ChooseToEncrypt - The Search Encrypt Blog by Search Encrypt

Search Encrypt and DuckDuckGo are both “private search engines”. Neither Search Encrypt nor DuckDuckGo tracks their users’ data. There is a key privacy issue that we found with DuckDuckGo that Search Encrypt solves.

We’ve discussed encryption before, and Search Encrypt is serious about it (encryption is in our name). By using end-to-end encryption your search term can’t be found by looking in your browser history or anywhere else.

Read More: How Does Search Encrypt Work?

Your Search Term Shows Up In Your URL

When you search on DuckDuckGo your search term is visible in the address bar of your browser. As a result, your search term shows up in your history. If the point of DuckDuckGo is to remain more private while searching the web, it doesn’t make sense to have your search terms visible to anyone with access to your computer (or your network).

Search Encrypt encrypts your search term right away and then does not display what you searched for in your browser or in your history. We keep your search term in encrypted form, and when you’ve finished searching your search term encryption key expires so that no one has access to what you searched for.

Your search URL on DuckDuckGo: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=your+search+term&t=h_&ia=web

Your search URL on Search Encrypt: https://www.searchencrypt.com/search?eq=a87bqOs2rgTwaGJUXynoh5UJhJnK20sr2B%2BcvCdzoyk%3D

You can see in the image above that using DuckDuckGo and Google leaves your search terms unencrypted and visible to anyone on your computer. Using Search Encrypt as an alternative gets rid of the need to clear your history. If you forget to clear your browsing history after searching on Search Encrypt, don’t worry – your search term is encrypted and will disappear after you’re done searching.

DuckDuckGo Shows Which Links You’ve Clicked On

Let’s say you’re searching for “cars” on DuckDuckGo. If you search and click on one of the search results you’re taken to that web page. The problem is, if you return to the search engine and perform the same or a similar search, any of the search results you’ve already visited are shown in a different color.

Notice that since we’ve visited cars.com before, the link appears in purple rather than blue. This may seem to be a convenient feature, but we see a privacy issue here. If someone else is using your computer, they can see which websites you’ve visited, and can determine what sort of searches you’ve been doing.

Using DuckDuckGo? Try Search Encrypt Instead.

If you’re using DuckDuckGo because you’re concerned about keeping your searches private, it probably isn’t the best choice. DuckDuckGo doesn’t track your search terms to create data profiles about you, but it doesn’t use the level of encryption that we do. Search Encrypt doesn’t track your data or store information about you and we keep your searches private.

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