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It is google, via a proxy. The bottom of the page has explanations, and this page.

From their page:

StartPage has the industry's leading Privacy Policy:
No recording of users' IP addresses.
No identifying cookies.
No collection of personal data.
No sharing personal data with third parties.
Offering secure, encrypted connections (HTTPS/SSL)
And a free proxy service that allows anonymous browsing of websites.

try ixquick's startpage

Foreigners interfering in elections isn't an 'act of war' though, otherwise Mexico would have declared war on the US each time a Mexican citizen illegally voted in a US election.

The individual foreigner voting is breaking US law, but the country they come from isn't declaring war on the US.

And before you say 'Non citizens voting doesn't happen, you racist!' yeah, it does

https://empowertexans.com/arou...

While the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) requires local election officials to maintain accurate voter rolls, it also made it easier for non-citizens to get on the rolls by mandating that states offer voter registration by mail and at driver's license offices. Registering to vote is now an honor system, with no documentation required and no one verifying citizenship -- applicants merely check a box affirming they're U.S. citizens.

Birdwell asked Ingram what mechanisms the Secretary of State or county voter registration officials have to ensure that non-citizens aren't registering to vote. "Only the jury summons," Ingram responded. State law requires jury clerks to report to elections officials all individuals who claim an exemption to jury duty because they are not citizens.

"The Secretary of State's office's only way to ensure non-citizens aren't voting is the random sampling of a jury duty summons?" Birdwell asked.

"That is correct," Ingram replied.

If a non-citizen never gets summoned to jury duty or doesn't respond to a summons, Birdwell asked, "you have no mechanism to correct that wrong?"

"That's right," Ingram confirmed.

"We have no active method [to ensure non-citizens aren't registering to vote]. We depend on the self-reporting of the individual," Birdwell concluded. "That is a significant problem."

...

Texas Scorecard reported on those findings last month. A brief survey of four Texas counties found that in just the past two years, 165 unlawfully registered non-citizens were removed from those counties' voter rolls -- but only after they self-identified as non-citizens in the process of recusing themselves from jury duty. Those non-citizens cast 100 illegal votes.

Worse, the AG's investigators found that "the process for removing ineligible voters who self-report as non-citizens at jury duty is not being followed correctly, or even at all, in various counties."

Curious is it not how when a few Russians spend a few hundred thousand dollars in an election where the total spending was $6.5 billion that means Russia committed an 'act of war' against the US and anyone who disagrees is a traitor. When only 834,000 non citizens vote in a US election, that's not enough to explain Hillary's popular vote lead so we should ignore it. And that demanding people provide proof of citizenship before they buy Facebook ads is something the US must do to protect the integrity of its elections but trying to prevent hundreds of thousands of non citizens voting is racist.

Try https://www.ixquick.com/ ...

OK, I'm thinking of a football player, but all I see is a tub of lard.

You can use their Start Page Search if you want Google results.

For those that don't know: ixquick.eu if you DON'T want Google results.
ixquick.com or startpage.com if you DO want Google results.

Of course none of the above will track you.

And none of them were from me.

The difference between startpage.com, ixquick.com and ixquick.eu is that SP.com, IQ.com use Google, IQ.eu does not.

And none of them were from me.

The difference between startpage.com, ixquick.com and ixquick.eu is that SP.com, IQ.com use Google, IQ.eu does not.

https://www.ixquick.com/

try: https://www.ixquick.com/

"Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu .. has published a new study suggesting that Google's new method of putting answers to simple search queries at the top of the results page is anticompetitive and harmful to consumers."

Have you considered using another search engine, perhaps one of ixquick.com or yandex.com. Oh wait, they don't come as default on Windows and Windows sets it back to Bing on every update.

adblock and noscript take much of that out, and what they miss, greasemonkey userscripts to the rescue. don't forget a referrer blocker/modifier browser addon too....

or you can just use ddg, sp, or ix instead of bing, yahoo, or google web search.

ixquick.com
yandex.com
torproject.org

Good Gods, man, the skies are falling because there's absolutely nothing except THE Google!

https://eu.ixquick.com is the search engine you want.

