hi.
this post is for those who hate google and/or wish to help protect your internet searches (not surfing, just searches) from cookies and datamining.
i said protect, not make it perfect or 100% C.I.A. secure. hopefully you will find it interesting, but please do your own research as well.
oh, the s in https means secure/encrypted. PLUS, AND THIS IS IMPORTANT: THERE IS A LOCK ICON IN THE LEFT SIDE OF THE WEB ADDRESS. IT MUST BE LOCKED, NOT UNLOCKED. EVEN IF IT IS AN HTTPS SITE, IF THE LOCK IS UNLOCKED, IT IS NOT SECURE!! make sure if you enter an https address, you are NOT redirected to an http address.
so, three simple rules:
1. use https for searching BUT make sure you are not redirected to an http address!!!!!
2. make sure the lock icon is locked.
3. thus, to be encrypted, it MUST be https with a locked lock.
if you wish have your personal search histories NEVER recorded by a search engine, then www.https://startpage.com/m may be for you. the "/m" is for mobile phone formatting. startpage has an express policy of never ever recording your searches and does NOT place cookies or robots, etc. in your phone's browser.
you should have your phone browser set to NOT allow cookies anyway! take a look now!
i use the above site for my cell phone browser home page instead of the loaded yahoo site. you can change your phones home browser site in browser settings in your phone.
startpage is a middle man, or proxy, and searches for you, then posts their results. so, they are actually looking things up, not you.
home computer web site: startpage also has a beta https://startingpage.com for your home computer/pc only, powered by google results. startingpage has an http and an https site; don't ask me why. just make sure your home pc is bookmarked HTTPS, and showing a locked lock.beta startingpage is NOT currently mobile friendly, meaning not formatted nicely for mobile phones. you can still use it if you want.
i personally spoke with the vp of startpage asking her to please streamline her offerings. she is on coast to coast am a lot, and is a web security expert.
since google is now a worldwide datamining whore, which we all know, i do not like to use google if possible. i do not trust google, and i never will, period. google does show more results.
i have noticed google has more results, and google has a lot of crap results also, but unless you are looking up something very off the wall, you will be fine. google also has an encrypted search address for mobile phone formatting, www.https://google.com/m and a google beta for your home pc, https://encrypted.google.com/ mobile formatting just makes it easier to read the screen. you can still use the beta https google pc site on your phone.
a link from google explaining https: SSL Search : Features - Web Search Help
remember although google has an https site for searching, google logs all of your searches, but startpage (mobile or home pc format) and startingpage (home pc format, powered by google results) does not.
per google, "Encrypt the search traffic between your computer and Google, helping to protect your search terms and your search results pages from being intercepted by a third party. Try a more secure and private search experience."
note: google, above, says "more secure", not perfectly secure, not guaranteed to be secure. google also says "helping to protect", not promising.
no, we are not talking C.I.A. secure or National Security Agency (NSA) secure. that is a whole different story, and that uses data encryption, data encryption passwords/keys, and is not available to civilians. since security is a sensitive subject, i will let people interested research it themselves. never trust anyone, including me, and do your own research yourself. then,
make your own decision based on what you feel is best, not me.
recent wall street journal articles on android app malware and spying:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703883504576186810666183384.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704694004576020083703574602.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read
this post is for those who hate google and/or wish to help protect your internet searches (not surfing, just searches) from cookies and datamining.
i said protect, not make it perfect or 100% C.I.A. secure. hopefully you will find it interesting, but please do your own research as well.
oh, the s in https means secure/encrypted. PLUS, AND THIS IS IMPORTANT: THERE IS A LOCK ICON IN THE LEFT SIDE OF THE WEB ADDRESS. IT MUST BE LOCKED, NOT UNLOCKED. EVEN IF IT IS AN HTTPS SITE, IF THE LOCK IS UNLOCKED, IT IS NOT SECURE!! make sure if you enter an https address, you are NOT redirected to an http address.
so, three simple rules:
1. use https for searching BUT make sure you are not redirected to an http address!!!!!
2. make sure the lock icon is locked.
3. thus, to be encrypted, it MUST be https with a locked lock.
if you wish have your personal search histories NEVER recorded by a search engine, then www.https://startpage.com/m may be for you. the "/m" is for mobile phone formatting. startpage has an express policy of never ever recording your searches and does NOT place cookies or robots, etc. in your phone's browser.
you should have your phone browser set to NOT allow cookies anyway! take a look now!
i use the above site for my cell phone browser home page instead of the loaded yahoo site. you can change your phones home browser site in browser settings in your phone.
startpage is a middle man, or proxy, and searches for you, then posts their results. so, they are actually looking things up, not you.
home computer web site: startpage also has a beta https://startingpage.com for your home computer/pc only, powered by google results. startingpage has an http and an https site; don't ask me why. just make sure your home pc is bookmarked HTTPS, and showing a locked lock.beta startingpage is NOT currently mobile friendly, meaning not formatted nicely for mobile phones. you can still use it if you want.
i personally spoke with the vp of startpage asking her to please streamline her offerings. she is on coast to coast am a lot, and is a web security expert.
since google is now a worldwide datamining whore, which we all know, i do not like to use google if possible. i do not trust google, and i never will, period. google does show more results.
i have noticed google has more results, and google has a lot of crap results also, but unless you are looking up something very off the wall, you will be fine. google also has an encrypted search address for mobile phone formatting, www.https://google.com/m and a google beta for your home pc, https://encrypted.google.com/ mobile formatting just makes it easier to read the screen. you can still use the beta https google pc site on your phone.
a link from google explaining https: SSL Search : Features - Web Search Help
remember although google has an https site for searching, google logs all of your searches, but startpage (mobile or home pc format) and startingpage (home pc format, powered by google results) does not.
per google, "Encrypt the search traffic between your computer and Google, helping to protect your search terms and your search results pages from being intercepted by a third party. Try a more secure and private search experience."
note: google, above, says "more secure", not perfectly secure, not guaranteed to be secure. google also says "helping to protect", not promising.
no, we are not talking C.I.A. secure or National Security Agency (NSA) secure. that is a whole different story, and that uses data encryption, data encryption passwords/keys, and is not available to civilians. since security is a sensitive subject, i will let people interested research it themselves. never trust anyone, including me, and do your own research yourself. then,
make your own decision based on what you feel is best, not me.
recent wall street journal articles on android app malware and spying:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703883504576186810666183384.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704694004576020083703574602.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read
