Which privacy-focused search engine are you using?

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨schmurnan@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

TL;DR - which privacy-focused search engine do people recommend, preferably one that can also easily be used as a default option in Safari?

I ditched Google in about 2016ish I would guess, and since then have used DDG as my default search engine.

As someone entrenched in the Apple ecosystem, it’s always seemed like a sound choice, as it’s one of the search engines built in to Safari on both iOS and macOS.

After spending a bit more time recently playing around with and updating my Docker containers, I started hosting a Whoogle container, which seemed to work pretty well, but I don’t see many out there talking about it, so not sure how good it actually is. I then tried a SearXNG container, but either had it misconfigured or just wasn’t getting many search results back.

At the moment I’m trying out Startpage, but I know there are potential privacy concerns since they were part-bought in 2019 by a US ad-tech company.

I’m also playing around with different browsers at the moment, flicking between Safari, Firefox and Brave. At which point I stumbled across Brave Search, which seems pretty promising.

So, which search engines do you all recommend?

source

Comments

Sort:hotnew top

ornery_chemist@mander.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
DuckDuckGo from the browser, because 90% of the time I can get where I want with the appropriate !bang from the address bar.

source
- ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  
  With the appropriate ! bang from the address bar
  
  What does this mean? I want to like DuckDuckGo, but it’s kinda messy.
  
  source
  - ornery_chemist@mander.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    They are basically shortcuts. For example, I can type “!w ibuproden” into DuckDuckGo (or the address bar because I have it set as my default search engine) and be brought immediately to the wikipedia oage for Ibuprofen. There’s also !yt for youtube search, !so for stack overflow search, and many more.
    
    source
Agility0971@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Just using duckduckgo. I’m not happy with my search results as they heavily prioritize clickbait CEO blogs instead of showing official documentation / sources.

source
- L_Acacia@lemmy.one ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Duckduckgo results are pretty bad in my experience, brave search and startpage are way better.
  
  source
Herowyn@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Using qwant because it's developed and hosted in France. Better than supporting a US company as a European.

source
- MakeItCount@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  But qwant uses bing
  
  So you’re still supporting Microsoft
  
  source
  - Herowyn@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    They use their own indexer.
    
    source
- jacktherippah@lemdro.id ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  I think there was some drama a while ago about them collecting and sharing data which got them delisted from PrivacyGuides? Not a good look imo.
  
  source
- tarlitz@feddit.nl ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  I started using qwant last year for thr same reason and I haven’t looked back. Search results are excellent. I sometimes switch to Startpage as a proxy for google.
  
  source
Viper_NZ@lemmy.nz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I’ve been using DuckDuckGo for years now and recommend it all the time.

I get decent, reliable results so haven’t shopped around.

source
- ggaaap@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  This. Clean, reliable and functional. Although I’ve never wrapped my head around how they make their $$
  
  source
  - al4s@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    They place ads in the search results.
    
    If you disable your ad blocker, the first search result will almost always an Amazon ad. I test searched for “Headphones” and it also shows a row of JBL headphones at the top ala google shopping, which is an ad as well.
    
    Really, they make their money the same way as google, they just don’t track your searches and site visits.
    
    source
- EpicFailGuy@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  @Viper_NZ
  
  @schmurnan
  
  Been a duckie for years now but I find myself going back to google for things like maps and shopping (that nearby search is a godsend) have you found any privacy mindfull alternatives?
  
  source
  - Viper_NZ@lemmy.nz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Unfortunately not. If anyone knows of something I’d be keen.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
  - Fireplant@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    On Android you can install Organic Maps, but the downside is that it’s 100% offline so you’ll need to download the maps for each area you want to have a map of (which, takes storage)
    
    OsmAnd+ seems to be a good alternative recommended often, but I just haven’t used it.
    
    On PC, OpenStreetMaps is your friend
    
    source
- Skyline@lemmy.cafe ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Do you find DDG to be slower than Bing or Google? A few years ago I thought there was a noticeable delay with DDG, but not with Google.
  
  source
  - Viper_NZ@lemmy.nz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Not really, they’re both nice and snappy.
    
    source
SpunkyBarnes@geddit.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
ddg.gg for the win.

Started using them when I confronted the Google filter bubble for the first time.

But what totally sold me? DDG provided me link for a product I had searched for in vain on Google for years at that point, using the exact same query.

source
SamsonSeinfelder@feddit.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Default search in Firefox: SearXNG (solves 60-80%)

if not the solution, I then search for “dd [term]” which goes to duckduckgo. Solves mostly the rest.