See also,

https://ixquick.com

Or you could use https://www.ixquick.com/ which, unlike Duck Duck Go, has the inherent benefit of not being hosted by an American company (with all the TLA associations).

There's also DuckDuckGo.com. Despite the name, it's actually quite decent, and the "related" non-boolean search lands on top.

The difference is, DuckDuckGo is headquartered in Paoli, Pennsylvania. You have to dig through their site a while to find that; try the Hiring section. That means they are subject to US fed/state data retention laws and government requests.

Ixquick is headquartered in The Netherlands and (understandably) boasts about not having provided one byte of data to the US government. They've won EU awards because those governments actually recognize the value of privacy. Please see this page for a reference.

Don't get me wrong, DuckDuckGo sounds good. Sounds like they certainly don't actively track you. But I don't see them bragging that they "keep no data to hand over in the first place" and I would be truly surprised if that is entirely an option for them. Certainly they can't tell the US government to piss up a flagpole if and when fishing expeditions come in.

I've been using bing for years mostly because I didn't want there to be only one search engine. Try them out. They have boolean searches. I know... the evil microsoft... but the search engine is good.

I've been using Startpage for years now. They perform a Google search on your behalf while guarding your privacy. They don't even log your IP address. They're the same company that runs Ixquick.com if you want a truly independent search engine to go with the privacy features (their own indexer, no dependency on Google). Personally I enjoy the idea of getting Google results without the Google tracking for which I never signed an agreement.

Google

Yandex

ixquick Gerry Hutch

Actually, you bring up a good point. Sites that sell out their visitors to Google really should be shunned. As a web developer who actually cares about privacy, I refuse to use any google service (analyitcs, JS library, fonts, etc.) because I understand how important this is.

Additionally, I think the combination of NoScript, AdBlock and Ghostery, in addition to using Ixquick for search works pretty well. I also clear cache/cookies frequently (ctrl-shift-del). A shame I have to jump through all these hoops, but it is possible.

You could learn a bit of tolerance and use a search engine that doesn't try to profile you like https://ixquick.com./

Rosie

Or just use a search engine that does not track you. Or if you prefer Google search algorithms, the same folks have you covered.

https://ixquick.com/do/search?language=english&cat=web&query=us+government+oil+subsidies [ixquick.com]

http://priceofoil.org/fossil-fuel-subsidies/international/ [priceofoil.org]

Well I drive an electric car and I don't want my tax dollars subsidizing your gasoline!

https://ixquick.com/do/search?language=english&cat=web&query=us+government+oil+subsidies

Why not? Every other type of energy gets subsidies, especially when they are starting out. And while most of us just shake our head at the massive profits oil companies make year after year they continue to be subsidized by our government - and I'm sure the good ol' GOP boys and gals wouldn't have it any other way.

But don't take my word for it, Ixquick it. Here, I got you started.

https://ixquick.com/do/search?language=english&cat=web&query=us+government+oil+subsidies

http://priceofoil.org/fossil-fuel-subsidies/international/

uh - think again.

http://torrentfreak.com/six-strikes-anti-piracy-scheme-starts-monday-130223/

Time Warner Cable will temporarily interrupt people's ability to browse the Internet.

https://ixquick.com/do/search?q=host%3Atorrentfreak.com+six+strikes+piracy&lui=english

There is https://www.ixquick.com/ which hopefully is a safer choice privacy wise. No, I'm not sure it really is but yes, I'm sure now Google is not.
I've been a Google user and admirer since they entered the net, one of the first to switch to the white page from altavista.
In a strange way it hurts me to turn away from them.
Googledrive (or grive, since Google never delivered on the Linux client) was the first to go since the file hosting / sharing works easy with ownCloud and it didn't involve much reconfig to switch to it.
Moving my calendars and contacts from Google to owncloud was less easy and I spend the better part of the weekend with it until I was ready to stage the big calendar and contacts massacer today.

