[kwlug-disc] DDG in the news again

[Bob Jonkman]

DDG has been tracking clicks like that for years, which is why I don't 
use DDG. I was (and still am) a long-time user of ixQuick, now 
Startpage, and am currently trying out Mojeek which seems to be 
sufficiently independent at the moment. Results may not be as good as 
Google, but good enough for me.

--Bob.

https://www.startpage.com/
https://www.mojeek.com/


On 2022-05-27 00:04, Paul Nijjar via kwlug-disc wrote:
> On Tue, May 24, 2022 at 12:18:00PM -0700, Ronald Barnes wrote:
>> CrankyOldBugger wrote on 2022-05-24 11:57:
>>
>>> Not sure if this is the same issue as we discussed a few weeks ago, but
>>> DuckDuckGo is making deals with the Devil again. >
>>> https://www.reviewgeek.com/118915/duckduckgo-isnt-as-private-as-you-thought/
>>
>> Fortunately, the issue concerns the DDG *browser*, not their search web
>> site.
> 
> Sort of fortunately. DDG is making its living off its brand, and its
> brand is strong privacy protection. It is one thing if the company is
> transparent about the tradeoffs it makes to secure details. It is
> another if people are revealing these compromises on Twitter. Yes, the
> compromises are buried someplace deep in an EULA/Privacy policy, but
> that does not count as transparency in my books.
> 
> I continue to use DDG as my primary search engine, but I have been
> suspicious of them for a while, and I use them because they seem to
> the least harmful, not because I enthusiastically support them.
> 
> Data point: I search for KWLUG on DDG. The link to kwlug.org comes up
> as the first search result. Great! But the link I click is to
> "https://duckduckgo.com/l/?uddg=http%3A%2F%2Fkwlug.org%2F&rut=cabb8327a6e42ae258b2db8cddd62e769e7f11e8165b56a492ca6205af89b2bd",
> not "https://kwlug.org" . Somebody is tracking my click. Why is this
> okay in a search engine that pretends to care about my privacy?
> 
> - Paul
> 

-- 
Bob Jonkman <bjonkman at sobac.com>          Phone: +1-519-635-9413
SOBAC Microcomputer Services             http://sobac.com/sobac/
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