this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2023
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Technology
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I've had a private SearXNG instance for about a year. Never going back, if you want no ads and to not be tracked by your searches it's the way to go. I host it on a cloud server to further remove myself from being tracked via IP. It's pretty easy to spin one up and I highly recommend it.
Here's what my page looks like when I search
But is a private instance really that private? Because all your searches must be bundled together and perhaps some of those searches include personal data. I am asking as it is something I have genuinely thought about for some time
Every time it makes a query to one of the selected search engines it does it as a "new user" so there's no history for it to track.
edit: that's also why I host it on a cloud server, just to add that extra layer. Not to say someone determined couldn't figure out who I am but it stops the passive layers of trying to track.
Your server might query search engines with a clean slate, but the search engine has its own history for your cloud server's IP address. Cookies aren't the only thing big tech use to track users.
or do you use multiple IP addresses?
I have it set to dynamic IP so it changes
I actually just set up my very own SearXNG instance and oh my god it easily smokes every search engine I've used in the past decade or so out of the water. And it doesn't even need much in terms of resources!! I'm spending $6/mo on Digital Cloud's cheapest option, and it all just works flawlessly!
Thanks for the shoutout!
How do you feel about paid search like Kagi? I’ve been using it and think it’s great. No tracking, apparently.
I haven't even heard of it so I don't have an opinion on it. If it works for you then great! Technically my private searxng is a paid service since I host it in the cloud but it does have the option to be free if you host it locally.
I'll also add, with a private instance of searxng you know for a fact nothing is getting saved.
Great qualities, I'll give it a try thank you!
I pay $5 a month to host my own instance of SearXNG on a 1GB Linode server. I am in full control of the server and the source code running it since it's completely open software. I don't have to trust that Kagi is being honest and fear that one day it comes out that they did something stupid like leak my billing address or sell my data through some convoluted legalese change to their terms of service.
Additionally I get access to search results from Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo, and any other provider I want, all without having anything about me or my activity tied to some kind of centralized identity/payment.
I like the sound of it! Kagi is working well for me, but will consider trying this out very soon.