this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2024
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Privacy

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I asked duckduckgo chat whether duckduckgo respects the privacy of their users... (self.privacy)
submitted 5 months ago by NationProtons to c/[email protected]
44 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

This is the reply:

As a model running through DuckDuckGo's privacy layer, I can provide you with accurate information about their privacy features.

DuckDuckGo is a search engine that prioritizes user privacy. They have a strong commitment to protecting user data and have implemented various measures to ensure anonymity. Here are some key aspects of their privacy features:

  • No tracking: DuckDuckGo does not track users' searches, browsing history, or any other personal information.
  • No personal data collection: They do not collect or store any personal data, including IP addresses, user agents, or other identifiable information.
  • Encrypted searches: Searches are encrypted, which means that even your ISP or network administrators cannot see what you're searching for.
  • No targeted ads: DuckDuckGo does not display targeted ads, which reduces the risk of data collection and profiling.

Regarding cases where DuckDuckGo's privacy was questioned, there have been a few instances:

  • 2011: DuckDuckGo was criticized for using Amazon Associates, which could potentially track user behavior. However, they quickly addressed the issue and removed the affiliate program.
  • 2019: A security researcher discovered a bug in DuckDuckGo's browser extension that could potentially leak user data. The issue was promptly fixed, and an audit was conducted to ensure the security of their systems.
  • 2020: DuckDuckGo faced criticism for using Microsoft's Bing API, which some argued could compromise user privacy. However, DuckDuckGo clarified that they do not share user data with Microsoft and that their partnership is limited to search results.

It's essential to note that DuckDuckGo has consistently demonstrated a commitment to user privacy and has taken steps to address any concerns or issues that have arisen. They are transparent about their practices and have implemented robust measures to protect user data.

If you have any more questions or concerns about DuckDuckGo's privacy features, feel free to ask!

Is anybody using duckduckgo over searx or other search engines? What is your experience?

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[–] [email protected] 52 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Asking a parrot if its house is safe.

I use DDG, BTW. But searxng is very cool.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I selfhost a searxng instance and honestly forget it's a thing until I'm rebooting my pi or something then wonder why search isn't working lmao

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I don't use searxng because I'm comfortable with ddg instant answers. We should build an open source alternative like duckduckhack.

Edit: Dunno why people downvoted, but in my opinion having a local js "addon" which for example can convert inch to cm if you search for "2inch in cm" (obviously all should be locally processed) would be very useful.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

DDG is fine, it works on vpns and Tor. No login required. It's good enough.

[–] NationProtons 5 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Yeah, I used it for a long while in the past. Now mostly on searxNG, but I still like the bangs and quick results from ddg. Kagi is also pretty good, but feels a bit too pricey in my country.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I want to like kagi, but I value privacy, so logging in for searching is antithetical and just outside of my usage model.

Maybe if they supported micro payments to give you like 10 minutes of searching, but I don't see them doing that

[–] NationProtons 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, this makes it also quite a bit less interesting to me. Perhaps it would be better if they could use donations and have a free instance for everyone. But I suppose that earns much less, and having people host their own instances does not seem to be on the roadmap for them.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I did very briefly think it would be a cool project to set up a kagi reseller. A search proxy on tor, people send you micro payments in monero get a cookie set, and can use a few searches in kagi through the proxy.

It's all doable right now, but it depends on kagi honoring their API and pricing and not shutting such a service down.

[–] NationProtons 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

That would've been kinda interesting.

I think you can use kagi on as many of your own devices as you want right? I suppose you could share your account with multiple people (probably against their tos, I guess) and make it more private that way. Can't really tell much with a bunch of searches from multiple people and you paying whomever is the owner of the account.

[–] andrew_bidlaw 6 points 5 months ago

You end up responsible for them though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

searxng has bangs too

!bang to search using a specific engine, !!bang to redirect to a search engine's page

[–] NationProtons 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I didn't know that, very useful. I suppose this is only for using other search engines like google, bing, etc... right?

