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Want to start de-Googling?
#58855 06/11/21 01:51 PM
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ryck Offline OP
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DuckDuckGo has provided a number of substitutes for Google functions that may be of interest.

Last edited by ryck; 06/11/21 01:52 PM.

ryck

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Re: Want to start de-Googling?
ryck #58856 06/11/21 04:00 PM
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Almost totally, functionality I never use, but useful link all the same. Thanks.

I'll maybe spend some time comparing Google and Duck Duck Go search results, but I've never been especially happy with any engine I've ever tried other than Google.


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Re: Want to start de-Googling?
ryck #58857 06/11/21 04:30 PM
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Alternate Secure options DuckDuckGo did not mention:

SEARCH ENGINES:
Qwant
Qwant is a French search engine, launched in July 2013 and operated from Paris. It is one of the few EU-based search engines with its own indexing engine. It claims that it does not employ user tracking or personalize search results in order to avoid trapping users in a filter bubble.

Ecosia
Ecosia is a search engine based in Berlin, Germany. It donates 80% of its profits to nonprofit organizations that focus on reforestation. It considers itself a social business, is COâ‚‚-negative and claims to support full financial transparency and protect the privacy of its users. Ecosia is also B Lab certified. As of May 2021, the company claims to have planted over 125 million trees since its inception.

Startpage
Startpage is a Dutch search engine company that highlights privacy as its distinguishing feature. The website advertises that it allows users to obtain Google Search results while protecting users' privacy by not storing personal information or search data and removing all trackers. Startpage.com also includes an Anonymous View browsing feature that allows users the option to open search results via proxy for increased anonymity. Because the company is based in the Netherlands, it is protected by Dutch and European Union privacy laws, and thus is not subject to United States surveillance programs, like PRISM.

BROWSERS
TOR the Onion Router based on the Navy's ONION routing concept and comes with onion routing built in. The browser itself is based on Mozilla's Firefox but with modifications to reduce the signature to virtually nil. At its highest security settings it is arguably the most secure browser available but can only be used on the most basic sites.

Brave is a good alternative for fans of Chrome as it is based on the open source Chromium browser with an eye toward privacy. (The fact it is based on Chromium, the open source version of Chrome, is enough to give me some pause. Google is so adept at hiding phone home features that it creates suspicion in my mind.)

Vivaldi is a Chromium based ,highly customizable, security conscious , browser email client, calendar, translation, and ad blocker all builtin. however, it is not available on iOS or IPadOS.

Wave a third Chromium based alternative that appeared promising but it has not been updated on either the Mac App Store in >8 months or iOS App Store in >11 months.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

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Re: Want to start de-Googling?
joemikeb #58909 06/16/21 06:28 PM
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RE BROWSERS —
TOR the Onion Router based on the Navy's ONION routing concept and comes with onion routing built in. The browser itself is based on Mozilla's Firefox but with modifications to reduce the signature to virtually nil. At its highest security settings it is arguably the most secure browser available but can only be used on the most basic sites.

What's weird is, although based on Firefox, TOR Browser will only import Bookmarks from Safari and Chrome. Ergo, a non-starter.

Re: Want to start de-Googling?
grelber #58912 06/16/21 09:33 PM
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Originally Posted by grelber
What's weird is, although based on Firefox, TOR Browser will only import Bookmarks from Safari and Chrome. Ergo, a non-starter.
I just checked on my computer and the latest versions of Firefox or Tor only offered to import bookmarks from Safari. So perhaps that is a limitation carried over from Firefox on the assumption that you would not want to import from Firefox to Firefox?


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

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Re: Want to start de-Googling?
joemikeb #58914 06/16/21 11:44 PM
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Problem is that they're NOT the same thing. They might share a basic platform but TOR Browser (as a separate entity) should allow for import of Firefox bookmarks.

Re: Want to start de-Googling?
grelber #58927 06/17/21 10:24 PM
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While working on another thread, I discovered that the Brave browser, arguably one of the more secure offerings and also capable of using TOR onion routing, does not directly import any bookmarks from any other browser. Instead relying on the other browser to EXPORT their bookmarks which Brave can then IMPORT. Given the number of different browsers available, that seems a rational alternative.


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein

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