this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2023
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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