Or can it also search immediately on other websites like metacritic, rotten tomatoes by using bangs?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

again, !bang is for searching using a specific search engine, !!bang is for redirecting to a search engine's page

!g will search with google

!!g will redirect to google

all ddg bangs are supported to my knowledge, but obviously !bang will only work with the search engines searxng supports

[–] NationProtons 1 points 5 months ago

ok, so seems like I will have to use a double bang then. It does not seem match ddg bangs 1:1 though. And some don't seem to be working correctly on my instance (E.g. !!mc for metacritic redirects to the wrong page)

[–] [email protected] 31 points 5 months ago

In other news, CNN says the best news source is CNN.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 months ago (2 children)

i just use my local searxng instance and get results from like 10 engines including ddg, then filter with ublacklist

[–] NationProtons 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Ublacklist works with searx? Good to know, I want to try this myself.

Your search results must be so clean and useful.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

yeah it works but if you use a local instance you have to compile the extension yourself to include your instance.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I love searxng in theory, and I use it as my default search engine, but very often I am missing results; I don't know if it's deliberate censorship from bing and google so you don't use their apis on 3rd party platforms, or if searxng is just buggy, but no matter what search engines I enable in the config, I am missing results.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

i have that issue as well,, sometimes it's missing results and other times i get the same result repeated on page 2. not sure why that happens, but i guess it's just a bit buggy.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)

No-Script and they redirect you to their no-script search results. Pretty neat !

But searxNG is my go to at the moment !

[–] NationProtons 3 points 5 months ago

I also use SearxNG for all my searches at the moment. But the instance I use is not that fast. Might have to look into hosting one myself.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

DDG chatbot uses chatgpt protocol, so how much privacy is there in this app?

[–] lustrum 10 points 5 months ago (1 children)

It obfuscates the user each time you use it and doesn't log any info?

So while the query is maybe logged on chatgpts side for their own usage. Hopefully they shouldn't be able to build a profile against you.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Metadata tags mean they can try, idk how easy it is tho

[–] NationProtons 4 points 5 months ago

Seems like you also have the option to use the open source mixtral and llama3 models.

Also, if all the requests from their users go through their api request, i suppose is much more private than using your own account.

I’m not sure how they plan to monetise this though. Ai chat is not that cheap actually.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

using duckduckgo over searx

Well no, but I am getting results from duckduckgo through searx. It's a local instance and when I'm on the road I'll use duckduckgo instead sometimes. It's a big drop in quality compared to getting results from six different engines.

[–] NationProtons 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

That’s why I still prefer searx. Duck duck go is basically just Bing results, right?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

It's not just Bing results. The image search doesn't bring back as many results as Bing.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (2 children)

The constant Temu search results drive me nuts, but I found a setting to disable that.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Are you not using ublock origin?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

I am but DDG will show sponsored search results which don't get blocked by ublock.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Ublock origin blocks sponsored results for me in Firefox

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I'm using the DDG app

[–] NationProtons 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Is that something that would be blocked by an adblocker? Or are you talking about the shopping tab? I have not used that myself in duckduckgo

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

No it's like a sponsored search result. You have to go into settings > private search > more settings and then disable Advertisements.

[–] NationProtons 3 points 5 months ago

Oh, so it shows up between your search results? Sounds pretty horrible. Good that it's toggle-able.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

What are some of your favourite searx instances? I know I’m going to get some heat for this, but because of how slow searx can be + missing search results forcing me to use brave search. I usually use brave search over ddg.

Any tips for searx to make it faster etc. would be appreciated

[–] NationProtons 1 points 5 months ago

I use the closest one to me from searx.space. I suppose hosting an instance yourself will give you the best response times, but it always still takes a moment while it searches through multiple search engines. If you only care about the results of one engine (e.g. google) then you could disable the others. Might speed it up a bit.