The Best Private Search Engines [October 2019]

Privacy on the internet is slowly becoming history. It is hard to protect yourself from big companies collecting your personal info online. Most people use Google as their only search engine, while the biggest alternatives like Bing or Yahoo are also public search engines.

All of these popular search engines collect your data, compile it, and then sell it for profits. That’s why you can’t move anywhere in your browser without ads popping up. Turning on Ad Block is great but it is not enough.

You should consider switching to a private search engine. We’ll list some of the best private search engines in 2019. Keep your IP address and your searches to yourself, your privacy should be a priority while browsing.

Top 5 Private Search Engines

The worst thing about Google is that they store all your browsing data. They can sell it to an interested party at any time, which is certainly a breach of your privacy. There is nothing you can do about it, except maybe switch to a private search engine.

Private search engines also store your data, but at least it is not tied to your IP and your distinguished user agent. Here are some great private search engines:

DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo is usually the first one that comes to mind when it comes to private search engines. It is fairly popular, with over ten million daily searches. You will get most of the search results from Yahoo. You can search for some other sites, such as YouTube, Amazon, Yelp or Wikipedia using the so-called “bangs.”

To do that, type an exclamation mark prior to your query. Also, you can check out the DuckDuckGo Chrome extension. It will secure your data and block trackers from the sites. DuckDuckGo officially claims they will not share your personal information, even with the FBI.

The downside of DuckDuckGo is that you will still get many ads when you search for sites. This is because they are cooperating with Yahoo, eBay, and Amazon.

Search Encrypt

Search Encrypt has several layers of encryption. Namely, those are the Secure Sockets Layer encryption and the AES-256 encryption. After you are done with the search, your search results will vanish like they never existed.

You can keep them invisible even to people in your household or others who can access your browser. This makes Search Encrypt safer and more private than DuckDuckGo.  You can visit their website, and download the extension for Chrome or Firefox.

They have many cool privacy tutorials which teach you about private search engines. It is highly recommended that you check this search engine out.

StartPage

StartPage also has a Chrome extension, which makes sense because it takes results directly from Google. It is an ideal alternative to Google because you get their search results, just without the trackers. The cookies are eliminated from this search engine thanks to the URL generator.

The generator saves your settings while maintaining privacy. Besides this generator, this search engine also features HTTPS support and proxy service. Naturally, you will see ads while using StartPage but they will not be based on your private info.

Qwant

Qwant is a search engine that is based in France, and it has very tight security measures. It is arguably better than most of the U.S. private search engines simply because privacy laws in Europe are much stricter.

Your data is guaranteed to stay private because this engine will not record it and abuse it. It will also keep you away from the filter bubble. This bubble serves you results based on your online behavior and hides results which oppose your interests.

It is very user-friendly and when you type an exclamation mark before a website it will restrict the search to that website only, similar to DuckDuckGo.

Gibiru

Gibiru is an excellent private search engine which uses an algorithm similar to Google’s. It is very fast and reliable. This is due to the fact that it lacks trackers and cookies other search engines collect.

The CEO of Gibiru claims that his search engine is what Google used to be.  This private search engine also features a Chrome extension. When you add it to Chrome, Gibiru will automatically be set as your homepage and your primary search engine.

This engine prides itself on speed, anonymity, and avoiding censorship in searches.

Incognito Search

All reviewed private search engines are good at what they do, meaning it is up to you to choose the one that suits you best. Keep in mind that a private search engine sometimes isn’t enough. For going completely invisible, maybe you should try out a VPN service.

It is also recommended to turn cookies off in your browser. They store your personal data, even if you use a private search engine. Which one would you choose? If you’re already using a private search engine, tell us which one and why. Share your thoughts in the comments below.