Is Google spying on us?

In short, yes they are. Anybody who has bothered reading the terms and conditions of Google services knows google has the right to keep records on your emails, your searches and what you watch on youtube. Do they have the right to do this? Yes they do, and you are the person that gave them permission to do so by using their services. Have you ever found it oddly convenient that after googling a product, for example a 3D printer, all you see for the next 2 months is adverts plastered all over your screen regarding 3D printers? Well it isn't just pure coincidence, what has happened is simple, google has profiled you, and is now receiving advertising money from 3D Printer manufacturers. Sure you can ad block your way out of the visual irritation of the adverts, but google is still writing your autobiography behind the scenes. How do you stop this? Well a good start is to stop using google as a search engine. Below is a list of alternatives that work just as well as Google but will help keep your privacy intact.

DuckDuckGo

No, is isn't an iPhone game, but a search engine, and a pretty good one at that. It doesn't track you, it doesn't store your details and it doesn't sell your interests to advertisers. DuckDuckGo may sound like a farce but I can assure you this is anonymity taken seriously! DuckDuckGo uses the BreadPig proxy to hide your ip from prying eyes, and comes with a host of customisations to personalise your browsing experience.

startpage

Startpage is a bit of an O.G. of the anonymous search engine game. While it started as a pretty regular search engine in 2005, by 2006 they had already started removing personal user logs and by 2009, had stopped all recording of data, including ip, from it's users. While not as popular as DuckDuckGo, it is still a very capable anonymous search engine.

ixquick

Ixquick is actually run by the same people who run startpage, and for that reason this search engine looks, feels and performs very similarly to startpage, with the only difference being that startpage uses only google results whereas ixquick has several sources. technically speaking you have more options with ixquick, if multiple sources are important to you then maybe ixquick is the choice for you!

Conclusion

As a security minded individual, I would be happy recommending all three options above, but if I were asked to recommend only one, it would be DuckDuckGo. I like the UI and simplicity of the page and works really well with Comodo Ice Dragon, for more information about secure browsing and cryptocurrencies please follow me and you may want to read my recommendations on secure web browsers.

Please do upvote this post and stay safe!

Viking