Ixquick Promises Search Privacy

Dutch search engine Ixquick has said it will give total search privacy by ending the recording of IP addresses.

The second annual Data Privacy Day was a good time to announce a new search privacy strategy, and Dutch search company Ixquick grabbed it. Vnunet reports.

Ixquick announced that it will no longer be recording IP addresses in searches, which it used to keep for 48 hours. Many search engines record searches and IP addresses to help create behavioral profiles, a move that not only helps generate more accurate search results, but also aids targeted advertising.

Both Google and Microsoft have been slammed for the length of time they keep results.

Ixquick, which uses the secure https connection for privacy, is also developing a proxy service for total anonymity. The company was awarded the first European Privacy Seal last year.

Chief executive Robert Beens said:

"At Ixquick we feel people have a fundamental right to privacy. Using a search engine is sharing your innermost secrets and habits, which should be safe."

"With privacy, the devil is in the detail. These engines use log-ins and unique ID cookies that are automatically placed on your computer when you search," he added.

"Both techniques can ‘glue’ your searches together far beyond the officially claimed retention periods. That’s why Ixquick doesn’t use either of these methods."