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Plant trees while you search the web

info.ecosia.org

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Re: Plant trees while you search the web

#11

Post by nvrspyx »

jk2faster wrote: post #3

I used ecosia for a period of few months, and stopped when I read this their privacy policy( https://info.ecosia.org/privacy#privacy-policy-section-7 ): > For example, when you do a search on Ecosia we forward the following information to our partner, Bing: IP address, user agent string, search term, and some settings like your country and language setting. So when a search is done, our IP address is send to Bing. I…

> We don’t create personal profiles of you based on your search history. We actually anonymize all searches within one week.

> Many web services collect user data in order to sell it without asking your permission. We don’t sell your data or your searches to advertising companies.

> We protect your searches from potential eavesdroppers with a securely encrypted connection. This way we make sure that nobody between you and us can see your searches.

If they’re just handing everything off to Bing wholesale, are these quotes either misleading or straight up lies? The first one I’m confused about with the “anonymize all searches within one week”. I don’t know what that means. The second seems like Bing could still do those things. And the last one would be a lie considering Bing can see it.

https://info.ecosia.org/privacy

Re: Plant trees while you search the web

#12

Post by hoschicz »

okmokmz wrote: post #10
jk2faster wrote: post #3

I used ecosia for a period of few months, and stopped when I read this their privacy policy( https://info.ecosia.org/privacy#privacy-policy-section-7 ): > For example, when you do a search on Ecosia we forward the following information to our partner, Bing: IP address, user agent string, search term, and some settings like your country and language setting. So when a search is done, our IP address is send to Bing. I…

I'm a strong advocate for digital privacy and opposed to the majority of data collection that occurs, but this comment is FUD. None of the info that you listed would be private if you used Bing normally, so if you're worried about them having that info you'd need to stop using search engines all together >So when a search is done, our IP address is send to Bing. Explain why you believe that's a negative? If you use B…

DuckDuckGo also uses Bing and they don't send the IP AFAIK

Re: Plant trees while you search the web

#13

Post by jk2faster »

dominikmauritz wrote: post #7
jk2faster wrote: post #3

I used ecosia for a period of few months, and stopped when I read this their privacy policy( https://info.ecosia.org/privacy#privacy-policy-section-7 ): > For example, when you do a search on Ecosia we forward the following information to our partner, Bing: IP address, user agent string, search term, and some settings like your country and language setting. So when a search is done, our IP address is send to Bing. I…

Which search engine are you using now instead of Ecosia? I'm much more comfortable to give some information to Microsoft then giving more information to Google so they can add it to my profile they already have.

I use DuckDuckGo and StartPage. StartPage uses Google's result without sharing user IP(https://support.startpage.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Artic...). I think ecosia can do something similar to that and I would be extremely glad to switch.

Re: Plant trees while you search the web

#14

Post by WA »

If you don't click on ads, or have an Adblocker installed, you generate no money for Ecosia. Thus, no trees get planted.

I think it's important to point this out, because in their marketing, they make it sound as if searching alone is enough. There's also this little counter in the upper right corner. 45 searches (on average) are required to plant a tree. Of course, only if you click on an ad.

You could even argue that you cause more environmental damage, because Ecosia is then just an unnecessary wrapper around Bing consuming energy (although it's probably not much).

Edit: Added second paragraph

Edit2: Source is their FAQ: https://ecosia.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/206019452-How-d...

Re: Plant trees while you search the web

#16

Post by Gys »

jk2faster wrote: post #3

I used ecosia for a period of few months, and stopped when I read this their privacy policy( https://info.ecosia.org/privacy#privacy-policy-section-7 ): > For example, when you do a search on Ecosia we forward the following information to our partner, Bing: IP address, user agent string, search term, and some settings like your country and language setting. So when a search is done, our IP address is send to Bing. I…

Their value proposition is planting trees and not privacy. They get a cut of the Bing ad revenues and a cut of that is invested in trees. Its a simple model. I learned about it 1-2 years ago and was expecting more of these ‘feel good’ labelled search engines.

Re: Plant trees while you search the web

#17

Post by ForHackernews »

RenRav wrote: post #6

7 million active users, 70 million trees... only 10 trees have been planted per user? I like the idea but I wonder on average just how many searches it takes for one tree to be planted.

...how much profit do you think a search engine makes per user?

Re: Plant trees while you search the web

#18

Post by jk2faster »

okmokmz wrote: post #10
jk2faster wrote: post #3

I used ecosia for a period of few months, and stopped when I read this their privacy policy( https://info.ecosia.org/privacy#privacy-policy-section-7 ): > For example, when you do a search on Ecosia we forward the following information to our partner, Bing: IP address, user agent string, search term, and some settings like your country and language setting. So when a search is done, our IP address is send to Bing. I…

I'm a strong advocate for digital privacy and opposed to the majority of data collection that occurs, but this comment is FUD. None of the info that you listed would be private if you used Bing normally, so if you're worried about them having that info you'd need to stop using search engines all together >So when a search is done, our IP address is send to Bing. Explain why you believe that's a negative? If you use B…

>Explain why you believe that's a negative? If you use Bing normally they would know your IP as well

I'm a bit uncomfortable in letting MicroSoft associate my IP with what I search daily. I use GitHub and Linkedin and most of the time I'm logged in to at least one of those services. Now I don't know for sure if Bing associates these searches to my account based on the IP(someone can shed some light on this?). StartPage and DuckDuckGo both use third party searches but they don't share user IP(https://support.startpage.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Artic...)

For other details like search term, country etc... I absolutely understand that they are needed to be send. I just quoted them as a sentence.

If it wasn't for the IP sharing, I would be a happy ecosia user :)

Re: Plant trees while you search the web

#19

Post by bluGill »

RenRav wrote: post #6

7 million active users, 70 million trees... only 10 trees have been planted per user? I like the idea but I wonder on average just how many searches it takes for one tree to be planted.

That might be a good deal or not. Search doesn't generate much profit per user (don't forget overhead). From that profit you need to buy trees - somewhere between $.10 to $50 each. Then you need land to plant them on, which can be expensive. Then you need to plant them and water them to ensure they grow - there is a lot of labor in this last one that needs to be paid somehow.

Of course you can cheat. Plant a tree that is dead, dig it up and replant it again and again. I doubt they are doing this, but it is something to watch for.

Re: Plant trees while you search the web

#20

Post by Hoasi »

WA wrote: post #14

If you don't click on ads, or have an Adblocker installed, you generate no money for Ecosia. Thus, no trees get planted. I think it's important to point this out, because in their marketing, they make it sound as if searching alone is enough. There's also this little counter in the upper right corner. 45 searches (on average) are required to plant a tree. Of course, only if you click on an ad. You could even argue th…

> I think it's important to point this out, because in their marketing, they make it sound as if searching alone is enough.

Thank you for pointing that out. There is no point using it for search if you are using ad-blocking software.

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