I wrote my own search engine and using it. Not very difficult.
Duck Duck Go: Illusion of Privacy (2013)
71–80 of 128 posts
Re: Duck Duck Go: Illusion of Privacy (2013)
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
If I were a conspiracy theorist, I'd think there was something nefarious going on when I see articles like this. What if the intended result is not actually browbeating DDG but, rather, making people think that DDG is no better than Google in the privacy arena so why invest the energy in switching? If DDG isn't any better than maybe nobody is, so we might as well get used to the lack of privacy. Why switch if you're…
Conspiracy just means multiple people working together in secret toward some common goal. People do that all the time. Why just last week we had a closed door meeting at my company about how we might conspire to create more interest in the user community for our product. That's a conspiracy. Of course there are nutty conspiracy theories but there are nutty math and physics papers too. I feel like the blanket ridicule…
Sorry, my post was mostly satire/tongue-in-cheek.
If I were in a position of power, and I knew that DDG was more difficult to get user data from, then I'd absolutely find a way to have articles published like this. I imagine that disenfranchised people are less likely to seek alternatives and are more likely to resign themselves to being monitored. It also seems like it would be more politically acceptable as well as offering a layer for plausible deniability.
Were I in charge, and a nefarious actor, I'd be slipping stories like this into the media quite frequently. It's low cost, low risk, and probably has a good chance at success with at least some percentage of the population.
I'm not sure I have the lack of ethics required to really do such a job. I'd like to hope that I'd resign before I helped do those sorts of things.
Re: Duck Duck Go: Illusion of Privacy (2013)
#73Like Google, by default DDG tracks what results the user clicks on. URLs are prefixed with a DDG URL. Users HTTP requests are forwarded through DDG servers. By default, DDG "lite" does not set cookies or use Javascript. However, if the user wants to change the default "settings" (HTTP has no state so this is a fiction), then AFAICT she has to enable Javascript and accept cookies. Privacy conscious users do not want J…
DuckDuckGo staff here - just want to clarify a couple of points:
* We don't track result clicks. URLs are no longer prefixed with a DDG URL by default except for old browsers (although this is controllable in the settings: https://duckduckgo.com/settings#privacy ), but even if this is in effect we don't store which sites users visit. We started stripping search queries in referrer headers in 2010 and you're right, current web standards make it possible to do this without us having to redirect through our own servers.
* We have an alternative non-JavaScript URL - https://duckduckgo.com/html - which tries to offer a fuller search experience than the minimalist https://duckduckgo.com/lite
* Cookies are used to store settings but if users prefer to block them, preferences can still be "saved" by using URL parameters, listed here: https://duckduckgo.com/params These can be used either to form a local bookmark/start page or anonymously in the cloud with a password only (no username or other data).
> But one has to wonder why, if privacy is a goal, DDG is collecting it to begin with.
I'm not sure which data this is referring to but we don't collect or share personal information. There's more on this in our privacy policy: https://duckduckgo.com/privacy
Re: Duck Duck Go: Illusion of Privacy (2013)
#74The issues brought up in this post apply to every single service operating online, and it only applies to DuckDuckGo in any special way because of their increasing size. This includes "client" encrypted webmail and similar applications: they can be forced to deliver malicious JS that gives up your keys, or the JS client delivery can be MitM'ed. Many people seeking enhanced privacy from DuckDuckGo are seeking privacy…
DDG has https://DuckDuckGo.com/lite For non js. There are of course other vectors and many not even search engine dependent.
Thanks for that. We also have https://duckduckgo.com/html
(Disclaimer: DDG staff)
Re: Duck Duck Go: Illusion of Privacy (2013)
#75I think DuckDuckGo is unfairly singled out here. They do more than most companies to protect privacy, and most of their users are specifically trying to deprive Google of more feed for its data silo. Of course they can't protect you from the NSA. Extremely few actors can. If your threat model includes actors within the US Federal Government (especially the intelligence community), run. Yesterday. That's a statement a…
I don't get why Google is always singled out either. When was the last time Google leaked your data. As you said, very few actors can protect your data from the NSA, so the next best thing is to have it protected from hackers and leaks. Every other company out there keeps on getting hit left and right, but for their size, Google is only of the only company who has never messed up with user data, and you know they are…
Google has a vast number of security researchers hired. In terms of security, there's probably no other company that can do a better job.
