Yes, I know it’s a press release, but the company deserves to toot its own horn for its privacy-centric approach to search:
As of today, Ixquick, the “world’s most private search engine,” automatically encrypts ALL searches. Ixquick http://www.ixquick.com was the first search engine to offer SSL encryption in 2009, and today it again breaks new ground by making SSL encryption the default.
SSL encryption, also known as secure socket layer encryption, is widely praised by security experts as the most secure way to surf the web. Ixquick’s encryption prevents eavesdropping by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who may become legally required to store massive amounts of personal information on you.
“Snooping ISP’s or hackers could become an enormous, Orwellian privacy threat,” says Robert E.G. Beens, CEO of Ixquick. “That’s why we’ve decided to change our websites’ default to 100% SSL encryption, to further protect the privacy of our users’ Internet searches.”
All visitors to Ixquick.com and its sister search engine Startpage.com http://www.startpage.com will benefit from the new encryption service, which will automatically redirect them to the secure website. Users will see the letters “HTTPS” in the URL bar, indicating that all data will be transmitted in encrypted form. Any hacker or eavesdropper who accesses the connection will simply see gobbledygook.
Other search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing have begun to follow Ixquick’s lead by offering SSL encryption. However, the privacy benefits of using SSL with other major search engines may be misleading, since those search engines themselves record users’ IP address and store extensive records of their searches.
“When you use Ixquick,com or Startpage.com, your IP address is not recorded, your visit is not logged, and no tracking cookies are placed on your browser,” explains Beens. “In fact, We do not record any information about our users. Nothing. Nada. Zilch”.
Ixquick combines results from many leading search engines, where Startpage obtains only Google’s search results and serves them to you in total privacy. No records of your visit are made.
Automatic SSL encryption is just the latest addition to the growing family of privacy features which combine to make Ixquick the world’s most private search engine.
About Ixquick “The World’s Most Private Search Engine”
Ixquick is an award-winning search engine that is third-party certified and fully anonymous. It is the only search engine to offer a free proxy service, and the first to offer SSL encryption. Ixquick has earned the coveted EuroPriSe “trust mark” for outstanding privacy and data handling practices. It is also certified by Certified Secure and registered with the Dutch Data Protection Authority.
SOURCE: Ixquick