I have used SearXNG for a while, but I switched to LibreX after the search engine started glitching. Recently, though, LibreX has stopped returning any results. I am currently on Mojeek, but the results aren’t that great.

I have also tried Qwant, but I wasn’t too keen on it. Startpage will be impractical, as I use a VPN and this engine often blocks me because of it. I don’t want to use Brave Search for a number of reasons. MetaGer has too many important features behind its paywall. I’m not sure about DuckDuckGo, but I could use it if there was no other option.

Any suggestions, or am I being too picky?

  • potatopotato@sh.itjust.works
    8·
    11 months ago

    Aren’t they fundamentally anti privacy? You have to be logged in so they can correlate literally everything you search for or click on with a credit card number and real name…

    • Byter@lemmy.one
      91·
      11 months ago

      They ask a bit of trust on that, but their FAQ also has an appeal to reason:

      I have privacy concerns over linking my search queries with my credit card. Why should I trust you?

      We do not log search queries. Queries you type are never associated with your account. The simple reason is we don’t have any reason to do so, as it would only be a liability for us. We are in the business of selling search results, not user data.

      (For the record, I use Kagi)

      • DreadPotato@sopuli.xyz
        16·
        11 months ago

        That’s asking for a hell of a lot of trust in them… wouldn’t be the first, or last, time companies lie about these things.

    • Refurbished Refurbisher@lemmy.sdf.org
      4·
      11 months ago

      Yeah. I don’t think something that requires payment is inherently private. Even when paying for a service with something like Monero, you are still required to log into an account to use it.

      • AHEHE@unilem.org
        4·
        11 months ago

        By that logic all vpns are inherently anti-privacy, which isn’t true. Especially if you are using your real static ip, a regular search engine would be no better of a result as it pertains to data leakage.

        • Refurbished Refurbisher@lemmy.sdf.org
          4·
          11 months ago

          You could absolutely have a profile built about you on a VPN. VPNs don’t necessarilly have to be telling the truth when they say they don’t keep logs. You are entrusting the VPN with all of your internet traffic, which just passes the responsability from the ISP to the VPN provider.

          I do use a VPN, but I am aware of its flaws.

          Tor and/or I2P is what people should be using if they require absolute privacy (like if they’re a whistleblower).

          https://www.privacyguides.org/en/basics/vpn-overview/

          • AHEHE@unilem.org
            1·
            11 months ago

            You’re stating exactly what I did in a long winded manner. There is clear proof that multiple vpns at the moment are not logging sensitive information and that some are.

            So to state blanketly that paying for a service is less private, than not, is incorrect. There is more nuance to it than that. Which is all that I was pointing out.

            Tor/I2p is what you add on top if you want anonymity, which can still expose you on an exit node if you’re: sending sensitive information, using a device connected to you, or using a static IP address.

    • AHEHE@unilem.org
      46·
      11 months ago

      If you’re dumb enough to use a card that is connected to you, your real name, an email connected to you, or expose your IP; then it’s possible. There’s no way to know for sure they’re not logging until they receive a court ordered request for information.