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PC search engine you believe offers the most privacy?
- Thread starter GeekyDad
- Start date
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
None of them.
GeekyDad
Member
I was hoping someone might have previous knowledge regarding research done over the past few years.
nightmare-slain
Member
i use Duckduckgo. they say they make money from ads but because they don't track you then they don't personalise the ads. i've been using it since it first launched but the last 3 years or so it's been my default search engine. DDG is based on Bing but it uses other sources. When MS censors something with Bing then DDG can change it on their end (it's happened before). in the early days it didn't give good results but it's improved a lot now. 99% of the times i can find what i'm looking for and if i need to use Google then i type !g at the start and it'll go through Google. You can search all other things like bing, amazon, wiki, etc from DDG.
other good privacy search engines are Qwant, Ecosia (they plant trees for searches which is cool!) or Startpage. Brave is meant to be good but I haven't used that. DDG and Brave are based in the USA so the government could interfere with them. The rest are european (french, german, dutch).
DDG has a good app, extension, and browser. They also have an email protection service which you can join to create disposable emails.
other good privacy search engines are Qwant, Ecosia (they plant trees for searches which is cool!) or Startpage. Brave is meant to be good but I haven't used that. DDG and Brave are based in the USA so the government could interfere with them. The rest are european (french, german, dutch).
DDG has a good app, extension, and browser. They also have an email protection service which you can join to create disposable emails.
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nightmare-slain
Member
never heard of it before. checking it out now!
The Cockatrice
Member
The only true answer. There is no "better privacy". You have none and you need none unless you're searching for things you should not. If you're worried about piracy, then use a vpn.
nightmare-slain
Member
I don't think anyone thinks you have complete privacy on the internet anymore but nothing wrong with trying to get more and to stop major companies getting so much of your info. You'll never completely escape Google but you can ditch Google search, gmail, and Chrome. They aren't the only services available and honestly not even the best. If you move over to Bing, Outlook, and Edge then it's basically just the same thing. Instead you should try use something like DDG/Qwant for search, Proton for email, and Firefox for browsing. Firefox is the best non Chromium browser out. Chromium is fucking with the internet. Proton is good but sometimes requires more work because it's E2E. There's no reason nobody can use a search engine like DDG/Qwant/Startpage.
VPNs are good but you are still easily tracked with them.
Even if you have nothing to hide and you're not doing anything shady it's not a bad thing to want some more privacy. Sadly too many people are more than happy to give everything to Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft because they simply don't care.
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TwiztidElf
Member
Qwant and Yandex
Brave browser.
Brave browser.
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The Cockatrice
Member
Nah corporations can make money from my asian porn searches for all I care. Bring on the cyberpunk depressed future!
Hudo
Member
Probably StartPage. But you know what? If you want to search for porn, use Yandex, it's a Russian search engine that gets pretty good results (far and above what Google or Bing can give you) and unless you're a big CEO or a politician, who gives a fuck what the Russians do with what kind of porn you're looking at.
Laptop1991
Member
Yeah, another Brave user here, i switched from chrome for this very reason, i would recommend Brave
bitbydeath
Gold Member
Google.
There’s a lot more users so it’s less likely you’ll be the one tracked.
There’s a lot more users so it’s less likely you’ll be the one tracked.
HoodWinked
Gold Member
I just use the brave browser with Google
AlteredForms
Banned
Brave and DuckDuckGo are pretty much the standard when it comes to internet privacy search engines.
Raonak
Banned
Unpopular opinion; I personally want google to know my search habits so that I get results that are tailored to me without having to give extra context.
(e.g. questions related to programming prioritise languages that I use, or results tailored to my region, etc.)
That said, if im searching for something I don't want tracked, then I use duck duck go.
(e.g. questions related to programming prioritise languages that I use, or results tailored to my region, etc.)
That said, if im searching for something I don't want tracked, then I use duck duck go.
Trogdor1123
Member
I use duck duck go. I’m sure it’s not perfect but better than the others… maybe…
winjer
Gold Member
Oh Microsoft, you never change.....
www.guru3d.com
Microsoft Edge Flags ChromeSetup.exe as Potentially Malicious
Installing Chrome on Windows 11 is a difficult task as Microsoft is blocking Google in any and every way possible. Add to that this latest bit. ...
Wildebeest
Member
It's called Brave, cos you gotta be brave and reckless to believe all the big claims they make about protecting users.
GeekyDad
Member
I think I'm actually okay with this. If nothing else, it may bring the conversation back to the table for the public. Most of us (myself included) just keep chugging along with this stuff because, mostly, we don't have the time and energy to police it ourselves. And really, we shouldn't have to take on that burden, I don't think.Oh Microsoft, you never change.....
Microsoft Edge Flags ChromeSetup.exe as Potentially Malicious
Installing Chrome on Windows 11 is a difficult task as Microsoft is blocking Google in any and every way possible. Add to that this latest bit. ...
And on topic, I tried Brave (like it), and went to Startpage search engine. Unless I'm using it incorrectly, the site is the search engine. Seems as freakin' straightforward as it gets. Am I utilizing the search properly, or would it be more beneficial installing or using some other way? Also, would it be as private used in Firefox, you think?
AJUMP23
Gold Member
I remember when Brave asked for my bank info so they could get money from me as I browsed because they were blocking all the ads. I laughed at that concept.
Larogue
Member
Duck duck go is nothing but Bing in disguise
nightmare-slain
Member
It's based on bing but has other sources and DDG isn't as censored as Bing.
And Bing isn't actually bad.
ParaSeoul
Member
Came here to say this
GeekyDad
Member
Melon Husk
Member
None of them but if I had to pick one I'd say Qwant as they're French and their business model is to sell normal non-targeted ads.
BlackTron
Member
I do half my searches with both Google and DDG on my normal PC plugged directly into my modem for stuff like games (who cares), and the other half on a different machine with VPN that I use for researching hacks and downloading shows. I just never log into anything real or identifying on the VPN machine, it's completely isolated.
No problem being a normal citizen who looks up stuff like video games and lego sets, has a social media account and logs into his bank from his real location, not a Zimbabwe proxy. Just don't cross-pollinate it with all the trackers, malware and potential viruses best left to a completely different hardware.
No problem being a normal citizen who looks up stuff like video games and lego sets, has a social media account and logs into his bank from his real location, not a Zimbabwe proxy. Just don't cross-pollinate it with all the trackers, malware and potential viruses best left to a completely different hardware.