When it comes to web searching, the privacy-conscious among us have probably already heard of DuckDuckGo. This week Fast Company wrote about an alternative to the search engine called Startpage, which if you’re a DuckDuckGo user is worth a look as well.
Unlike DuckDuckGo, Startpage pulls in actual Google search results, thanks to a longstanding agreement it has with the company. The difference between using Startpage and Google directly; however, is that you’re not being tracked while you make that search.
That means that the search results won’t be catered to you specifically like they might if you searched on Google proper. Startpage doesn’t collect, share, or save any personal information about you when you use it.
So, searching for a new pair of tennis shoes won’t result in you getting bombarded with shoe ads for the next month. Startpage also can’t hand information about you and your search history over to the authorities, because it simply doesn’t have that history.
Search results all also have anonymous view options which allow you to visit the results of your search, for instance, that shoe site, without the retailer being able to track you and know you were there.
If you’re concerned about privacy on the web (you should be) and DuckDuckGo’s search results aren’t always as good as you’d like it’s definitely worth a look.
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