Just a symbolic action, I know, my data are saved and kept in the NSA dungeon. No soul in Mountain View, California will miss me. Just some mindshare they've lost. And like I did when I turned from altavista, I'll be talking about this among my friends, some may follow.

At least Ixquick is not a U.S. company: https://ixquick.com/eng/prism-program-revealed.html

While their searches aren't as fast as Google's, I have found them to be pretty good quality-wise.

So I've switched to Duck Duck go, because the EFF said it was ok (and I'll change again when a better non-US alternative comes along),

https://startpage.com/ is an anonymizing front-end for Google search, based in the Netherlands.
Details here: https://startpage.com/eng/prism-program-exposed.html

https://www.ixquick.com/ is an independent search engine, apparently by the same company in the Netherlands.

I started using startpage.com yesterday. So far so good, although I'm not used to seeing ads in my search results.

Thank you so much for the links.

This is my present browser setup to nullify tracking. It's all free and available via Tools > Add-ons

FIREFOX plus these addons

Ghostery
Adblock Plus
Anonymox
Better Privacy
HTTPS-Everywhere
Self-Destructing Cookies

They all play well together.

There is also Tails: https://tails.boum.org/

So I've switched to Duck Duck go, because the EFF said it was ok (and I'll change again when a better non-US alternative comes along),

https://startpage.com/ is an anonymizing front-end for Google search, based in the Netherlands.
Details here: https://startpage.com/eng/prism-program-exposed.html

https://www.ixquick.com/ is an independent search engine, apparently by the same company in the Netherlands.

I started using startpage.com yesterday. So far so good, although I'm not used to seeing ads in my search results.

EFF Action: Demand Answers Now! [Direct e-mail form to contact POTUS and your senators+House rep]:
https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=9260
https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9297 [Form for non-US citizens; directed at implicated corporations]

The links below are to resources of the personal-privacy type, as opposed to the those intended to help bring about change:

EFF Surveillance Self-Defense Project [Guide to surveillance-avoidance tools and techniques for individuals]:
https://ssd.eff.org/

EFF's HTTPS Everywhere [Chrome/FF plug-in enforces HTTPS on compatible sites using rule-list (hundreds included)]:
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere

https-finder: Plug-in for HTTPS Everywhere users; auto-detects sites' HTTPS support and adds them to rule-list:
https://code.google.com/p/https-finder/

Privacy-oriented search engines:
https://duckduckgo.com/ [Only search engine on EFF's Organizational Member list]
https://ixquick.com/ [Provides HTTPS proxy through which search results may be accessed]

Privacy/security-oriented free web-mail providers:
https://www.safe-mail.net/
https://www.hushmail.com/

...and in the meantime become more security conscious and learn the ways of more secure technologies, and perhaps more secure and fedorated social networking platforms such as Diaspora*, Friendica etc... Duckduckgo for search (although who REALLY knows if these guys are honest). Any more tips for the SaaS (Spying as a Service) refugee?

There's also Ixquick for another search engine. There are browser add-ons like TrackMeNot to muddy the data well (available for Foxfire and Chrome[ium]. And Ghostery to break the trackers. OptimizeGoogle to mess with the google cookies. You can get a VPN service for under US$10/month (google a bit, consider their logging practices, location, cost, speed). Telephones are a problem, only solution is to use "burner" phones (prepay phones purchased and refilled with cash). Encrypt your email. Now, if the NSA wants you badly enough, probably none of these is adequate, but they all make it harder. And if enough people do these things, that makes it harder yet.

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[...] I guess I'm going to have to start using crappy duck duck go [...]

Compare DuckDuckGo's privacy policy to those of other popular search engines and tell me which are "crappy." Also, if you don't like DuckDuckGo, you might want to try Ixquick. It too is privacy-oriented, and also features a secure web-proxy through which you can view sites returned via searches.

(My apologies if your post was meant in jest; either way I hope I've helped at least one person pick a search engine that isn't tantamount to an NSA honeypot.)

