Google will turn search data over to the feds

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Startpage Protects Your Privacy !

Startpage Search Engine

Startpage is powered by Startpage. The only search engine that does not record your IP address.

Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines record your ip address. By using this they can reconstruct all your browsing activities.


Every time you use a regular search engine, your search data are recorded. Your search terms, the time of your visit, the links you choose, your IP address and your User ID cookies all get stored in a database.

The identity profiles that can be constructed from this cloud of information represent modern day gold for marketers. But government officials, hackers and even criminals also have an interest in getting their hands on your personal search data. And sooner or later they will...

Startpage does not record your ip address. If you don't want the government and obama knowing what you do on the web via a search engine use Startpage only. Forget google etc. Startpage Protects Your Privacy!

Startpage search engine

Startpage Protects Your Privacy !

European brand: Ixquick search engine
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Google will turn search data over to the feds.

Who in the world knows as much about you and your private thoughts as Google?

That's the question Katherine Albrecht, radio talk-show host and spokeswoman for Startpage, a search engine that protects user privacy, is posing to American Internet surfers.

"It would blow people's minds if they knew how much information the big search engines have on the American public". "In fact, their dossiers are so detailed they would probably be the envy of the KGB."

The search engines have sophisticated algorithms to mine data from searches and create very detailed profiles about Americans. She said those profiles are stored on servers and may fall into the wrong hands.

Recent cyber attacks that infiltrated Google's operations in China. Bloomberg News reported that Yahoo was also among the victims.

Albrecht said the government may also subpoena citizens' private information after it has been stored by Google, Yahoo and Bing. In a December 2009 interview with CNBC, Google CEO Eric Schmidt divulged that search engines may turn over citizens' private information to the government.

"If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place," CEO Eric Schmidt of Google said. "But if you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines, including Google, do retain this information for some time. And it's important, for example, that we are all subject to the United States Patriot Act. It is possible that information could be made available to the authorities."

"Now they are just coming right out and telling us that they will turn our data over to the feds".

In addition to information collected from searches, Google also saves sent and received e-mails, including e-mail drafts, attachments and chat messages through its Gmail system.

The search-engine giant uses its search records for marketing purposes, Albrecht explained.

Some people wonder why Google would give them all this "free cool stuff" like Google Maps
, Google Calendar, Google Groups, Google Spreadsheets, Google Earth and Gmail.

"When was the last time a company making billions of dollars gave you every single thing they offered for free?" she asked. "They're not giving you those products for free. You're the product, and that's the bait."

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But she said there's good news. Startpage, and its European brand Ixquick,, are introducing a new search alternative that will protect and never store private information about its users.

"Startpage doesn't have any information, so even if it was served with a subpoena or, like Google, if it got hacked, there would be no records to obtain because it doesn't keep any records," Albrecht explained.

People should start supporting companies like Startpage and move their traffic away from the other big search engines, so Google, Yahoo, Bing and others will learn to respect user privacy.

Startpage's position:

You have a right to privacy.
Your search data should never fall into the wrong hands.
The only real solution is quickly deleting your data or not storing them to begin with.
In June 2006 we started to delete our users' privacy data within 48 hrs.
As of January 2009 we do not even record our users' IP addresses at all anymore.
We are the first and only search engine to do so.
Our initiative is receiving an overwhelmingly positive response!

Startpage Search Engine
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Search Engine Ixquick Introduces Anonymous Web Browsing
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Free, innovative proxy service offers complete online privacy

January 28, International Data Privacy Day 2010

Ixquick, the world's most private search engine, and its U.S. brand, Startpage.com, today announced the release of a new proxy service that allows users to surf the web with complete privacy. The proxy lets users browse websites safely and anonymously, without passing on any private, personally identifiable information to the websites they view.

The Ixquick proxy is a free service that works in conjunction with the Ixquick search engine, available at www.ixquick.com. When users perform a search, they will find a clickable "proxy" option below each search result. When this option is selected, Ixquick acts as an intermediary to retrieve the page and display it in a privacy-protected Ixquick window.

The proxy offers complete anonymity, since the user never makes direct contact with the third-party website. The user's IP address is invisible to the viewed website. In addition, the website cannot see or place cookies on the user's browser.

The proxy service is covered by the same privacy policy that has made Ixquick the industry leader when it comes to search engine privacy. Ixquick does not record IP addresses, make a record of users' searches, or record details about proxy usage. The company's data collection practices are third-party certified with the "European Privacy seal" and widely considered the best in the industry.

The proxy service is being launched today, January 28th, to celebrate international Data Privacy Day.

"People are more concerned about online data retention policies than ever before," said CEO Robert Beens. "We wanted to offer them a useful tool and this proxy is a logical extension of our services, A search engine is a starting point for people to visit other pages. Now our users can take the privacy they get with Ixquick to the next step, and go privately to the sites they have found as well. This proxy completes the total search privacy picture."

Details on the new Ixquick Proxy service, along with a video explaining the service by Ixquick's US spokeswoman, privacy expert Dr. Katherine Albrecht, can be found on the "Ixquick Proxy Explained" page: http://ixquick.com/proxy/eng/help.html

The video can also be viewed directly at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Luovo73Bjqc

People wishing to experience the Ixquick proxy can perform a search at:
http://www.ixquick.com, then click the "proxy" option below the search result.

About Ixquick

Ixquick is an award-winning search engine with an industry-leading privacy policy. Founded in New York in 1998, Ixquick is the only major search engine to provide fully anonymous, private searches, since it does not record any personal data on its users. It is also the first and only search engine to offer SSL encryption to prevent data from being eavesdropped. Further information on Ixquick, including details about the company's exemplary data-handling practices, can be found at www.ixquick.com.
In the US Ixquick is known as Startpage.com.