Startpage Protects Your Privacy!
Startpage,
and its sister search engine Ixquick, are the only third-party
certified search engines in the world that do not record your IP address
or track your searches.
Your privacy is under attack!
Every time you use a regular search engine, your search data is recorded. Major search engines capture your IP address and use tracking cookies
to make a record of your search terms, the time of your visit, and the
links you choose - then they store that information in a giant database.
Those searches reveal a shocking amount of personal information about you, such as your interests, family circumstances, political leanings, medical conditions, and more. This information is modern-day gold for marketers, government officials, black-hat hackers and criminals - all of whom would love to get their hands on your private search data.
Those searches reveal a shocking amount of personal information about you, such as your interests, family circumstances, political leanings, medical conditions, and more. This information is modern-day gold for marketers, government officials, black-hat hackers and criminals - all of whom would love to get their hands on your private search data.
Why should you worry?
Major
search engines have quietly amassed the largest database of personal
information on individuals ever collected. Unfortunately, this data can
all too easily fall into the wrong hands. Consider the following story:
In August 2006, the online world was jarred when AOL accidentally released three months' worth of aggregated search data from 650,000 of its users, publishing all the details in an online database.
That database is still searchable. It is an absolute eye-opener to see the potential for privacy nightmares.
In August 2006, the online world was jarred when AOL accidentally released three months' worth of aggregated search data from 650,000 of its users, publishing all the details in an online database.
That database is still searchable. It is an absolute eye-opener to see the potential for privacy nightmares.
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—> Enter a query and find who searched for it —> Then click on a "User ID" to find what else this user searched for |
Shocked? You are not alone.
When we search, we share our most private thoughts with our computers.
These private thoughts should be safe.
When we search, we share our most private thoughts with our computers.
These private thoughts should be safe.
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. |
| Since January 2009 we do not record our users' IP addresses anymore. |
| We are the first and only search engine to do so. |
| Our initiative is receiving an overwhelmingly positive response! |
Startpage will wholeheartedly continue on its mission to offer you great search results in the best possible privacy!
Startpage/Ixquick Warranties:
European Privacy SealOn July 14th 2008 Ixquick received the first European Privacy Seal from European Data Protection Supervisor Mr. Peter Hustinx. The Seal officially confirms the privacy promises we make to our users. It makes Ixquick the first and only EU-approved search engine. Both EU Commissioner Viviane Reding and Dr.Thilo Weichert, German Privacy Commissioner complemented Ixquick on its privacy achievements.
You can find the press release here.
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This Authority supervises the fair and lawful use and security of your personal data, to ensure your privacy today and in the future.
What's our privacyscore?
http://privacyscore.com
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Startpage/Ixquick's Privacy Q&A:
Q: Why did Startpage decide to take leap steps in June 2006 and in January 2009?
Beyond striving to offer our users the best Web search results
possible, we also feel strongly about safeguarding their privacy. With
other search engines, millions of law abiding citizens world wide expose
themselves to serious invasions of privacy while performing innocuous
searches across the internet.
We feel the right to privacy is a very important right, worth defending.
These were the principles that guided Startpage's decision in June 2006 when we started our privacy initiative. Our determination to offer our users the best possible privacy search engine has only increased ever since. That’s why we are pleased we were able to stop recording IP addresses altogether in January 2009.
We feel the right to privacy is a very important right, worth defending.
These were the principles that guided Startpage's decision in June 2006 when we started our privacy initiative. Our determination to offer our users the best possible privacy search engine has only increased ever since. That’s why we are pleased we were able to stop recording IP addresses altogether in January 2009.
Q: Had Startpage ever data mined its search data for commercial use before 2006?
In its history before June 2006, Startpage had never used IP addresses
and Unique ID cookies for anything other than tracking its own
statistics and improving our site's performance . Unlike most of our
competitors, we are an independent company and unable to combine user
data with other services we offer. As such, these records had no
commercial value to us. Since June 2006, and especially after January
2009 there is nothing to mine.
Q: What is Startpage's policy now with regard to IP addresses and the use of ID cookies? IP addresses: Startpage does not record the IP addresses of our legitimate users.
Cookies: Startpage abolished the use of Unique ID cookies as of June 6th, 2006.
Startpage only uses one anonymous cookie that is used to remember the search preferences you saved for your next visit. For those who prefer a "cookie-free" operation Startpage offers the URL-generator.
Cookies: Startpage abolished the use of Unique ID cookies as of June 6th, 2006.
Startpage only uses one anonymous cookie that is used to remember the search preferences you saved for your next visit. For those who prefer a "cookie-free" operation Startpage offers the URL-generator.
Q: Why is it so important not to store IP address or User ID cookie?
People can either have a static IP address or a dynamic IP address that
changes from day to day. If they have a static IP address, one can
reconstruct their search history with just that IP address. If they have
a dynamic IP address one can reconstruct their search history for today
but not for yesterday. The user's ISP, however, can provide the missing
link between the various IP addresses. The Unique user ID can also be
used to tie the different IP addresses together.
