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Some jerk once told me that anybody who has strong concerns about privacy must have something to hide.
It is also widely accepted (usually by right-wing conservatives like the Mother of All Rejected Supreme Court nominees Robert Bork) that there is no "right to privacy" in the United States Constitution.
On the other hand, there is Supreme Court Justice Louis B. Brandeis' wonderful dissent in Olmstead v. U.S.:
"... the right to be left alone -- the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men."
So which is it? If you value your privacy, are you a pervert or a terrorist?
So which is it? If you value your privacy, are you a pervert or a terrorist?
Or if you value your privacy, are you the core of what being an American is all about?
Well, while you're deciding all that, let's talk about Search Engines.
Every time you ask Google to search for "edible panties," Google, Yahoo, and almost every search engine records your IP (Internet Protocol -- your computer's unique address) and what you asked to search for.
Well, while you're deciding all that, let's talk about Search Engines.
Every time you ask Google to search for "edible panties," Google, Yahoo, and almost every search engine records your IP (Internet Protocol -- your computer's unique address) and what you asked to search for.
There's some vague controversy about how long they retain this information ... months, years, forever ... but while they're retaining it, you and youe search queries are vulnerable to inspection by a government search warrant or subpoena, and the big search engines will promptly comply.
They made their decision long ago: They'd rather fuck and spy on and betray their customers than piss off the government.
So let me introduce you to a search engine called
They made their decision long ago: They'd rather fuck and spy on and betray their customers than piss off the government.
So let me introduce you to a search engine called
It's actually a "meta-search engine" -- which means it does its searching by using Google and other big search engines. So it's quite a powerful search engine.
But Startpage has a Big Difference: It does NOT store your IP address, and it does NOT store your search requests. It keeps no customer database of your queries.
So even if the government slaps them with a subpoena -- Startpage has nothing stored abut you and your searches to give to the government!
So far this post has seemed very America-centric, as if privacy concerns on the Internet were strictly a USA cowboy thing. But StartPage actually has its origins as a Dutch search engine called Ixquick.
Wikipedia:
On June 27, 2006, Ixquick.com became the first search engine to delete private details of its users. IP addresses and other personal information are deleted within 48 hours of a search. Ixquick also does not share its users' personal information with other search engines or with the provider of its sponsored results.
Ixquick was awarded the first European Privacy Seal (EuroPriSe) for its privacy practices on July 14, 2008. This European Union-sponsored initiative guarantees compliance with EU laws and regulations on data security and privacy, through a series of design and technical audits. As of January 28, 2009, Ixquick no longer records users' IP addresses at all.
Okay, that's all I've got to say about Startpage / Ixquick for now. I'd LOVE it if Web-Savvy people left a lot of Comments about Startpage, its shortcomings, its fallacies, its loopholes -- because I can't find any yet. All I get from Startpage are hits on my search queries.
Until I discovered Startpage recently, I just assumed that the entire Internet was kissing government and law-enforcement butt and had long ago chosen to play footsie with the authorities -- that there was and would never be any user privacy on the Web.
Surprise! Check out Startpage! (Or let the government probe your inerests in edible panties whenever it feels like it.)
Until I discovered Startpage recently, I just assumed that the entire Internet was kissing government and law-enforcement butt and had long ago chosen to play footsie with the authorities -- that there was and would never be any user privacy on the Web.
Surprise! Check out Startpage! (Or let the government probe your inerests in edible panties whenever it feels like it.)
5 comments:
according to whois the company is seated in VA and belongs to a company celled networksolutions.com in Fla. Was not able to find out more yet. www.networksolutions.com looks a bit warped for being the owner of a alternate search engine. Have to do more research and find a few details
networksolutions.com is just a domain registrar they register the domain they have nothing to do with the company that runs the site.
The owner would be the registrant. Check it out (scroll down): http://who.is/whois/startpage.com/
okay okay okay
i was driving and listening to a radio segment featuring a wildly frothing Libertarian woman who's pretty much convinced that today's USA has already turned into a nasty version of "1984."
Unfortunately she was smart and everything she said was true. But clearly hers was a Voice Crying in the Wilderness.
Privacy was her Big Issue, at least in this radio interview. And that's when she began talking about Startpage.
So what this all boils down to is this:
I don't care who owns it.
I just want to know if, as it claims, it does NOT store your computer's IP, nor does it store what you were searching for.
Also Startpage's founding entity, Ixquick, won that EU Privacy Award:
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Ixquick was awarded the first European Privacy Seal (EuroPriSe) for its privacy practices on July 14, 2008. This European Union-sponsored initiative guarantees compliance with EU laws and regulations on data security and privacy, through a series of design and technical audits. As of January 28, 2009, Ixquick no longer records users' IP addresses at all.
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Now look, Anonymous -- are you PatfromCH again? If you're another Anonymous, then here is the First Rule of Vleeptron:
No Anonymous Driveby Comments
so who are you what are you and tell us more about what you know about Startpage.
Hi, sorry it took me a while to respond, I wasn't following this page. Also sorry for being ignorant of the rules, I'm not Patfromch.
I'm a representative of Startpage, and would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
To answer your first and clearly most important question: Startpage does not and will not store your computer's IP or anything you search for.
If you have other questions, just come to our Facebook page!
P.S. In case you were wondering, I'll bet the smart woman you were listening to on the radio was Katherine Albrecht. She likes us. :-)
Hiya Alex! Welcome to Vleeptron!
The Anonymous thing is our ONLY rule. Particularly on controversial topics. Vleeptron prefers a little Identity from those who accuse us of being insane or an agent of the Illuminati.
Thanks for guessing Katherine Albrecht. When I drive, I don't phone, I don't text, and -- hardest self-discipline of all -- i don't jot down notes. But boy was that a fascinating interview.
She doesn't just like Startpage. I think she wants to have Startpage's baby. It's been a lonnnnnng time since I heard an American froth so passionately about privacy.
What's startling is that Ms. Albrecht seems to think we can have our Internet AND our privacy!
The Yahoo mess in China convinced me that the Internet is evolving not toward the Western Open Society model, but letting China and other Closed Societies set the standards for the relationship between Web users and sovereign governments.
That sux.
But Startpage is a big blast in the Open Society Citizen-First direction.
You go guy! and uhhh if you send e-mail notices, please add bobmerk@earthlink.net to your list.
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