If not, and I am really desperate, I try: “dd !g [term]” so it goes to ddg, redirects to google and then I am reminded how bad a first page result can be. Only ads, sponsored entries and only big company names. Good luck finding anything from a forum or a small blog on google today. All the search words are bundled up in company results that has nothing to do with the topic.

source
- nix@merv.news ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  You don’t use an adblocker?
  
  source
  - SamsonSeinfelder@feddit.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Sure. But how is that changing the quality of google results? Are you trolling?
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
HighLite@infosec.pub ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Ready to get downvoted again, but I like Brave Search as I’ve been using the excellent browser for a couple of years now anyway. The search gets better and better with time and has its own independent, privacy friendly picture search now as well. So I’ll definitely stick with Brave.

source
- noodlejetski@geddit.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  
  Ready to get downvoted again
  such courage
  
  source
  - Blizzard@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    And bravery
    
    source
- Aopen@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Every search engine is available on every browser. This means you can use brave search with browser not dependent on google’s code. It would also protect you from google’s web environment integrity plans
  
  source
  - nix@merv.news ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    I think you replied to the wrong comment
    
    source
- schmurnan@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  I’ve always just used Safari as my browser on iOS and macOS so have never paid attention to reviews/opinions on the newer browsers such as Brave. Before I switched to Mac I always used Firefox on my Windows machines so know how privacy focused they’ve always been. But I’m hearing a lot of positives about Brave, and so far it seems pretty decent.
  
  I’ve tried Arc but wasn’t entirely convinced. And in work I have a Windows machine so have been tied to Edge (although I’ve recently put in a request for Firefox and had it approved).
  
  I guess it’d be nice to have a consistent search experience across the board, which the likes of DDG would give me. But definitely seeing good things about Brave and Brave Search.
  
  source
angelsomething@lemmy.one ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Personally, I use duck duck go as my primary search engine but I only use it to search for things. But since chatgpt4, I use perplexity.ai for actual answers. Browser wise, I use duck duck go where I can or Arc on my Mac with all the usual privacy plugins.

source
- schmurnan@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  What are your thoughts on Arc? I tried it a couple of months ago but couldn’t really get used to the layout, etc.
  
  Sure it’s as good a browser as any, I just wasn’t feeling it.
  
  source
Engywuck@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
My own searxng instance, listed at search.space

source
- schmurnan@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Perhaps I need to go back to figuring out SearXNG. Although I did read that there’s a slight privacy compromise to use SearXNG over SearX.
  
  source
leekleak@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I’ve had a pretty similar journey to yours and I’m currently using Qwant, although the only reason I’m using them is because they’re based in Europe and haven’t had any scandals that I could find. If you’re really concerned about privacy I’d probably recommend Kagi.

source
- flurry@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  They have a partnership with Microsoft. Not saying it’s a scandal but that was my reason to stop using it
  
  source
- tarlitz@feddit.nl ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  It’s so difficult to compete with free though. The monthly fee for kagi is a bit steep, which is not for everyone (>5 €/month), even if that is the ‘true’ price of searching the web. It does have some very interesting features though. A colleague of mine is always praising it, saying that the search results are better than anything else he has tried.
  
  source
Im28xwa@lemdro.id ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Currently using Startpage and my only criticism of it is that it is noticeably slower than the other 2 that I have used DDG and Brave

I would recommend DDG and Startpage for the people who don’t want to use Google search anymore but want similar if not identical search results

I did change the default search engine of some of my relatives to Startpage without them knowing:)

source
fievel@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I recently started using Duck Duck Go instead of Google.

I still had this thought that Google was the best technology as I went from the early web (remember… altavista.digital.com, yahoo, …) and I remember that Google was really a game changer when it started to become popular.

I tested setting DDG as default search engine in my desktop and mobile browsers, thinking that when I don’t have expected results I would go to Google… I never had to switch to Google because I was wrong, DDG is as good as Google while being better from privacy point of view.

source
Obra@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Mullvad Leta

leta.mullvad.net/faq

source

PurpleTentacle@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

I’m using an Ad-, Tracking- etc blocker in all my devices, so I’m not too worried about using Google or Bing when I do.

But I’m hosting my own instance of SearchXNG and that’s often simply the most powerful and flexible search engine.

source

ech0@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

Also self-host SearchXNG. Its definitely the way to go. I like you can choose which search engines to pull from

source

schmurnan@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

I replied to another comment on here saying that I’d tried this once before, via a Docker container, but just wasn’t getting any results back (kept getting timeouts from all the search engines).

I’ve just revisited it, and still get the timeouts. Reckon you’re able to help me troubleshoot it?