A (somewhat bigoted, IMO,) sibling post suggested Yandex — while I can see the logic in that suggestion, Yandex does not support SSL/TLS, and appears to have no privacy policy at all — (though I admit I'm unsure of the value or implications of having no privacy policy are in regards to a site situated in nation that's not cozy with the United States).

If anyone's aware of any decent search engines/web-mail providers that support SSL/TLS and are located in any nation(s) that don't easily cave to US demands, I'd appreciate hearing about them. I found Safe-Mail.net recently, which has good security features, lacks Hushmail's three-week account-dump timeout and reports of caving to law enforcement, but is located in (close US-ally) Israel.

StartPage

(Also known as Ixquick) is good, as is DuckDuckGo, for those who value privacy.

I have been using https://www.ixquick.com/ for a long time with decent result (decent in the meaning that I seldom compare with google to see if here are some results missing).

[O]f the three search engines only Google will actually use SSL, even if you go to http://google.com/ the form is submitted over https. The other two not only won't do that, they will *downgrade* you to http even if you explicitly navigate to https://yahoo.com/ or https://bing.com/. Iranians can easily use DPI to spy on Yahoo and Bing users, only Google presents a problem. So I'm not surprised Bing didn't get blocked, it's not clear to me why Yahoo did.

https://duckduckgo.com/ and https://ixquick.com/ both support SSL/TLS. The latter allows viewing searched content through their embedded HTTPS proxy service.

ixquick is also excellent, and very privacy minded.

Any other options available?

Well, if search-privacy is a priority, then: https://www.ixquick.com/

Strat

Actually, I have noticed that Google Reader will be able to pull some kind of feed regardless of if the requested site has RSS or not.

Oddly (I know), I try to avoid Google. I don't hate them, but see no need for them. I prefer ixquick.

Other services which have had an external audit, based on the same criteria as the FTC-commissioned audit of Google, of their privacy practices which has been publicly released with no redactions? And, if not, how are they relevant to the immediate story?

How about a service which doesn't collect the data in the first place, so that an audit is redundant?

https://www.ixquick.com/eng/press/ixquick-privacy-gets-better.html

If that's not relevant and on-topic then not much is.

Strat

...We can safely assume the blacked-out information would hurt both the government and Google to varying degrees. So now what to do about it?

IMHO, the most effective personal strategy is to simply avoid using Google search and associated services. There ARE other services out there.

https://www.ixquick.com/

For one example of a free service that emphasizes privacy and anonymity.

Deprive both Google and the government of the very data they are collecting that gives them more power. Well, at least until they make it illegal to not reveal data.

Strat

I have just tried startpage and it is very good. It seems to be run by ixquick, which seems good too

Actually, if you record them, you're likely to be charged with a felony in many places. Latest example.

Ixquick has sponsored links? Either I'm totally oblivious or it's adblock, but I have never seen a sponsored search result on Ixquick. Not sure what their business model is though, that could be it.

Ixquick doesn't pass your IP address or any info to any other sites. As far as google is concerned, Ixquick is requesting the search. Until everyone stops using google, google will always have people to track - I don't think they're going away soon so I'm having a hard time understanding your concern. Check it:
https://ixquick.com/eng/protect-privacy.html

(although I just now see their own ad: "NEW! Ixquick now offers anonymous Google results on its sister website Startpage.com." and I've never had a very high opinion of Startpage as far as privacy goes... )

Ixquick (basically an aggregator) doesn't track for store any user data, and they offer encrypted searches via https.
https://ixquick.com/
Been using it for a couple of years now, haven't looked back.

1. Use IxQuick for search.
2. Use it through TOR.
3. Profit.

How, exactly, does one do search in a mobile app, other than googling it?

On both my phone and computers, I use https://ixquick.com/ or https://duckduckgo.com/; two search providers that seem to actually give a shit about users' privacy.

Try ixquick. I think you'll like it much better than DuckDuckGo. Also startpage is pretty good and uses Google to return results.

https://ixquick.com/ I've been using this search engine for probably 2 years or so and it returns results as good as any other.