Before Google, discovering websites and services or finding information was not easy. The same can be said for Internet users if they had to do anything on the Internet using only URLs, not search engines.
However, today Google is more than just a search engine; it has become a verb that we use every day, and it is firmly rooted in the soul of Internet users. Billions of people visit Google and rely on Google’s algorithms to deliver fair and balanced search results based on their queries.
While it is the most popular search engine on the Internet, it is not the best in terms of privacy as it collects user data and personal information, which is big business now.
Besides being spied on by governments, online spies, tech giants like Microsoft or Facebook, secret services and other organizations that constantly want to know what you do, Google also has a lot of data about you and uses it much more than you do. ” I’ll know.
Some of the information they record and store about you each time you enter a search query on the Internet includes your IP address, which shows your location and the device you are using, cookies that track requests to your device, your searches, and dates. and the time you searched for them and they use them to show you targeted ads.
If you value the privacy of a search engine when you browse the web, there are some excellent privacy-enhancing search engines that can help you reduce the amount of your information and have a significant impact on your privacy.
– /
- DuckDuckGo
- Swisscows
- Qwant
- SearX
- Peekier
- StartPage
Best Privacy-Focused Search Engines
- DuckDuckGo
- Swisscows
- QUwant
- SearX
- peeping
- Home
DuckDuckGo
It is a simple, straightforward, privacy-friendly search engine that does not track or share your information with others, so you can search the web without transferring your privacy.
It does not apply the “filter bubble†process that Google uses to “filter†search results based on users’ past searches, their location, or any other user data they collect in various ways.
DuckDuckGo doesn’t have filters or anonymous IDs that link your searches, so it won’t even know if all of your searches are on the same device, so there is nothing that traces back to you.
It uses “Bangs”, a unique non-privacy feature that allows users to search other sites directly by simply entering an exclamation mark in front of the search term. The search engine uses 400 sources to find search results for your queries, with the majority of queries coming from Bing, Yahoo and Yandex, excluding Google search results.
The downside to DuckDuckGo is the limited number of image search results that are not personalized or outdated.
Swisscows (formerly Hulbee
This Switzerland-based privacy search engine should be a favorite with parents if not already in demand due to its focus on private but family-friendly searches.
It completely excludes adult topics from all search results, all from Bing, and doesn’t give you any options to cancel them. You also get the guarantee that it will not store any of the user’s personal data, such as IP addresses or search queries, among other identifiers.
The system evaluates keywords for search by context, using machine learning for better results without compromising the security of your data, although privacy-conscious users may not be entirely sure about this.
Qwant
When a company like PrivacyTools.io, a government-sponsored data recording campaign, recommends a tool or software, you know it’s legal.
It displays information such as news, events, popular people and more, and is subject to the strict data protection laws of the European Union as its servers are located in France.
Qwant is rapidly climbing the rankings of one of the popular privacy-focused search engines thanks to its impressive results pages and Qwick search shortcuts.
SearX
It is an open source metasearch engine, which means you can also run your own instance and even test its code to make sure they keep their word about protecting your privacy. This way, you have a guarantee that your data is not recorded.
It also pulls data from several other systems and provides the best mix of search results from DuckDuckGo, StartPage, and others on this list. If you wish, you can customize the list of used engines by going to the “Settings” menu.
Unlike other privacy-focused search engines, SearX offers an ad-free and partner-free experience, although ads on similar privacy-focused systems do not register or use your data. However, it is pleasant to conduct research without advertising or interference.
One of the main disadvantages is that it gets blocked by Google because it cleans up its results.
Becker
This search engine has a unique and innovative way of displaying search results using a card format, as opposed to the usual style of displaying Google results.
For each result, you will see a full-width screenshot of the website without affecting site performance.
It provides the usual privacy protections, although it stores your searches for a limited time. Don’t worry, they won’t be tracked to you because Peekier doesn’t store your IP address, search history, browser user agent, or unique identifiers.
Start page
If you still want to see Google search results and the search engine doesn’t see anything that might reveal your identity, use StartPage
With its advanced metasearch technology, StartPage provides more complete and accurate results than other search engines. Alternatively, you can get it as a Chrome extension and use its anonymous browsing feature to browse search results privately.
Unlike DuckDuckGo, this privacy-focused search engine pulls results from Google searches and doesn’t track you. StartPage pays Google for these results, and in turn, Google just sees a lot of traffic from StartPage‘s servers – no shared IP addresses or user IDs.
Another benefit of this privacy search engine is that you can use servers outside of the US and EU if that’s your priority. Its proxy feature also hides your IP address from individual websites, although using this means pages load more slowly than usual.
Restore your privacy
Online search sessions are the most personal on the Internet for many people. The implications for the confidentiality of their search histories are not a priority in such moments of blissful ignorance, not so much as getting relevant and timely answers and solutions, and quickly.
Such valuable data can be used against them in the event of a breach or in the case of marketing to send targeted advertisements. The search engine alternatives listed here take your privacy seriously, which is why you’re sure they mean that when they say they won’t track you or your data.
–