Searching for privacy search engines in 2022? You’ve landed at the right runway. Every single one of these search engines will grant you complete privacy and in most cases even anonymity.
You can search without worrying about being traced/tracked or fingerprinted. Your data wouldn’t be sold and the websites you visit wouldn’t know who you are just from your searches.
Moreover, some of these search engines let you contribute where it matters! Some of these plant trees for your searches, while others feed children.
100% anonymity guaranteed
These search engines sure protect you. However, most websites have their own independent trackers and fingerprinting tools. In those cases, a profile of you is still built by those sites which can be used to identify you, your choices and next destinations.
To counter this, I’d advise getting a good VPN.
The VPN will give you a new IP addresses each time you connect to it. This ensures even with all their trackers and tools, independent websites will not be able to build an identifiable profile for you.
What are Privacy Search Engines?
Privacy search engines are search engines which offer you “privacy” (obviously).
To understand them better, you must first understand the traditional (non-private) search engines, e.g. Google/Yahoo and others.
These traditional search engines are full of trackers. They save your search history on the pretext of “providing you better future search results”. Which isn’t entirely false.
However, they also attach trackers to your searches so they know which websites you visit, how much time you spend on a site, which products/links you click on and so much more.
Very often than not, this data (your searches/likes/ interests/age/location) is either shared with third-party companies, or used internally across other applications than the search engine.
In other words, your privacy is non-existent. We’ve come to accept it because it provides “better search results and ads”. However, if you aren’t okay with that, you need these privacy search engines.
These search engines do not save your search history, or your web activity. They do not “profile” you. No trackers are attached to your search activity or devices either.
The downside? You may not see an ad about that exact shoe you were “thinking about”. I believe that’s an okay loss compared to you getting your privacy back, isn’t it?
Best Privacy Search Engines | Private Search Engine
These are the uncensored privacy search engines you’ll find on this list, Dive right in then!
Duck Duck Go
Website: https://duckduckgo.com/
Duck Duck Go dominates any and all lists talking about privacy search engines. With over 3 billion searches/month, and 14years+ existence in the industry, DuckDuckGo has truly created a name for itself.
It doesn’t use any trackers or digital fingerprints to identify you, or your searches. It doesn’t even save your search history. As a result, your search results aren’t based on which links you’ve previously clicked or which site you liked more.
Location, age, interests and everything else that most other search engines hoard? DuckDuckGo doesn’t.
It’s different even from most other privacy search engines. That’s because it doesn’t use Google’s site index to show results and rather has its own.
It blocks the malicious/tracker-based ads. Do note that ads still exist, however, they’re based on generic searches. You see ads for what you search for, not what you “may like” as with other search engines.
The interface is almost identical to Google. You can search for images, news, maps, and videos. Even rich snippets exist!
It’s also available as a browser extension, and native apps for Android and iOS. The apps offer even more features such as better encryption, email protection.
Swisscows
Website: https://swisscows.com/
Swisscows has a tagline that reads –“your private and anonymous search engine”, this says a lot, doesn’t it?
It’s one of the very few privacy search engines on this list which has its own index. This means it doesn’t rely on Google, Bing, Yahoo or others for its search results.
It doesn’t store any data either. No search histories mean no user “profiles” are created.
Unfortunately (or fortunately) it doesn’t index any adult content. It’s great if you wish to introduce a search engine to your children.
There’s this “preview” option which lets you preview the site without actually visiting it!
Additionally, you can also install a browser extension for an even better and smoother experience.
The interface is similar to Google but not identical. It’s also capable of searching for images, videos, and even music.
Its a full anonymity suite if you want it to be. They offer an anonymous messenger “Teleguard’ that’s like Whatsapp minus all its tracking and identification capabil