Below are the logs from Portainer:

 File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/network/__init__.py", line 165, in get
    return request('get', url, **kwargs)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/network/__init__.py", line 98, in request
    raise httpx.TimeoutException('Timeout', request=None) from e
httpx.TimeoutException: Timeout
2023-08-06 09:58:13,651 ERROR:searx.engines.soundcloud: Fail to initialize
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/network/__init__.py", line 96, in request
    return future.result(timeout)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.11/concurrent/futures/_base.py", line 458, in result
    raise TimeoutError()
TimeoutError
The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/search/processors/abstract.py", line 75, in initialize
    self.engine.init(get_engine_from_settings(self.engine_name))
  File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/engines/soundcloud.py", line 69, in init
    guest_client_id = get_client_id()
                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/engines/soundcloud.py", line 45, in get_client_id
    response = http_get("https://soundcloud.com")
               ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/network/__init__.py", line 165, in get
    return request('get', url, **kwargs)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/network/__init__.py", line 98, in request
    raise httpx.TimeoutException('Timeout', request=None) from e
httpx.TimeoutException: Timeout
2023-08-06 09:58:13,654 ERROR:searx.engines.soundcloud: Fail to initialize
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/network/__init__.py", line 96, in request
    return future.result(timeout)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/lib/python3.11/concurrent/futures/_base.py", line 458, in result
    raise TimeoutError()
TimeoutError
The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/search/processors/abstract.py", line 75, in initialize
    self.engine.init(get_engine_from_settings(self.engine_name))
  File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/engines/soundcloud.py", line 69, in init
    guest_client_id = get_client_id()
                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/engines/soundcloud.py", line 45, in get_client_id
    response = http_get("https://soundcloud.com")
               ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/network/__init__.py", line 165, in get
    return request('get', url, **kwargs)
           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/usr/local/searxng/searx/network/__init__.py", line 98, in request
    raise httpx.TimeoutException('Timeout', request=None) from e
httpx.TimeoutException: Timeout
2023-08-06 10:02:05,024 ERROR:searx.engines.wikidata: engine timeout
2023-08-06 10:02:05,024 ERROR:searx.engines.duckduckgo: engine timeout
2023-08-06 10:02:05,024 ERROR:searx.engines.google: engine timeout
2023-08-06 10:02:05,024 ERROR:searx.engines.qwant: engine timeout
2023-08-06 10:02:05,024 ERROR:searx.engines.startpage: engine timeout
2023-08-06 10:02:05,024 ERROR:searx.engines.wikibooks: engine timeout
2023-08-06 10:02:05,024 ERROR:searx.engines.wikiquote: engine timeout
2023-08-06 10:02:05,024 ERROR:searx.engines.wikisource: engine timeout
2023-08-06 10:02:05,025 ERROR:searx.engines.wikipecies: engine timeout
2023-08-06 10:02:05,025 ERROR:searx.engines.wikiversity: engine timeout
2023-08-06 10:02:05,025 ERROR:searx.engines.wikivoyage: engine timeout
2023-08-06 10:02:05,025 ERROR:searx.engines.brave: engine timeout
2023-08-06 10:02:05,481 WARNING:searx.engines.wikidata: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
2023-08-06 10:02:05,481 ERROR:searx.engines.wikidata: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.457878380082548 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
2023-08-06 10:02:05,482 WARNING:searx.engines.wikisource: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
2023-08-06 10:02:05,484 ERROR:searx.engines.wikisource: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.460748491808772 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
2023-08-06 10:02:05,485 WARNING:searx.engines.brave: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
2023-08-06 10:02:05,485 ERROR:searx.engines.brave: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.461546086706221 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
2023-08-06 10:02:05,487 WARNING:searx.engines.google: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
2023-08-06 10:02:05,487 ERROR:searx.engines.google: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.463769535068423 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
2023-08-06 10:02:05,489 WARNING:searx.engines.wikiversity: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
2023-08-06 10:02:05,489 ERROR:searx.engines.wikiversity: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.466003180015832 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
2023-08-06 10:02:05,490 WARNING:searx.engines.wikivoyage: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
2023-08-06 10:02:05,490 ERROR:searx.engines.wikivoyage: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.466597221791744 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
2023-08-06 10:02:05,490 WARNING:searx.engines.qwant: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
2023-08-06 10:02:05,490 ERROR:searx.engines.qwant: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.4669976509176195 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
2023-08-06 10:02:05,491 WARNING:searx.engines.wikibooks: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
2023-08-06 10:02:05,491 ERROR:searx.engines.wikibooks: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.4674198678694665 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
2023-08-06 10:02:05,491 WARNING:searx.engines.wikiquote: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
2023-08-06 10:02:05,492 WARNING:searx.engines.wikipecies: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
2023-08-06 10:02:05,492 ERROR:searx.engines.wikiquote: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.468321242835373 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
2023-08-06 10:02:05,492 ERROR:searx.engines.wikipecies: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.468797960784286 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
2023-08-06 10:02:05,496 WARNING:searx.engines.duckduckgo: ErrorContext('searx/engines/duckduckgo.py', 98, 'res = get(query_url, headers=headers)', 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
2023-08-06 10:02:05,497 ERROR:searx.engines.duckduckgo: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.47349306801334 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
2023-08-06 10:02:05,511 WARNING:searx.engines.startpage: ErrorContext('searx/engines/startpage.py', 214, 'resp = get(get_sc_url, headers=headers)', 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
2023-08-06 10:02:05,511 ERROR:searx.engines.startpage: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 6.487425099126995 s, timeout: 6.0 s) : TimeoutException
2023-08-06 10:04:27,475 ERROR:searx.engines.duckduckgo: engine timeout
2023-08-06 10:04:27,770 WARNING:searx.engines.duckduckgo: ErrorContext('searx/search/processors/online.py', 118, "response = req(params['url'], **request_args)", 'httpx.TimeoutException', None, (None, None, None)) False
2023-08-06 10:04:27,771 ERROR:searx.engines.duckduckgo: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 3.2968566291965544 s, timeout: 3.0 s) : TimeoutException
2023-08-06 10:04:50,094 ERROR:searx.engines.duckduckgo: engine timeout
2023-08-06 10:04:50,187 WARNING:searx.engines.duckduckgo: ErrorContext('searx/engines/duckduckgo.py', 98, 'res = get(query_url, headers=headers)', 'httpx.ConnectTimeout', None, (None, None, 'duckduckgo.com')) False
2023-08-06 10:04:50,187 ERROR:searx.engines.duckduckgo: HTTP requests timeout (search duration : 3.0933595369569957 s, timeout: 3.0 s) : ConnectTimeout

