier warning me that I could lose my number! I’m absolutely furious that I cannot pick my own phone app and messages, contacts! Downloaded simple mobile tools paid for the pro version and contacts are saved to the device only unfortunately Motorola sold there soul cuz I can turn off all the phone & contacts Motorola launcher has permissions to the phone and contacts and I can’t even turn it off because it’s blacked out and it says on the bottom that the app needs access to the phone app to make phone system work!then same exact thing with power touch! Blacked out Motorola notifications blacked out,Moto software update same cannot allow or not allow and I was shocked to read that app can disable your screen lock, retrieve running apps read phone status & identity! This is absolutely bull 💩 there’s even a Android system intelligence which can turn on your microphone & SMS, I bought a cheap smartphone from dollar General may 24th so I could document the non repairs and the way the Maintenance guy threatens me because the washer died while spinning and he blamed me for breaking it and unknowingly my blood pressure went sky high and I had a brain hemorrhage! This is what Google control is doing too me! I have absolutely nothing to hide it’s just the principal that I can’t use what I want since I paid for it! Googles new ad! You’re in control of your data! Bull! I was already thinking of getting surfshark and I’d love it if you recommend one of the search engines so I can hide from Google and costomize my device if it’s a possibility
love your content
Heck with privacy, can someone please give me one single search engine that is even somewhere in the realm of accurate? Can I get even SLIGHTLY relevant results? I am in a 24/7 rage because it is literally impossible to get results. I can’t research anything. I can’t find specifics about ANYTHING. Quotes are 1000% worthless. 15 years ago I could find the most esoteric unknown sites just with a few mins of searching, now I can’t find EXTREMELY basic information without it being like chewing glass.
How is what you’re looking for so special that NONE of the many search engines meet your needs? Clue us in here. Thanks.
You should wake up because since 2003 (or even before) we are in a massive and intentional concealment of all useful information. In 2008, I also saw that in all academic papers that don’t follow the mainstream. In 2020 everyone saw that ANY individual idea is not allowed anymore in the World OPPRESSIVE dictatorial regime.
Here we go, a global conspiracy to impose a “dictatorial regime” on everybody. So, uh, how is it you’re allowed to express yourself and blow the lid wide open on this situation?
Also, what happened in 2003, “or even before?” I bet the Bushes, particularly Prescott Bush, had something to do with this.
Go to YouTube rare earth 1971 get the one with the lyrics! Think it came out in the late 60s we all knew it!
10-4 Kimosabe. In 2015, I actually manually compiled 46 pages of search results (Firefox/PaleMoon) organized by topic relevant to creating a resistance movement. I thought I was crazy. I had no idea why I was doing it. But I felt compelled – so I did it. I can’t find most of those sites now. There were 12 documentary film websites. Not anymore. The othe day I found a small family website with information on how to live off the grid. I had to get through three levels of security warnings to visit it. Yes, they managed to destroy the internet – so now, we’ll just have to take it back.
Could you post the link to the off grid website or any interesting websites that search engines try to censor
Start with the ‘disinformation dozen’ or something like that – you know those dangerous peddlers of vitamins!
Damn you worded it better than I could even get close to. Got one for you. I try doing a search (6 different engine’s) ..is Midori browser a private and secure browser for Android.. First 18 results basically were all saying “The Best 10 secure engines in 2021”. And I’m on the fifth results page and not a single word mention about Midori browser. Depressing.
To cast a wider net, you may need to search using all available indexes and also specialized search engines. Sometimes when you use multiple search engines, many of them use the same index, mostly from Bing then Google. Other search engine indexes are Yandex, Seznam, Mojeek, Gigablast, Ghostery Glow, Brave Search, Right Dao, Wiby, Explorit (deepwebtech.com), PeteyVid etc. You may also try obscure engines for obscure results such as Million Short (removes top results), Gibiru, Gooken etc.
I am your twin. I can search for the most specific chocolate cake with no cream cheese and with no white chocolate and with cocoa powder etc etc with the best boolean you’ve ever seen and two pages in I’m getting recipes for beef stew!
I too am in a seething rage when trying to research anymore. I used to the Queen of Research at my office. I could find *anything*. Now? Ha! I quit trying. I’m using it as a tool to cure the OCD “must know things now” side of me. And for everything else, I’ve streamlined the web sites that I use and don’t go to many other sites.
I feel like the guy in that stupid video, oh so many years ago, throwing his computer out the window. I don’t DO things like that. But oh, how I get that feeling. I never *understood* that feeling. I work in tech! My first job working *at* a tech company in a non-tech role, we had free high speed internet – unlimited when we were off. We LIVED at work. We mainlined the internet. It was fabulous. I want that back. I think of what people call the dark net and think..maybe I should go play over there. Maybe that’s like what life used to be like. Then I think I’ll get mugged. Or the not savvy equiv.
On the topic of Browsers, I swap between Brave, Bromite and Tor on my phone. Safari, Brave, Tor and Chrome (work requires it) at home. On Search Engines, I swap betwen Metager, SearX and SwissCows. I liked Qwant but I don’t like who they are in bed with. DDG can kiss my *&^% because they are allied with the evil empires and don’t hide it. I do NOT get why so many people praise them because they are BAD. (Same goes for FF in the browser category.)
I pay attention to how the tools work but also who owns the tools AND who the tools are in bed with. It’s hard enough to stay away from the evil empires in RL but I can certainly do it easily enough in my tech life. (save for work)
Hope you see you have a kindred spirit, Seething Rage. I felt so alone for so long until I saw your post. For the longest time, I thought it was just me and then I realized that the one evil empire I no longer use had changed their algorithms entirely. That was a last straw for me. Then I saw the signs elsewhere and just got tired.
