Do You Want To Browse Safely? Stop Using Google - Part 2
In this article I show what alternative search engines you can use to protect yourself against Google tracking algorithms.
Tracking
This is a follow-up on a previous article I've written on the same topic.
In the article we discussed how the Google search engine actually operates under the hood. We found out, that without giving the user even a slightest hint, every time you use the Google, your personal IP-profile gets expanded with information about you. You will get associated with categories and products in order to match you with prospective advertisements. Furthermore, each third-party Google application and account you use under the same IP will get merged with the search results to obtain a cross-platform tracking map of all your behavior and interests online.
The bottom line is: Google knows more about you than your mom. If you would like to read more about this I recommend you check out Part 1 of this post.
What can I do about this?
Stop using Google. It's that simple really.
In the previous post I mentioned DuckDuckGo is my browser of choice. It has all the privacy features enabled, treats all search requests equally, is supported by Mozilla (Yeah!) and is genuinely operating for a good cause.
There is a downside however: Of course it is not as "efficient" as Google. That's not because it is a worse engine, it's just that we never gave them a chance. They don't have the Gazillion Terabytes of testdata that we voluntarily gave Google to experiment with. They also don't tailor your request too match your IP - something we somehow got really cozy with, although it should actually be terrifying. (Google gives each user different search results for the same term)
But I do get it, you care about privacy but you want the search efficiency. So let me show you my second weapon of choice.
Startpage search engine
The www.startpage.com is truly outstanding as it combines the best of both worlds. It is a small company from Netherlands founded around 1998 as Ixquick, but really turned to solve the problem of user privacy around 2009 and re-branded to Startpage.
So what does it do?
Startpage is basically a Netherlands based proxy that sits on top of Google. When you enter search requests to Startpage, it takes your request and strips if of any user related data. Then it forwards the request as an anonymous startpage-package to Google. It then delivers the results back to you. How cool is that? Startpage guarantees that any IP will always get the same results back for the same search term - easily accomplished because all Google gets to see is anonymous startpage-requests and none of that sweet and sensitive user data. Google powered searches with anonymity, now that is what I call greatness!
If you aren't convinced yet - take a look at these screenshots.
Do the right thing
It's a refreshing, exciting and scary feeling to throw away the cozy blanket you've been dragging along all your life and stepping towards pure freedom. Get rid of that evil blanket - It's full of parasites and it's dragging you down.
Head over to https://startpage.com and give it a spin.
More Articles like this:
Do you want to learn how to protect yourself from browser tracking? (Read article)
Do you want to know how to protect Internet Freedom? (Read article)
- Nick ( @cryptonik ) -
The tailored search results ARE scary. For example if you are into conspiracy you find more conspiracy. If you think all conspiracy is nonsense you get results that confirm that bias. Basically they can keep you in a small intellectual box.
100% true. We are fed what we like to eat. Have you noticed that only 20% of your facebook friends ever pop up on your timeline? The 80% you don't interact with anymore have faded away....thank you, facebook.
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