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My 7 year old sister: Why do you always use the duck? Go on google.

Me: Because Google spies on you.

Sister: How??

Me: *too tired to explain* by magic. Whatever you go on, they'll know.

Sister: *shocked expression* WHAT? *proceeds to ask a million questions.*

Sister: What do I do now?

Me: Use the duck (she calls ddg "the duck.")

Then a few hours later, I saw her playing Y8 on DuckDuckGo. I'm so proud of her. :)

Now if only I can convince my 15 year old little brother to do the same thing. He doesn't seem to care at all.

Comments
  • 44
    He' gotta have faith in the duck
  • 37
    @Floydian this

    https://github.com/duckduckgo

    I am not a user of ddg. But one can go through their code and see all the internals to see how the search engine works and if it keeps data.

    They don't, they don't log shit from user searches
  • 84
    Simple, just tell him, that google logs all his porn searches. Trust me, a 15 year old boy will be afraid of that ;)
  • 8
    I prefer ddg because of its superior functionality, and the privacy bit is just gravy.
  • 33
    @AleCx04 false security, not only because you can't verify what actually runs on their servers, nor if there's some hidden mass abusable bug - hidden in plain sight.
  • 17
    @Floydian I'd take the odds of the duck over those of google anyday
  • 9
    @JoshBent I agree but that's better than Google who admits to tracking you
  • 4
    @NULLmaster never said it isn't - I am using it for roughly a year myself too.
  • 13
    Using google doesnt really bother me
  • 9
    @AleCx04 lazy to check if changed but only part of ddg is open, their core is proprietary.
  • 5
    @MrJimmy most queries work well for me in ddg. If i get to one that doesn‘t work that well i just use the bang:
    !g <query>
    So it uses google
  • 12
    I'll just drop this here: searx.linux.pizza :) that's the one I've started to use, awaiting my own searx deployment someday. @Linux' servers have proven quite reliable already, as my Raspberry Pi has chosen them as update servers many times.. and besides, he's quite a good sysadmin of which I think the searx site is a personal one (so not really any corporate gains off of spying on it).. so yeah :)
  • 6
    @MrJimmy

    Bangs alone make it absolutely indispensable. Google doesn't come close.
  • 5
    @LuPaw

    Not to mention the fact that omissions and explicit includes are no longer supported by Google, presumably to drive lucrative SEO traffic.
  • 14
    @Condor

    Thanks for the kind words :) Glad to see that someone is using it actually! (I dont know how many does because I dont keep logs)
  • 3
    @Linux That's great to hear! I'd expected at least some sort of webserver logs, but considering that there's not even a JS requirement (which is even required in searx.me!) it looks like quite a bit of privacy-minded thought has gone into this searx deployment! I really appreciate this ^^ thanks a lot!
  • 2
    In many search systems I don't like font of search results.
  • 2
    Exactly what I want
  • 4
    I literally said the exact same thing to my grandparents, and magically, they started using DDG. They also call it, the duck.
  • 3
    Chance that Google spies on you: 1
    Chance that DuckDuckGo spies on you: <1
    That's an improvement. And if you consider that you can never be sure to be not spied on unless you make a massive amount of effort, DuckDuckGo is at least better than Google.

    Oh, and I really like the features DDG offers. That alone is totally worth not using Google or most of the other search engines.
  • 2
    Can someone refer me to the above mentioned DDG Y8 game? I tried Ducking around but couldn't find it (or my brain has given up for the day). I am having an incredibly unproductive day at work so I don't mind spending some time on that game.
  • 3
    @vaibs
    Sorry, I worded it weirdly. I meant she was searching for Y8 on the Duck.

    https://www.y8.com/
  • 1
    @Michelle Heh! Thanks! I saw that link but I assumed DDG probably have their own version of it lol
  • 3
    @Wack Copy his history, filter out google searches, send it ti him and say you got it from google
  • 4
    @Condor @linux the link doesn't default to https
  • 2
    @calmyourtities good point. That really needs to be fixed.
  • 2
  • 3
    @Linux Perhaps consider adding an automatic HTTP redirect to the SSL version :)
  • 4
    @Condor @calmyourtities

    Your browser does not use HSTS preload list?
    I'll fix the redirect :)
  • 3
    @Linux I guess it does.. I mean Facebook and Google use it too, and there the redirect goes just fine. FWIW, I've checked it using Firefox 61.0.2 on Android 9.
  • 3
    @Condor

    Oooh, linux.pizza is still pending the HSTS preload list. My other instance is on the HSTS preload list.

    I'll fix that asap
  • 1
  • 1
  • 4
    @calmyourtities

    Well, I had a catastrophic failure due to a poweroutage and a UPS that was on cleaning.

