Keep Your Private Data Safe. Use Alternative Search Engines

A lot of news has recently surfaced as the web audience gradually discovered how deep and personal search engine data sniffing can get. But some web users may still ask "I have nothing to hide, why worry?" The point isn't having nothing to hide, so much as having every detail of your life documented by a server network somewhere, for their own profit-making purposes.

It's not just about what that engine does with your data, it's who they sell it to or what happens when their servers get breached by third-party leaks - which happen shockingly often. Then beyond that is the question of where this leads in the future if we don't draw the line here. Artificial Intelligence is getting more advanced, and there's no telling how much of a detailed avatar they could build of every user if it gets advanced enough. We can't even know what kinds of consequences might be in store.

Here's a list of security-focused sites, all of which do not mine your data or target you with ads. Each of them take varying approaches to re-thinking the web search engine, which is also good on the innovation side as well.

Hot.com
Probably the time when you're most concerned about privacy is when you're researching an adult topic. https://hot.com is a discreet engine that returns only results from adult-themed sites and interests. As an added bonus, there's never a confusion of terms in context. Beyond seeking adult entertainment websites, it's also a good place to research your concerns about sexual wellness and relationship questions.

HotBot
HotBot is based on one of the original search services on the web. But after decades of competition, they're still keeping up-to-date with a rich and feature-filled search engine that also strives to protect users from unsafe sites as well. HotBot is one search engine you can use in confidence, along with getting expert security advice from a very informative side blog.

DuckDuckGo
When the web audience first started to voice concerns over the state of online user rights, DuckDuckGo was the first search engine to make user privacy its mission statement. It collects search results from other engines and compiles them into an anonymous list, served up in a simple interface that just gives you a result and lets you get on with your day.

Gibiru
Gibiru takes the extra step of providing search results that are uncensored, using their own custom algorithm. https://gibiru.com deliberately strips the controls most search engines have, leaving you to decide what's a trustworthy result. It also comes with its own phone app.

SearchEncrypt
For those looking for a step beyond simple privacy, https://www.searchencrypt.com/ goes full security with encrypted protection. Your queries and the resulting listings are encrypted both ways, ensuring that even third-party hackers can't intercept your data. It also performs searches without any permanent record of your activity, even on your own device.

Conclusions
Beyond using alternative search engines, there are further steps you can take to protect your online privacy. You can switch to more secure web browsers, set your web browser preferences to not store or report your data, browse in "incognito" mode, opt-out of existing websites' data-tracking agreements, and even use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) where all traffic is anonymous.