[tor-bugs] #4902 [Tor Browser]: Change the default search engine in TBB

Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki torproject-admin at torproject.org
Sat Jan 28 17:46:36 UTC 2012


#4902: Change the default search engine in TBB
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 Reporter:  phobos       |          Owner:  mikeperry
     Type:  enhancement  |         Status:  new      
 Priority:  normal       |      Milestone:           
Component:  Tor Browser  |        Version:           
 Keywords:               |         Parent:           
   Points:               |   Actualpoints:           
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Comment(by joebt):

 Duck Duck Go & Scroogle are both good in their own right, but EACH records
 / logs some info about visitors or searches (read their privacy policies).
 Scroogle's privacy policy isn't really a policy (that I find) - it's a
 graphic.

 Duck Duck Go's policy says:
 "Similarly, we may add an affiliate code to some eCommerce sites (e.g.
 Amazon & eBay) that results in small commissions being paid back to
 DuckDuckGo when you make purchases at those sites."
 Sounds odd.  Unless one uses a completely anonymous payment method, the
 site that DDG referred you to, knows who you are, once purchases are made.
 There's too little info in DDG's privacy policy about how the process of
 adding affiliate code & receiving payment works to fully understand it.
 It also raises the question, of the popular practice of search engines
 presenting what they want the user to see, first.  In this case, possibly
 results from sites with whom they have financial agreements.

 Ixquick & Start Page don't record any info (log searches, record IP
 addresses, etc) per their policies, last I read.  If one wants Google
 search results, use Start Page.  If you want results from other search
 engines, use Ixquick.  Both have https.  My experience is, different
 search results are often seen in Ixquick vs Google (or Google scrapers).

 I don't know about "default" search engine.  Would it be possible to
 actually prompt users to choose one, if Ixquick, Start Page, Duck Duck Go,
 Scroogle are all included in Aurora?

 If Google search is COMPLETELY left out of Aurora, help is available
 through Mozilla (Aurora) Help, how to find / add search engines.  Simple
 FAQ on Tor Project site could explain it.  Most Tor users already know how
 to add search engines.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/4902#comment:5>
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