Yep, censorship algorithms have gotten extremely advanced. AI is trained to censor everything that the powers that be do not want you finding.
Hey, awesome job your doing and I usually check your site here or on Reddit first before trying a product. But I was reading comments asking about peekier. What I do know about it (from other research sites and personal use)is that when you put a search in and go to one of the search results it offers you a peek of what the site is about.(hints the name “Peekier”) supposedly that’s all completely private. But when you hit enter to go to a specific site, You own your own and it’s up to whatever else you have for protection. Cause peekier stops their protection for you the second you leave their site. It’s Great to be able to see what a searched website offers before actually entering the site itself. Search results are decent. Been using it for years. But does NOT cover you once you enter any other website. Keep up the Awesome job your doing and also to the readers here. Remember he has bill’s to pay also, and probably a family so offer up a donation to help cover the cause. Take care..
@Adden I have used Peekier a little but not regularly mainly due to my preferences. If you like using it. great! However, I have found that, in one way or another, DuckDuckGo and Startpage have similar preview features to Peekier.
Will you please critique Cheerie, the search engine that supports saving shelter dogs and cats? Cheerie donates to shelters to help them become “No-kill”.
[https://www.cheerie.org/]
Hi Rose, from what I read, Cheerie does not do well with privacy and passes on lots of information to Google.
https://www.cheerie.org/legal/privacy
Maybe you can add Brave Search in the next update. It is still on beta but not a bad alternative to the tracking malware named Google.
We did a few days ago. It’s on the list.
I want to thank you for this awesome website that informs people about things that every single person should know. But being the Information Age, it is _very difficult_ to keep up with all of it. I am not easy to impress, but I truly am impressed and my first words upon seeing your site and what you were doing, etc., were, “It’s about time!”
You probably have heard of these two instances that, again, most people know nothing about:
1. They are called DeepFakes. Basically, they are PhotoShop on Steroids. There was a little test you could take to see how well you do at spotting the fake versus the real picture and I failed miserably! The time it must take even for a pro….well, anyway: check it out. It is scary!
2. The other I don’t know if there is a name for it yet, but basically, the basic info that you discuss on your site that we should all keep a better eye on, can now supposedly be contained **in One Pixel** of a decent jpg or png picture! How would anybody know?! Even in a 1 megapixel picture, you need specialized tech to find anything like that!
Which is a lot of why I was so impressed! This must be a full-time thing for you, now! It would surprise me if it wasn’t (which I mean no offense by, btw) but even Snowden would have trouble.
Anyway, thank you again! You are doing the world a massively huge service with this!
Michael C.
Thanks Michael. Keeping up with all the information and updating the content is certainly a challenge, as every product and service is changing over time.
Have you evaluated Peekier?
Yes, I looked at it a while back and could not find out much info about the service, and therefore I can’t recommend it.
the privacy policy for Swisscows and Qwant has changed and stated that both of those search engines will collect way more informations on their users, hopefully this guide will be updated soon
Yep, we’ll be researching this in more detail with the upcoming update.
@Sven,
Please, in the update, look at Brave Search. I have been using them from the start and they are amazing.
Their privacy policy changed a lot, they r stating that they will collect a lot of data in their new privacy policy
Peekier looks great
Qwant can’t be added to Firefox in the normal way, instead they insist that you install it as a browser extension. This is not necessary and just done to get more control over your browser. The extension takes over the home page settings and stops you from setting a different home page. Also, takes over the default search engine and guess which search engine has to be default. All in all a terrible decision by them and makes their search engine unusable to me.
Startpage definitely has some major changes happening. Been using and recommending the service for almost 20 years then about a year ago started getting strange errors and more recently they have “started” shutting me down and calling me a bot. I’m a little older and definitely have a few parts I’d like replaced but definitely don’t qualify as a Six Million Dollar Man;) Nothing I do should flag any bot detector. I’ve been in IT since the 80s and can tell when something has made a turn for the worst. Maybe I’ll use it again and try to nail down what it is targeting but for now Metager and Qwant can fill the void created by DDG and SP.
Good Morning.
I had the same problem recently with Starpage. I was using this search engine and liking the results, but it started to turn me off and call me “bot” too, just like you. I switched to DDG because Qwant, I think it’s too limited, returns fewer results than DDG and SP. Of course, DDG has its problems too, but it doesn’t turn me off several times, like the SP.
Sometimes I use SP inside DDG, because using it rarely, SP doesn’t “confuse” me with a bot, something it never was.
Hello Sven, I’d like to see an indepth review of Kaspersky VPN plus anti-virus.
i used qwant but didnt like it, they changed samething, now im using peekier
What’s wrong with Qwant?
So, why don’t you tell us exactly what is bad about Qwant.
Startpage recently started given me this message: “…to prevent possible abuse of our service, your ability to connect to Startpage has been suspended at this time. This happens when a large number of search requests are received from a particular internet connection during a short period of time…” every time I try to search using quotation marks in the search string. Definitely makes it far less usable.
Here should make some connection about Proceed with caution. Search Encrypt . Contact address is in Cyprus, legal venue is in the United States (owners in China? the whole website has nowhere anything about china or any word from the About | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy. The site show about united state and California data right. the address is Cayman Islands. why intentionally say owners in China ?
Ghostery Glow (formerly Ghostery Search) is in beta and can be tried here.
https://glowstery.com