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I used ecosia for a period of few months, and stopped when I read this their privacy policy(https://info.ecosia.org/privacy#privacy-policy-section-7 https://inf

I used ecosia for a period of few months, and stopped when I read this their privacy policy(https://info.ecosia.org/privacy#privacy-policy-section-7 https://info.ecosia.org/privacy#privacy-policy-section-7): > For example, when you do a search on Ecosia we forward the following information to our partner, Bing: IP address, user agent string, search term, and some settings like your country and language setting. So when a search is done, our IP address is send to Bing. I really love the idea of planting trees from profit, and have nothing against ecosia. Just commented to inform readers. <edit> Before getting downvoted into oblivion, I would like to make it clear that I'm not saying ecosia is unethical or that everyone should stop using it because of this. For some it matters, for some it doesn't and ecosia seems a great choice for those whom this doesn't matter. I'm just posting it so that those who do care(about their IP being send to Bing) can be aware(since I wasn't for a few months). </edit>

_ph_ 7y ago
How is this different to using Bing as a search engine directly?
- hanniabu 7y ago
  There isn't other than the planet benefits
- jk2faster 7y ago
  It is not. I've been using DuckDuckGo before switching to them, for me privacy is a big deal. When I first saw ecosia, I thought it was similar to DDG in terms of privacy(Probably because they had pro-privacy phrases). I know it's not a problem for most, especially if they are using search engines like Bing or Google. And I believe it's better to use ecosia than using say, Bing or Google.
dominikmauritz 7y ago
Which search engine are you using now instead of Ecosia? I'm much more comfortable to give some information to Microsoft then giving more information to Google so they can add it to my profile they already have.
- jk2faster 7y ago
  I use DuckDuckGo and StartPage. StartPage uses Google's result without sharing user IP(https://support.startpage.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/159/22/do-you-share-my-ip-address-with-google https://support.startpage.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Artic...). I think ecosia can do something similar to that and I would be extremely glad to switch.
okmokmz 7y ago
I'm a strong advocate for digital privacy and opposed to the majority of data collection that occurs, but this comment is FUD. None of the info that you listed would be private if you used Bing normally, so if you're worried about them having that info you'd need to stop using search engines all together >So when a search is done, our IP address is send to Bing. Explain why you believe that's a negative? If you use Bing normally they would know your IP as well >user agent string Again, using bing normally will allow them to see this information >search term Obviously required to be sent to bing >some settings like your country and language setting Again, this is information that would be available to Bing if you use their service normally
- hoschicz 7y ago
  DuckDuckGo also uses Bing and they don't send the IP AFAIK
  - stffndtz 7y ago
    AFAIK that is impossible
    - jk2faster 7y ago
      StartPage does it with Google and is explained here: https://support.startpage.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/159/22/do-you-share-my-ip-address-with-google https://support.startpage.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Artic... So it is probably possible.
    - danskeren 7y ago
      Definitely not impossible. Microsoft offers a pay-as-you-go Bing Search API (https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/cognitive-services/search-api/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/cognitive-...). I can only assume ecosia share this data with Microsoft because doing so has allowed them to land a more lucrative deal.
      - thekyle 7y ago
nvrspyx 7y ago
> We don’t create personal profiles of you based on your search history. We actually anonymize all searches within one week. > Many web services collect user data in order to sell it without asking your permission. We don’t sell your data or your searches to advertising companies. > We protect your searches from potential eavesdroppers with a securely encrypted connection. This way we make sure that nobody between you and us can see your searches. If they’re just handing everything off to Bing wholesale, are these quotes either misleading or straight up lies? The first one I’m confused about with the “anonymize all searches within one week”. I don’t know what that means. The second seems like Bing could still do those things. And the last one would be a lie considering Bing can see it. https://info.ecosia.org/privacy https://info.ecosia.org/privacy
- Colex 7y ago
  > And the last one would be a lie considering Bing can see it. How would that be a lie. They protect from eavesdroppers, as in someone intercepting the connection and trying to extract data being transmitted within a system. Bing is part of the whole system, not a third party trying to eavesdrop. Finally, they say they don't allow anyone between you and them - which is different from allowing between them and a third party, but I'm sure they would use an encrypted connection even when communicating with Bing.
  - nvrspyx 7y ago
    That’s true. I guess I jumped the gun on that one. However, “nobody between you and us” still feels disingenuous because you have to dig quite a bit to find out that they use Bing on the backend and then leave concluding that “us” also includes Microsoft as the responsibility of the user. The average user isn’t going to make that connection because they’re not likely to be reading through the privacy policy or digging through the FAQ to discover they use Bing. I think their page touting “privacy” should clearly indicate that they use Bing and that your privacy is ultimately beholden to Microsoft, not Ecosia, especially since Ecosia is happy to send unique identifiers to Bing for personalized search results as default. It feels like a deftly move to offload their own responsibility to then be able to tout privacy as a selling point because they themselves don’t do anything with your information, Microsoft does.
Gys 7y ago
Their value proposition is planting trees and not privacy. They get a cut of the Bing ad revenues and a cut of that is invested in trees. Its a simple model. I learned about it 1-2 years ago and was expecting more of these ‘feel good’ labelled search engines.
thekyle 7y ago
If anyone is wondering why they send Bing the IP address, it's most likely because the Bing API uses the searchers IP address if you want location specific search results like weather, local restaurants, etc. > Results are customized to the location or market of the user. The location or market can be determined implicitly (via IP address) or configured explicitly. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cognitive-services/bing-web-search-api/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cognitive-service...