So the IP address is unique to the specific computer or router, but may change from day to day. The User ID is unique for one specific search engine or website.
The combination of the both delivers extensive possibilities to track users' behavior, especially for internet conglomerates with multiple services where the users information can be combined.
Tracking within a site is typically done with the aim of producing usage statistics, while tracking across sites with so-called third party cookies, is typically done by advertising companies to produce anonymous user profiles. These profiles are then used to target advertising (deciding which advertising image to show) based on the user's profile. But advertising companies are just one of many groups that may take an interest in user profiles. Startpage deletes both the IP address and the User ID cookie. Startpage does not record IP addresses or use Unique ID cookies.
So the IP address is unique to the specific computer or router, but may change from day to day. The User ID is unique for one specific search engine or website.
The combination of the both delivers extensive possibilities to track users' behavior, especially for internet conglomerates with multiple services where the users information can be combined.
Tracking within a site is typically done with the aim of producing usage statistics, while tracking across sites with so-called third party cookies, is typically done by advertising companies to produce anonymous user profiles. These profiles are then used to target advertising (deciding which advertising image to show) based on the user's profile. But advertising companies are just one of many groups that may take an interest in user profiles. Startpage deletes both the IP address and the User ID cookie. Startpage does not record IP addresses or use Unique ID cookies.
Q: It is great Startpage does not store my IP address, but what about any third parties?
Startpage does not share your personal information with any third party
including other search engines and the provider of its sponsored
results.
Q: How does Startpage make money if it doesn't store or sell my personal data? Startpage shows a limited amount of relevant sponsored results on the top and the bottom of the results page.
Each time these sponsored results are clicked upon Startpage receives a minimal fee from the advertiser.
Each time these sponsored results are clicked upon Startpage receives a minimal fee from the advertiser.
Q: I am getting personalized or localized ads while I am using Startpage.com. How is this possible?
Whenever you search with Startpage, your SEARCH is not recorded, your
IP ADDRESS is not recorded, your IDENTITY is not recorded, no TRACKING
COOKIES are placed on your browser, and our SSL ENCRYPTION ensures that
your ISP or hackers can't eavesdrop. You are never seen by any of the
search engines we query, including Google, even though you receive
authentic Google results through Startpage.
That protection applies 100% to your SEARCHES. However, when you CLICK on a search result, whether you got it from us, Bing, Yahoo, or any other search engine, you LEAVE the search engine that gave you the link and go SOMEWHERE ELSE.
Wherever you go, once you leave Startpage, you can be seen, recorded, and tracked by the website you are going to, plus by all of its advertising and marketing and tracking partners and affiliates. To avoid this, you can use the Startpage Proxy which allows you to visit third-party websites THROUGH STARTPAGE without anyone, including the website and its partners, seeing you.
To learn more about the Startpage proxy and how it works, please watch our short instructional video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv3SCbI5KFM
That protection applies 100% to your SEARCHES. However, when you CLICK on a search result, whether you got it from us, Bing, Yahoo, or any other search engine, you LEAVE the search engine that gave you the link and go SOMEWHERE ELSE.
Wherever you go, once you leave Startpage, you can be seen, recorded, and tracked by the website you are going to, plus by all of its advertising and marketing and tracking partners and affiliates. To avoid this, you can use the Startpage Proxy which allows you to visit third-party websites THROUGH STARTPAGE without anyone, including the website and its partners, seeing you.
To learn more about the Startpage proxy and how it works, please watch our short instructional video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv3SCbI5KFM
Q: How can I be sure Startpage fulfills its promises? Our Privacy Policy is routinely being confirmed by two independent organizations, Europrise and Certified Secure. For more information please click on the respective certifying organization.
Q: What are "cookies" and does Startpage use any?
A cookie is a small piece of data that is sent and saved to your
computers' hard drive when visiting a site. Startpage uses only one
cookie called "preferences". This cookie is to remember the search
preferences you saved for your next visit. It expires after not visiting
Startpage for 90 days and is anonymous.
Q: How does Startpage make use of the limited logfiles it does keep?
As a privacy search engine we do not log users' IP addresses. Nor do we
log the search queries itself. But in order to offer our users the best
product possible we do keep data on performance (speed) for maintenance
purposes and general statistics like language or category usage.
Q: So, Startpage uses Google Web results. Is my privacy still protected?
Completely. Startpage works under the same strict privacy policy as
Ixquick; we don't store any personal data (like your IP address) and
don't pass on any of this data to third parties, including Google. This
way you will get Web results from the most popular search engine with
the privacy protection from the world's most private search engine
Ixquick.com.
So while you can continue to get the search results you have grown accustomed to, you don't have to worry about your privacy anymore!
So while you can continue to get the search results you have grown accustomed to, you don't have to worry about your privacy anymore!
Q: What is the recently added "Startpage Proxy" service all about?
