Short on time?
A few were decent but full of ads.
Even though they werent targeted at me, they were still annoying.
Pro Tip:The best way to stay anonymous online is to use a VPN.
A service likeExpressVPNwill fully encrypt your data and block trackers to stop websites from collecting your info.
I really appreciate the fact that Mojeek doesnt rely on third-party indexes.
This means it doesnt depend on Google or other tech giants.
Why is this important?
In most cases, this means giving some of your data to Google.
Mojeeks insular infrastructure ensures that your searches are never shared with other companies.
Mojeek also has a stellar privacy policy.
Theres no user tracking, no personal data collection, and no behavioral profiling.
This means you wont get any personalized ads based on your search history.
I really appreciate Mojeeks clean user interface.
Its as easy to use as Google or Bing.
Just open up Mojeek and jot down your query to start getting results.
Theres no complex setup or flood of annoying prompts.
If youve ever used Google before, you already know how to use Mojeek.
However, its not perfect.
That said, I searched for multiple obscure websites and never had a problem finding them.
All in all, Mojeek is an excellent private search engine for anyone wishing to stay anonymous online.
Its committed to anonymity and is very easy to use.
If you use Mojeek alongsidea secure VPN, youre practically invisible while you browse.
It operates as a proxy and anonymizes all of your data before passing it on to Google.
At the same time, Startpage doesnt store any personal data or track users.
This means you get the accuracy and relevance of Googles search algorithms without compromising your privacy.
VPNs are far better than proxies when it comes to privacy, so I appreciate the compatibility.
However, there are some drawbacks.
While Startpage does an impressive job of anonymizing searches, it still shows Googles ads.
Overall, Startpage offers the best balance between privacy and usability.
On top of that, it delivers useful results without profiling users or selling their data to other companies.
Most importantly, Brave Search doesnt track you or your search history.
All of the data that it collects is anonymized and not shared with third parties.
I did see a number of ads when I tested it out, but they were fairly unobtrusive.
And I like the fact that you could pay to remove them entirely.
Brave even offers its own internet tool with additional privacy features.
Its one of thebest private browsers, so I recommend checking it out.
However, Brave Search has some limitations.
l also encountered some reliability issues.
Results could be slow to load and sometimes inconsistent.
Putting that aside for a moment, I love MetaGers customizable approach to searching the internet.
you’re free to decide which third-party search engines you want to use to populate your search results.
This setup gives you more control over where your search data goes and how your queries are processed.
Like any good private search engine, MetaGer doesnt track your searches or log your data.
It even uses SSL encryption to protect your information and masks your IP address during queries.
Theres also an option to easily search through a proxy.
Regardless, most users will have a problem with the fact that MetaGer isnt free to use.
It operates on a token system where each search costs tokens.
The more search engines you draw from at once, the more tokens it costs.
This unfortunate recent development makes it hard to recommend over the likes ofMojeek.
Still, theres no denying that it does bring something unique to the table.
It doesnt log your IP address, cookies, or other forms of user data either.
All of these block third-party trackers and offer automatic encryption.
However, DuckDuckGo is not without its flaws.
There have been some claims that DuckDuckGo is not as private as advertised and these havent been fully debunked.
But besides a few questionable data handling policies, DuckDuckGo offers significant improvements over the most popular alternatives.
I really like the web app, and even the search engine comes with a few extra privacy features.
Swisscows does rely on Bing for searches, but it anonymizes user data thoroughly before transmitting your search.
Swisscows also offers unique search features.
Swisscows is also family-friendly by default, meaning it filters out explicit content.
Overall, Swisscows is a great alternative to any mainstream search engine.
Plus, Privacia supports encrypted connections, so be sure to use it alongside a good VPN.
Privacia delivers a reliable, straightforward, and highly secure search engine without any extra bells and whistles.
This adherence to GDPR law means that Qwant is legally obliged to protect users personal data.
Qwant is unable to track its users or use data for profiling, and it automatically encrypts your queries.
This means that Qwant doesnt record your search history, browsing queries, or cookies.
Heres what I looked at:
Are Any Search Engines Truly Private?
To be truly private, a search engine cannot log, track, or share any data.
Such a search engine simply does not exist.
Mojeek goes beyond most search engines by having created its own completely insular infrastructure.
It doesnt log or track your data in any way and uses its own search index that prioritizes privacy.
However, no search engine on its own is enough to be completely safe.
Going a step further, the best VPNs also come with tracker blockers.
ExpressVPN has an airtight no-logs policy, an in-built tracker blocker, and top-notch encryption.
If youre willing to sacrifice a little bit of privacy, Startpage is another strong option.
It uses Google but anonymizes your data for extra protection.
Does Google collect my data?
Yes,Googlecollects quite a significant amount of data.
On top of that, it sells user data.
What is the best private search engine?
It depends on what level of anonymity you need and how accessible you need your search engine to be.
What tools make using a search engine safer?
The best ones also have built-in tracker blockers to eliminate unneeded data collection.
Its worth pointing out that you still need a way to search privately, even with a VPN.
