News Ask.com introduces anonymous-ish searching

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by CardJoe, 12 Dec 2007.

  1. CardJoe

    CardJoe Freelance Journalist

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    CardJoe, 12 Dec 2007
    #1
  2. Delphium

    Delphium Eyefinity enabled

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    *waits for google to follow suite.
     
    Delphium, 12 Dec 2007
    #2
  3. RTT

    RTT #parp

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    I guess this will allow them to deny that people only use Ask to "Ask" for Google...? :D
     
    RTT, 12 Dec 2007
    #3
  4. quack

    quack Minimodder

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    Meh, I don't use Ask, and I don't actually mind Google saving my searches - Web History can be very handy if I need to refer back to something I've looked for.

    I just looked at my Web History and saw "Total Google searches: 10400". :eek:
     
    quack, 12 Dec 2007
    #4
  5. g3n3tiX

    g3n3tiX Minimodder

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    The problem with google is that if you leave your gmail account logged in, they tie all you searches to your email. And they know (through youtube) what you watch. and even if I logout, as I have a fixed ip adress, they still know.
    Only good thing is that we are 2 using the connection, so it may be either me or my brother doing those searches...^^
     
    g3n3tiX, 12 Dec 2007
    #5
  6. PrometheusCon

    PrometheusCon What's a Dremel?

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    They 'exhausted' their 'limited supply'. No free software anymore. FTL
     
    PrometheusCon, 12 Dec 2007
    #6
  7. quack

    quack Minimodder

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    ^ Wrong thread.
     
    quack, 12 Dec 2007
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  8. Buzzons

    Buzzons Minimodder

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    Tor. that is all
     
    Buzzons, 12 Dec 2007
    #8
  9. The_Beast

    The_Beast I like wood ಠ_ಠ

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    I don't like the fact that Google is tracking my searchs but I'll deal with it
     
    The_Beast, 12 Dec 2007
    #9
  10. Drewvt

    Drewvt What's a Dremel?

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    You don't have to wait. There is a lot you can do to increase your level of anonymity.

    Tor and other anonymous proxies are great, but they do slow things down a lot.

    The Firefox extension Trackmenot generates "noise" for all the big search engines; from a list of keywords (dynamic and changing, not fixed) it sends queries that mimic real query patterns but are meant to confuse the engine, so that the likes of Google have greater difficulty to build up a consistent profile about you.

    Another Firefox extension, Customizegoogle, contains optional privacy features that alter the Google cookie, again with the object of giving you a bit more anonymity.

    Dynamic IP addresses are indeed a good thing.

    None of these tools are very powerful, in their own right (that's the reason no search engine has tried to ban them - not yet). But when combined, they add several thin layers of anonymity. Like an onion of moderate privacy protection.
     
    Drewvt, 23 Dec 2007
    #10
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