Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo is growing fast
- Thread starter xrobwx71
- Start date
britechguy
Well-known member
And I am still using it as my primary "daily driver" for web searching as I have been for some years now. It works well and it's at least one small thing I can do to maintain some small smidgen of privacy when using the internet. I'm not foolish enough to think I have any real privacy in cyberspace, but I try to maintain what little I can.
This article,
11 Best Privacy Oriented Search Engines To Google in 2020
, is interesting, too. I used to mention StartPage, but based on the information there, that now gives me pause.
This article,
11 Best Privacy Oriented Search Engines To Google in 2020
, is interesting, too. I used to mention StartPage, but based on the information there, that now gives me pause.
That BC article confuses me. DDG has been around for over 10 years. The article claims
COVID-19 Pushes Up Internet Use 70%
I sure wish more users cared about their privacy, but sadly, they don't.
I disagree with that reasoning. IMO it has gained traction in recent months simply because COVID has forced users to stay locked up at home and they are simply using the Internet more.
COVID-19 Pushes Up Internet Use 70%
I sure wish more users cared about their privacy, but sadly, they don't.
Yeah, probably fair that growth is probably just driven by an inctease in internet use.
The most invasive internet tracking tends to come from smaller companies, and I'd have thought mostly not search engines, but I'm glad people are becoming more aware of tracking.
The most invasive internet tracking tends to come from smaller companies, and I'd have thought mostly not search engines, but I'm glad people are becoming more aware of tracking.
I too use Duck Duck Go, probably because I lived in Philly for quite a while and read about Gabriel Weinberg. That said, all users must understand that their ISP keeps a record of every action by the user. They don't spy per se but can use the info for their benmefit and of course it can be reconstructed by warrant (U.S.A., don't know about other countries) for law enforcement.
^^^This!^^^
But it is not just that our ISPs know every single website we visit and what we did while there. They also know and can tie that information to our real and full names, home addresses, birth dates, and our billing information too.
Our cell phone carriers are even worse. They too know our home address, real name, birth date, and billing information. But they also know who we have talked to and texted. But worse, our cell phone carriers know exactly where we are standing to within a couple feet. They know the store we are in, the aisle and even the products in the aisle we are standing in front of! They know where we've been, how long we were there, the direction we are heading now and how fast we are moving!
Then of course, there's Google and Facebook - companies who work on the premise of learning everything about us and using (and sharing and selling) that information for their profits!
And people gripe about Microsoft?
Frankly, when it comes to privacy concerns, Microsoft is the least of our worries. If connect your PC to your home network via Ethernet, the closest Microsoft knows of your physical location is your POP (point of presence) the physical location where your ISP connects you to the Internet backbone. In my case, that is 1/2 way across town. I like that it doesn't know except if I delete my cookies, I always have to tell it to use the closer Walmart and Home Depot. 
That's not really how either of those companies operate, or Microsoft for that matter. You'd probably be surprised at the amount of information that is not collected. All three companies have good privacy controls, and there is a huge drive to focus on privacy across all three companies.
General point - neither Google, Facebook or Microsoft share or sell personal data to advertisers.
And people gripe about Microsoft?
Microsoft have pretty identical policies and practices to Google, although the datasets vary slightly. Both will make "account profiles" which will contain some personal information, unless you choose to opt out. They'll collect from slightly different data sources - e.g. Microsoft makes use of data from Windows / Xbox / Edge etc, whilst Google makes heavier use of cookies (which are easy to delete).
This isn't true - there are a range of methods of tracking physical location, and both Microsoft and Google have a very similar location service with similar accuracy. Accuracy can range massively for a variety of reasons, but for example Bing Maps can work out the location of my desktop to within a few meters.
The big caveat - you have to give both Google and Microsoft permission to access your location information, and you can revoke access at any time.
This used to be more of the case, but the drive to move websites to HTTPS (a move heavily driven by Google and followed by Microsoft) actually makes tracking web history a lot harder. ISPs do have access to your clickstream data, and they do sell this data, however if you're visiting HTTPS websites the clickstream data is basically meaningless - ISPs aren't able to see the websites you visit.
That said, if you install something like Avast or AVG, who do sell your personal data to advertisers, then you lose that protection as they have access to the HTTPS clickstream data. Although I believe they got enough flak for this that they've stopped doing it, but you should read the terms and conditions of your current AV provider.
If you connect via wifi, yes. But I specifically said if you connect your PC via Ethernet. We've had this conversation before so before I posted my last post, I checked again. My POP used to be 10 miles over in the next town. But earlier this year, my ISP, Cox, expanded and now it is about 5 miles away. If you have one of those methods for tracking the physical location of this Ethernet connected PC, I will happily check it out - even if I will be unhappy with the findings.
As for Facebook and Google, yes, you can opt out of them sharing, but you have to jump through quite a few hoops. It is much better than a few years ago, which is good.
Nevertheless, the main points still stand, our ISPs and cell carriers are much greater threats to our privacy because they already have our real names, addresses and billing information.
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