DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Anonymous search engine

Here's a search engine I've been using for a while that doesn't track user demographics, therefore won't be badgered by the gubment with demands for personal info. (If you mess with the settings, it will track, but by default it is totally anonymous.) It doesn't have some of the detailed search features of Google, but it seems to do a decent job. Another admirable feature is that the search results aren't overloaded with sales pitches.

https://duckduckgo.com/

Thank you. It has an add-on for Firefox so my regular search bar is still useful.

Does that mean I could stop getting ads for prostate supplements and "one weird trick" to increase my testosterone, lower my blood pressure and cholesterol, and reduce my car insurance? And who are the freaks that appear in these ads?

Actually, yes. There's no tracking of your email or IP address.

Thanks for this...I'm going to try it with safari.

There's an extension for Chrome and I'm going to try it out. Thanks for the heads up.

If you use chrome there is an extension called click and clean which I found super useful.

How do I know you're not just an NSA agent trying to make you're job easier!?!?!?

Thanks though I'll use it when I do my "research".

In addition to the search engine, this program will run constantly on your machine and will block many incoming request (mostly TCP) from sites. It really doesn't use much computer memory and it blocks quite a bit of requests/junk. I'd recommend it:

http://www.peerblock.com/

Do ISP's track searches, emails, message board posts etc. and then store the data? I would think they would only have basic demographics in a database.

Of course they do. Lots of money to be made selling marketing information to various vendors/places. Facebook also sells user's info all the time.

I'm not sure how detailed of information they are allow to save (actual store somewhere) with respect to the law(s) - but surely they obtain more than demographics. Most places will track what page you were on previously, and perhaps the page you've went to next and all kinds of data.

When we ran a commercial site I could see all kinds of individual site user data. Browser type and version, user screen size, OS, favorite deli meat, etc. We used Google Analytics. If you'd like to know more about the data that is received and how it's presented to ownership (me) check it out.

I'm sure Prp knows more about the tech stuff and the bearded men sites I peruse before and after posting here.

I am an actual web and software programmer. Have been for five years now. Google Analytic provide useful information from users within your site. IE, how many times a certain part of your web site has been accessed. Other, and some would label as "more sensitive" data are captured within the actual programming language that is driving the web site.

It's quite easy to capture that sort of data. You'd be surprised what a few little lines of code can obtain. IP Addresses are one thing. We use screen size to determine what's the best resolution, as per out customer's usages, to layout websites and forms.

It really is a mess. Kind of like you said, you're damned if you - damned if you don't.

Another good one is Ixquick. I like it and use it all the time.


https://www.ixquick.com/


The World's most private search engine.

No PRISM. No Surveillance. No Government Back Doors. You Have our Word on it.
Giant US government Internet spying scandal revealed

The Washington Post and The Guardian have revealed a US government mass Internet surveillance program code-named "PRISM". They report that the NSA and the FBI have been tapping directly into the servers of nine US service providers, including Facebook, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Yahoo, YouTube, AOL and Skype, and began this surveillance program at least seven years ago. (clarifying slides)

These revelations are shaking up an international debate.

Ixquick has always been very outspoken when it comes to protecting people's Privacy and civil liberties. So it won't surprise you that we are a strong opponent of overreaching, unaccountable spy programs like PRISM. In the past, even government surveillance programs that were begun with good intentions have become tools for abuse, for example tracking civil rights and anti-war protesters.

Programs like PRISM undermine our Privacy, disrupt faith in governments, and are a danger to the free Internet.

Ixquick and its sister search engine StartPage have in their 14-year history never provided a single byte of user data to the US government, or any other government or agency. Not under PRISM, nor under any other program in the US, nor under any program anywhere in the world. We are not like Yahoo, Facebook, Google, Apple, Skype, or the other US companies who got caught up in the web of PRISM surveillance.

Here's how we are different:

Ixquick does not store any user data. We make this perfectly clear to everyone, including any governmental agencies. We do not record the IP addresses of our users and we don't use tracking cookies, so there is literally no data about you on our servers to access. Since we don't even know who our customers are, we can't share anything with Big Brother. In fact, we've never gotten even a single request from a governmental authority to supply user data in the fourteen years we've been in business.

Ixquick uses encryption (HTTPS) by default. Encryption prevents snooping. Your searches are encrypted, so others can't "tap" the Internet connection to snoop what you're searching for. This combination of not storing data together with using strong encryption for the connections is key in protecting your Privacy.

Our company is based in The Netherlands, Europe. US jurisdiction does not apply to us, at least not directly. Any request or demand from ANY government (including the US) to deliver user data, will be thoroughly checked by our lawyers, and we will not comply unless the law which actually applies to us would undeniably require it from us. And even in that hypothetical situation, we refer to our first point; we don't even have any user data to give. We will never cooperate with voluntary spying programs like PRISM.

Ixquick cannot be forced to start spying. Given the strong protection of the Right to Privacy in Europe, European governments cannot just start forcing service providers like us to implement a blanket spying program on their users. And if that ever changed, we would fight this to the end.

Privacy. It's not just our policy, it's our mission.

Sincerely,

Robert E.G. Beens
CEO Ixquick.com and StartPage.com