DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo's Policies

• DuckDuckGo promises to be a secure search engine that doesn't track you, doesn't collect or share personal info, and comes with a lot of goodies.
• DontTrack.us lays out the general problems with Google and how DuckDuckGo works in contrast.
• DontBubble.us talks about filter bubbles, which DuckDuckGo doesn't create.

Potential Problems

We've been recommending DuckDuckGo on this wiki for some time, and (as of June 2013) it still seems to respect user privacy. However, it is based in the United States and, as such, may be vulnerable to surveillance programs/police searches/laws like PRISM, FISA, and PATRIOT. Other search engines like Startpage and Ixquick may also be vulnerable to (at least) programs like PRISM, but they are not based in the U.S. (at least not primarily). We invite you to decide for yourself and discuss this issue.

Readings

• DDG Privacy Policy
• Alexander Hanff's post about problems with DDG.
• Discussion in DuckDuckGo's forum, including actions DDG has taken to remedy some of the problems and Hanff's response.
• PRISM Break's statement on these search engines: "Startpage is proprietary, hosted in the USA/Netherlands, and provides you with anonymized Google search results (including images). DuckDuckGo is partly proprietary, hosted in the USA, and provides you with anonymized Bing search results. Pick your poison." DuckDuckGo also has servers in the EU (see forum discussion).
• PRISM fears spur DuckDuckGo's growth, although some think it's doesn't matter.

Alternatives to DuckDuckGo

• Startpage
• Ixquick

Decentralized Solutions

• These can be be installed and run locally on your computer or Web server, but take a bit more work than popping a search term into your browser or phone app.
• YaCy
• Seeks Protect