That Google has your search or email data and that they can always sell it, or that the NSA has a direct link to them, those are separate discussions.
Re: Duck Duck Go: Illusion of Privacy (2013)
#76Duck Duck Go is a company that I want to succeed, as they are clearly making a stand on user privacy.
However it never made sense to me why people would use those DDG bangs.
I mean privacy is the main selling point, so why in the world would you send the searches you make on other websites to DDG, when the browser is perfectly capable of being configured for "search keywords".
In Firefox, go to amazon.com (or any website you want), right click on their search bar and select "Add a Keyword for this search...". Add "!a" or whatever you want. There, you've got your own bangs.
Re: Duck Duck Go: Illusion of Privacy (2013)
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
Solving the problem with technology is 1000000 times easier than solving it from the "social" side.
Is it? For who? Do you think people's data would be more secure at the border if - You kernal-hacked iOS so that it booted into a vanilla account upon entry of a certain passcode, and encouraged people to install your hack from GitHub, potentially borking their phones - People couldn't be compelled (or face being denied entry) to allow search of their electronic devices ? What about trying to do everything via a VPN…
Let's say you have your data secured with Ultimate Encryption Method. A couple of thugs appear at your door and mention that if you don't un-encrypt that data, they will send these very compromising photographs of you to very public places.
Ultimate Encryption Method has just been trivially bypassed.
Re: Duck Duck Go: Illusion of Privacy (2013)
#78I think DuckDuckGo is unfairly singled out here. They do more than most companies to protect privacy, and most of their users are specifically trying to deprive Google of more feed for its data silo. Of course they can't protect you from the NSA. Extremely few actors can. If your threat model includes actors within the US Federal Government (especially the intelligence community), run. Yesterday. That's a statement a…
I don't get why Google is always singled out either. When was the last time Google leaked your data. As you said, very few actors can protect your data from the NSA, so the next best thing is to have it protected from hackers and leaks. Every other company out there keeps on getting hit left and right, but for their size, Google is only of the only company who has never messed up with user data, and you know they are…
As others have noted, Google gets singled out because they collect so much information.
It's true, however, that they don't want to share it. It may even be true that they specifically don't want the NSA etc to steal it from them. And indeed, I recall an unofficial Google response to Snowden's leaks:
> Fuck these guys.
> I've spent the last ten years of my life trying to keep Google's users safe and secure from the many diverse threats Google faces… But after spending all that time helping in my tiny way to protect Google -- one of the greatest things to arise from the internet -- seeing this, well, it's just a little like coming home from War with Sauron, destroying the One Ring, only to discover the NSA is on the front porch of the Shire chopping down the Party Tree and outsourcing all the hobbit farmers with half-orcs and whips.
https://www.theverge.com/2013/11/6/5072924/google-engineers-...
So anyway, DDG arguably gives users some privacy from Google. But neither has a better claim to providing privacy from the NSA etc. Indeed, maybe it's Google that does, given their greater resources.
If you want more than that, use some mix of VPNs and Tor. Or if you're not feeling lucky, stay off the Internet ;)
Re: Duck Duck Go: Illusion of Privacy (2013)
#79I use Duckduckgo because I don't like monocultures.
Re: Duck Duck Go: Illusion of Privacy (2013)
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
Conspiracy just means multiple people working together in secret toward some common goal. People do that all the time. Why just last week we had a closed door meeting at my company about how we might conspire to create more interest in the user community for our product. That's a conspiracy. Of course there are nutty conspiracy theories but there are nutty math and physics papers too. I feel like the blanket ridicule…
Sorry, my post was mostly satire/tongue-in-cheek. If I were in a position of power, and I knew that DDG was more difficult to get user data from, then I'd absolutely find a way to have articles published like this. I imagine that disenfranchised people are less likely to seek alternatives and are more likely to resign themselves to being monitored. It also seems like it would be more politically acceptable as well as…
If you were in that position of power and had this article published you might not be doing such a great job. Streisand effect maybe?
Since this article I have, which was in the making for some time already, switched from Chrome to Firefox with duckduckgo as my main search engine. Added Disconnect and Ublock origin as well. And yes I realize it doesn't help against NSA tracking of a certian magnitude.