The above is a simple search for “best privacy focused search engines 2023”, followed by the same search again but using the ddg! bang in front of it.

I can post my docker-compose if it helps?

source

yool_ooloo@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Does anyone have experience/thoughts about Mojeek?

I just recently learned about it and haven’t really explored it, but curious.

Thanks!

source
- pogosort@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  The concept is nice but the search results are less than ideal.
  
  source
- domesticstreetcat@feddit.ch ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  I’ve played with it a bit. It’s just okay to me. I’d rather just use DDG.
  
  source
Blaze@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
lemmy.world/post/311854

source
- schmurnan@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Thanks, I’ll take a look. I didn’t know about that post.
  
  source
Fireplant@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
For search engine, I go with SearX, and for web browser, Mull. Or hardened Firefox, on PC.

source
- schmurnan@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Do you use a self-hosted SearXNG, or one of the other hosted instances?
  
  source
  - Fireplant@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Self-hosted under a VPN would be the way to go if you want to be 100% sure.
    
    The problem with public instances is that you can’t really know what the owner does with the data. There are safe ones, and malicious ones. I’d just look for one that has a good reputation.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
ChaoticEntropy@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I tried ecosia and startpage, the results through both are just 95% garbage. Duck Duck Go seems to be okay.

source
Johanno@lemmy.fmhy.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I am using startpage.com since they include Google results and DDG just has bad results sometimes

source
verysoft@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
DDG cause the bangs are nice, but I find myself searching generally very little these days. I usually just use a bang to search a site I know I will find what I want on, if no bang then I will just navigate to that site. Search results have been shit for over a decade.

source
Tane@feddit.nl ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I use presearch. Pretty happy with it. Never paid out my rewards, they’re just growing

source
popekingjoe@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Been using Qwant for a few years. Good enough for 90% of searches imo. For whatever’s left, I’ll use DDG, Google in incognito, or Bing.

source
Kodama@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I use Firefox as main browser, but I discovered for my use case google provides the best results without needing to setup every workstation e.g. 2 home PCs, 1 mobile, 2 for work. And that I need to use all main 3 browsers. Also google provide good service with functions to quickly make currency conversions, simple math ekvations etc which even Bing is far behind.

“AI” services will change this but for now it’s too slow.

But in general for me, I have given up that fact to try stay private many years back, it’s all a dream just like living off grid, 99% of would not survive 4 days.

But the information can be scrambled, ie shift user accounts, services, software etc. It would also provide better competition due to the userbase is moving around… But most of us are too lazy or afraid to lose history, backups, photos etc. Just see how many that can’t just delete an old reddit account due to the time spent to reach an level you aren’t ready to leave. To lead to famous qoute I follow online

“Don’t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner”

Its all about supporting the services you like and are trying to be an counterweight to the other common commercial services… Meaning we need to found/pay for good services, privacy is a luxary looking on the whole user base.

Companies, I based on an idea, but exist to make someone money and if it’s tracks it will make many people money and in the end majority will lead the company to earn money and leave the base idea behind.

source
MagneticFusion@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Ecosia is great. I use it with Firefox.

source