Private Search
I think every American should know that in 2009 then Google CEO Eric Schmidt, stated, “If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place. If you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines—including Google—do retain this information for some time and it's important, for example, that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act and it is possible that all that information could be made available to the authorities.” To me, that sounds like a statement from a high Soviet or Chinese official—not an American. Sadly, the debate about online privacy has evolved since that ominous statement, and not always for the better.
Google is by far the largest search service on the planet. According to the Google Wikipedia entry, the company routinely indexes hundreds of terabytes of search information. They have 92% of the search market and handle over 3.5 billion searches every day. For most people, Google provides excellent search results, but the price you pay is privacy.
Google puts a tracking cookie on your computer the first time you do a search. This cookie remains on your computer for two years and is renewed every time you use a Google product such as Gmail. This tracking data remains associated with individual users for months before it is anonymized. Google has not said if the information is ever deleted. While that is unnerving, business and tech writer Vuk Mujovic states that Google will collect “any piece of information about you they can from your IP address to your devices, your phone numbers, physical address, log-in habits (where you log in: city, state, home, office, etc.), the websites you visit, the things you buy and any other bit of data that is delivered across the web and available for collection.”
Bing
Bing doesn’t collect near as much data as Google—but it still collects a lot. Mujovic quotes them as saying, “When you conduct a search, or use a feature of a Bing-powered experience that involves conducting a search or entering a command on your behalf, Microsoft will collect the search or command terms you provide, along with your IP address, location, the unique identifiers contained in our cookies, the time and date of your search, and your browser configuration.” After all of that, they do not deliver the depth of detail that a Google search provides.
Yahoo!
There was a time when Yahoo! was the leading search engine and web portal. There was a time I invested in the company. Both of those times have passed. Early on Yahoo! created a proprietary search algorithm however, today Bing provides the results. Personal data is collected by Yahoo! and appears to be shared with Bing.
Many people feel that online privacy is impossible, but there are options.
You may have wondered why The Conservative Alternative offers search with DuckDuckGo (DDG). That site is the best-known search engine among those who prize privacy. The site only collects the entered search query. DDG does not gather personal information or deliver ads based on previous sites visited. DDG will provide ads based on the keywords you type in their search box. They also make money from Amazon and eBay affiliate programs. Based on those privacy practices and since DDG allows sites like The Conservative Alternative to embed their search bar it seemed like a natural fit. It still does.
While doing research for this piece, I ran across an article highlighting Startpage. I did not have the time to do much research but what I have found is interesting. Like DDG, the site does not track users or their personal data. The Startpage Wikipedia entry states, the Dutch search engine company “highlights privacy as its distinguishing feature” and that it “allows users to obtain Google Search results while protecting users' privacy by not storing personal information or search data and removing all trackers.” Startpage pays Google for the search results they provide. Also, it is sad but in recent years Americans have grown concerned about government spying on U.S. citizens. Since Startpage is based in the Netherlands they are not subject to NSA, CIA, and other U.S. intelligence surveillance programs.
Do you use DuckDuckGo or Startpage? If you do, tell me about your experience with them in the comments section below. Also, be sure to check our earlier article, Private Browsing, for more information.