The "Startpage Proxy" extends the great privacy protections you get
from our search engine to cover your browsing activities too. Our proxy
lets you browse third-party websites safely and anonymously, without
passing on any private, personally identifiable information. It means
you can now surf the web as anonymously as you can search with
Startpage.
Q: How does it work?
The proxy allows you to view third-party web pages loaded through
Startpage's servers. Details on how it works can be found on the "Startpage Proxy Explained" page.
Q: Will the proxy work with Javascript selected off? Yes, the proxy will work fine, although some messages will not appear anymore.
Q: How has the proxy improved Startpage's position in the search industry?
Startpage leads the search industry on privacy issues, and we are
always looking for innovative ways to protect our users. We were the
first and only search engine to provide certified anonymous searching and encrypted (SSL) connections, and now we are the only search engine to offer anonymous proxy browsing. Proxy surfing is just one more way we are earning our reputation as "The World's Most Private Search Engine."
Q: What other measures has Startpage taken to protect my Privacy?
Contrary to other search engines Startpage uses the so-called POST
method (instead of the GET method) to keep your search terms out of the
logs of webmasters of sites that you reach from our results. Search
terms tell a lot about what you are thinking, which is why this is a
privacy issue. With the POST method Startpage uses, your search terms
are stripped off. This can cause "Web page has expired" messages and
prevents from creating shortcuts of results-pages. To create shortcuts
you can use the "Bookmark this search" button on the right of the
results page. Alternatively you can switch off "Use POST vs GET"
completely in the settings.
Q: Does Startpage support SSL (HTTPS)?
By default the Startpage servers have been configured to work with
HTTPS. They convert any regular HTTP request to an HTTPS request because
it works over secure and encrypted Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
connections and thus better protects the privacy of our users. SSL is an
encryption protocol that is available in almost all browsers. It
establishes a secure connection between your browser and Startpage's
servers. Startpage recommends using SSL to hide your search terms from
anyone who might be monitoring traffic between your browser and
Startpage's servers. (The only drawback of using SSL is a slightly
longer processing time.) If you prefer to use HTTP instead, you can
change this in Settings by disabling SSL.
Q: Where are Startpage's servers located?
Startpage has server clusters in the Netherlands and the United States.
Startpage typically routes European searches to the European servers,
American searches to the U.S. servers, and searches from other countries
to the closest location. On the rare occasion that there is a problem
in one facility, searches are briefly handled by the other facilty.
Q: How can I learn more about the privacy issues with other search engines?
Search engines are frequently silent on their efforts to use and
combine data. Their privacy policies may provide some guidance as to
their intentions. So the best to do is look for the privacy policies.
Startpage's privacy policy is crystal clear, and can be found here.
Q: Why are other search engines not yet following Startpage's lead? After the AOL story some search engines quickly commented they will not give up recording the privacy data of its users.
Startpage's competitors are generally very large and often publicly owned search engines.Such a large share of these company's valuations is based on their ability to mine data from their users, they cannot afford to give the practice up. Commercial pressures to increase effectiveness of advertising and other commercial services, and the profit opportunities that arise by combining data collected across multiple services will ultimately drive these companies to make even greater impositions on your privacy. Even though lately announcements have been made by Yahoo, Google and MSN to lower data retention time, their true intentions can be questioned. The way in which IP addresses are made “anonymous” and the ability to continue to combine search data through the use of ID cookies and logins make these promises far less positive than they seem. Read more here.
Startpage's competitors are generally very large and often publicly owned search engines.Such a large share of these company's valuations is based on their ability to mine data from their users, they cannot afford to give the practice up. Commercial pressures to increase effectiveness of advertising and other commercial services, and the profit opportunities that arise by combining data collected across multiple services will ultimately drive these companies to make even greater impositions on your privacy. Even though lately announcements have been made by Yahoo, Google and MSN to lower data retention time, their true intentions can be questioned. The way in which IP addresses are made “anonymous” and the ability to continue to combine search data through the use of ID cookies and logins make these promises far less positive than they seem. Read more here.
Q: Where can I find more background information on these privacy issues?
The web sites of various privacy organisations are a great starting
point for locating an abundance of background information on this
subject. Startpage recommends:
http://privacyrights.org/
http://www.eff.org/
http://epic.org
http://worldprivacyforum.org/
http://privacyrights.org/
http://www.eff.org/
http://epic.org
http://worldprivacyforum.org/
Q: What is Startpage's view for the near future when it comes to search engine privacy?
We see an increasing threat to online privacy in general and search
engine users' privacy in particular. Ad networks, search engines and
government agencies have all stepped up their efforts to exploit private
search data. Positive is that consumer awareness is also slowly but
surely rising. The resulting political pressure (especially in the EU)
may help to force the larger search engines to change their privacy
policies for the better. There is only one real solution to this
problem: not storing or quickly deleting the data. Only then is data
safe from future privacy breaches.
Startpage will wholeheartedly continue on its mission to offer you great search results in the best possible privacy!
Startpage will wholeheartedly continue on its mission to offer you great search results in the best possible privacy!
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