DuckDuckGo
🇺🇸
the United States
DuckDuckGo is the most well-known private search engine. It doesn't track your searches or create personal profiles. It also powers private browsing features in their browser and browser extension, which blocks trackers on websites.
Available on:
WebiOSAndroidBrowser ExtensionPrivacy Features
No search history stored, no tracking cookies. Protects searches and blocks trackers across the web.
🌍 Jurisdiction & Privacy Laws
🇺🇸
the United States
Based in the United States
Privacy Law Implications:
Data Protection: Stronger laws mean better protection of your personal data
Government Access: Some countries can force companies to hand over user data
Surveillance Alliances: International agreements may allow data sharing between countries
User Rights: Your legal rights to access, correct, or delete your data
Use DuckDuckGo:
Google
Bing
Safari search
Similar Privacy Apps
Kagi
Kagi is a premium, ad-free, privacy-first search engine. It offers fast, human-friendly results with zero tracking. It includes a built-in AI assistant, 'FastGPT', for chat-based responses — all without selling your data or injecting ads.
You.com (Private Mode)
You.com is an AI-powered search engine with private and non-private modes. Its private mode claims to disable history, logs, and tracking while still providing AI assistant features. Note: Privacy claims should be verified independently.
Andi
Andi is a new kind of search engine with a chat-style interface that explains answers using generative AI. It's private by default — no ads, no tracking, and no creepy profiling. Super visual, mobile-first, and human-friendly.
Startpage
Startpage delivers Google search results — without the tracking. It strips identifying info from your queries and doesn't log or store any data. It even lets you open results in a private proxy view to avoid hitting the website directly.
Brave Search
Brave Search is built by the makers of the Brave browser. It uses its **own independent index** (unlike DuckDuckGo, which relies on Bing) and doesn't track or profile users. It can be used inside or outside the Brave browser.
SearxNG
SearxNG is a powerful open-source meta-search engine you can self-host or use via public instances. It aggregates results from many engines (Google, Bing, Qwant, etc.) while stripping all tracking. The ultimate DIY option for search privacy.