Startpage search engine now lets you browse sites anonymously

[douglas9]

The private search engine, Startpage, has announced a new feature called Anonymous View that allows users to protect against tracking when they visit a website. The new feature is essentially like other proxy services but takes more action in order to stop browser and device fingerprinting by altering the JavaScript to protect privacy.

Discussing the new feature, Startpage CEO, Robert Beens, said:

“With this innovation, we make it easier for consumers to keep personal data more private than ever before. Anonymous View is easy to use and unique for any search engine. Unlike the incognito mode in your browser, Anonymous View really protects you. It combines searching in privacy with viewing in privacy.”

Users can take advantage of the new feature by performing a search and pressing the Anonymous View link next to each result. After the user hits this button, Startpage retrieves the page and shows it to the user while altering any JavaScript that could identify the user. The website will see that it has been visited by Startpage but the user will remain invisible to the website itself.

In its help pages, Startpage points out that Anonymous View offers even more protection than VPN services because VPNs can’t mitigate against browser and device fingerprinting. Those who want to make certain their privacy remains intact while they’re browsing online could double up Anonymous View with a VPN or some other privacy service like Tor.

n/t

https://www.neowin.net/news/startpage-search-engine-now-lets-you-browse-sites-anonymously

[Sherman A1]

1. How does this differ from

Duck Duck Go?

[douglas9]

2. How does StartPage compare with DuckDuckGo?

How does StartPage compare with DuckDuckGo?
StartPage.com and DuckDuckGo are both privacy-focused search engines, but there are some differences.

Startpage .com delivers Google search results in privacy. It does not log or share any user personal information, and Google doesn’t see users who are within its protection.

Startpage .com offers a free “Anonymous View” proxy with every search result so users can visit 3rd party websites privately, too. This helps prevent those annoying ads that follow users across the Internet.

Startpage .com is located in Europe, where privacy is protected by law. It is not subject to U.S. surveillance mandates like PRISM, and is not subject to US National Security Letters and gag orders.

DuckDuckGo is a U.S.-based search engine. It has a major partnership with Yahoo and delivers mainly Yahoo /Bing search results. I always recommend that if people want Yahoo search results they should visit DuckDuckGo instead of going to Yahoo directly. DuckDuckGo indicates it does not collect user information, while Yahoo clearly states that it does collect user information.

n/t

https://www.quora.com/How-does-StartPage-compare-with-DuckDuckGo

[Sherman A1]

4. Thank You for the information

and the link. Startpage does look very interesting.

[douglas9]

3. PRISM (surveillance program)

PRISM is a code name for a program under which the United States National Security Agency (NSA) collects internet communications from various U.S. internet companies.[1][2][3] The program is also known by the SIGAD US-984XN.[4][5] PRISM collects stored internet communications based on demands made to internet companies such as Google Inc. under Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to turn over any data that match court-approved search terms.[6] The NSA can use these PRISM requests to target communications that were encrypted when they traveled across the internet backbone, to focus on stored data that telecommunication filtering systems discarded earlier,[7][8] and to get data that is easier to handle, among other things.[9]

PRISM began in 2007 in the wake of the passage of the Protect America Act under the Bush Administration.[10][11] The program is operated under the supervision of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court, or FISC) pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).[12] Its existence was leaked six years later by NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who warned that the extent of mass data collection was far greater than the public knew and included what he characterized as "dangerous" and "criminal" activities.[13] The disclosures were published by The Guardian and The Washington Post on June 6, 2013. Subsequent documents have demonstrated a financial arrangement between the NSA's Special Source Operations division (SSO) and PRISM partners in the millions of dollars.[14]

Documents indicate that PRISM is "the number one source of raw intelligence used for NSA analytic reports", and it accounts for 91% of the NSA's internet traffic acquired under FISA section 702 authority."[15][16] The leaked information came to light one day after the revelation that the FISA Court had been ordering a subsidiary of telecommunications company Verizon Communications to turn over to the NSA logs tracking all of its customers' telephone calls.[17][18]

U.S. government officials have disputed some aspects of the Guardian and Washington Post stories and have defended the program by asserting it cannot be used on domestic targets without a warrant, that it has helped to prevent acts of terrorism, and that it receives independent oversight from the federal government's executive, judicial and legislative branches.[19][20] On June 19, 2013, U.S. President Barack Obama, during a visit to Germany, stated that the NSA's data gathering practices constitute "a circumscribed, narrow system directed at us being able to protect our people."[21]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_(surveillance_program)

[wasupaloopa]

5. How long until someone finds a way around this?

Do cops gets back door?