    I am currently prioritizing the mirror, searx will appear this weekend.
  • 4
    @calmyourtities

    It is up and running again. I've moved it to a different environment.
  • 1
    @andros705 not at all my dude. A lot of their internal code seems to be in the github repo. Can't prove it at all really. I don't even use duck duck go at all actually.
  • 2
    Can not see why people would prefer DuckDuckGo. I tried it for about two weeks and their quality is just too bad comparing to Google.

    If privacy is your concern then just don't use their browser and delete cookie after every session (which btw could be done automatically by firefox)
  • 2
    I agree that if you're not using bangs, there's little reason to use DDG. But given the existence of bangs, I can't see a reasonable case for using anything else.
  • 3
    @AI-Overlord
    DDG gives you unbiased search results and it blocks Google Trackers.

    Oh, and you can customize it. :P
  • 1
    @Michelle how could unbiased searchs be so bad. First of all I do not use my Gmail Account at all except for getting apps, so Google's trackings shall not be so effective, right? (If even if can bypass Ghostery and private session). What else makes DDG better than Google when all privacy factors are eliminated?
  • 1
    @AI-Overlord
    "How could unbiased searches be so bad."

    Are you being serious right now? I won't even answer that. I'll wait until you realize why it's bad.

    You've been completely brainwashed by Google.
  • 1
    @Michelle I understand your point of political view. However I think if somebody is serious about politic he/she would not get his/her source of news from Facebook or Google anyways. And yes, the mass could still be an easy target for propaganda as the Cambridge Analytic scandal shows us, but should not we also critize the mass, which falls too easily for fake news instead of questioning things, too? Or better: we vote for politicians who actually could deal with technology and keep Google in control as well as solve the problem from its root instead of just abonding the whole concept? (See how hilariously the congress of the US confronts with Mark Zuckerberg).

    Too much power could easily corrupts any one and I don't think Duck Duck Go could be an exception since the coorperation still relies somehow on profit.

    Sorry for bad englisch.
  • 2
    @AI-Overlord social media is still a good source for news. If you follow a few different newspapers (plus if you feel like a few politicians) if you ask me. Sure, you'll always have to remind yourself that it isn't purely neutral, but news nevertheless. I however wouldn't say it should be your only news source!
  • 2
    So what if Google tracks you? I'd rather have tailored ads and search results, than random things that I wouldn't be interested in.
  • 1
    @AL1L
    "So what if google tracks you?"

    Think about what you just said. That sentence is terrifying. It's like saying, "So what if you chopped off my head?"
  • 1
    @Michelle all I'm saying is that I don't care about being tracked, because it never affects me in a negative way.

    On the other hand, getting my head chopped off on the other hand provides many negative effects.
  • 5
    @AL1L yet. Sites like Amazon already set prices based on your profile sometimes. Now think a few years ahead, google knows when you're sick and prices for medicine could go up and so on. Sure it's an abstract example but don't tell me, it's never gona happen. Just because it doesn't affect you now in a negative way, doesn't mean, it never will.
  • 4
    @Wack Airplane agencies do it already as well apparently, as well as train companies. And both couple it with overallocation (which isn't a bad thing per se, but God bless the customers when there's an OOM kill on available seats!)… So yeah. Maximizing profit margins, that's what it's all about. And it's fucking vile.
  • 1
    @Wack @Condor clear your cookies and use a VPN. Then stop complaining, it's their business not yours.

    Are you going to complain that super markets change their prices based on the location? They raise prices so they can make a profit, stop acting like they're here to help you.
  • 4
    @AL1L price should be determined by nothing but supply (cost to get the source materials, manufacture, to get it there, etc) and demand (whether people actually need it). And then you can slap a profit margin on there. That's what business is supposed to be like.

    Also "stop complaining (about abuse of technology)". Because that's CLEARLY what devRANT is all about.
  • 1
    @Condor Yeah, that is what devRant is about, but it gets really annoying when everyone is ranting about the same thing over and over.

    Also sometimes prices are lowers in areas that are poor so that they can afford it, but then raised in areas that are wealthy so they can actually make a [good] proffit.
  • 5
    @AL1L well, if everyone's ranting about it, there has to be a problem with it, right? That said, I don't think that changing the prices in certain areas or countries is a problem. Wealth, currency, import tax, tax in general, salaries for employees, those things aren't the same everywhere, so of course that's calculated into the product/service price as well.

    The problem however isn't that. It's changing the price by customer, willingness to pay a premium, etc etc. That's something that I'd be very uncomfortable with, because that involves significant tracking. And why should I pay more or less than someone else? Take devRant's supporter program for example. Should the price for that change per user for any reason other than currency or tax differences?
  • 3
    The last time it tried ddg, it only produced unusable results so that is why I do not use ddg.
  • 1
    Trust all ducks, cape or no cape!
  • 0
    So you actually think Duckduckgo does not track your online activities?
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