_ph_ 7y ago

How is this different to using Bing as a search engine directly?

hanniabu 7y ago
There isn't other than the planet benefits
jk2faster 7y ago
It is not. I've been using DuckDuckGo before switching to them, for me privacy is a big deal. When I first saw ecosia, I thought it was similar to DDG in terms of privacy(Probably because they had pro-privacy phrases). I know it's not a problem for most, especially if they are using search engines like Bing or Google. And I believe it's better to use ecosia than using say, Bing or Google.

dominikmauritz 7y ago

Which search engine are you using now instead of Ecosia? I'm much more comfortable to give some information to Microsoft then giving more information to Google so they can add it to my profile they already have.

jk2faster 7y ago
I use DuckDuckGo and StartPage. StartPage uses Google's result without sharing user IP(https://support.startpage.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/159/22/do-you-share-my-ip-address-with-google https://support.startpage.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Artic...). I think ecosia can do something similar to that and I would be extremely glad to switch.

okmokmz 7y ago

I'm a strong advocate for digital privacy and opposed to the majority of data collection that occurs, but this comment is FUD. None of the info that you listed would be private if you used Bing normally, so if you're worried about them having that info you'd need to stop using search engines all together >So when a search is done, our IP address is send to Bing. Explain why you believe that's a negative? If you use Bing normally they would know your IP as well >user agent string Again, using bing normally will allow them to see this information >search term Obviously required to be sent to bing >some settings like your country and language setting Again, this is information that would be available to Bing if you use their service normally

hoschicz 7y ago
DuckDuckGo also uses Bing and they don't send the IP AFAIK
- stffndtz 7y ago
  AFAIK that is impossible
  - jk2faster 7y ago
    StartPage does it with Google and is explained here: https://support.startpage.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/159/22/do-you-share-my-ip-address-with-google https://support.startpage.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Artic... So it is probably possible.
  - danskeren 7y ago
    Definitely not impossible. Microsoft offers a pay-as-you-go Bing Search API (https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/cognitive-services/search-api/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/cognitive-...). I can only assume ecosia share this data with Microsoft because doing so has allowed them to land a more lucrative deal.
    - thekyle 7y ago

nvrspyx 7y ago

> We don’t create personal profiles of you based on your search history. We actually anonymize all searches within one week. > Many web services collect user data in order to sell it without asking your permission. We don’t sell your data or your searches to advertising companies. > We protect your searches from potential eavesdroppers with a securely encrypted connection. This way we make sure that nobody between you and us can see your searches. If they’re just handing everything off to Bing wholesale, are these quotes either misleading or straight up lies? The first one I’m confused about with the “anonymize all searches within one week”. I don’t know what that means. The second seems like Bing could still do those things. And the last one would be a lie considering Bing can see it. https://info.ecosia.org/privacy https://info.ecosia.org/privacy

Colex 7y ago
> And the last one would be a lie considering Bing can see it. How would that be a lie. They protect from eavesdroppers, as in someone intercepting the connection and trying to extract data being transmitted within a system. Bing is part of the whole system, not a third party trying to eavesdrop. Finally, they say they don't allow anyone between you and them - which is different from allowing between them and a third party, but I'm sure they would use an encrypted connection even when communicating with Bing.
- nvrspyx 7y ago
  That’s true. I guess I jumped the gun on that one. However, “nobody between you and us” still feels disingenuous because you have to dig quite a bit to find out that they use Bing on the backend and then leave concluding that “us” also includes Microsoft as the responsibility of the user. The average user isn’t going to make that connection because they’re not likely to be reading through the privacy policy or digging through the FAQ to discover they use Bing. I think their page touting “privacy” should clearly indicate that they use Bing and that your privacy is ultimately beholden to Microsoft, not Ecosia, especially since Ecosia is happy to send unique identifiers to Bing for personalized search results as default. It feels like a deftly move to offload their own responsibility to then be able to tout privacy as a selling point because they themselves don’t do anything with your information, Microsoft does.

Gys 7y ago

Their value proposition is planting trees and not privacy. They get a cut of the Bing ad revenues and a cut of that is invested in trees. Its a simple model. I learned about it 1-2 years ago and was expecting more of these ‘feel good’ labelled search engines.

thekyle 7y ago

If anyone is wondering why they send Bing the IP address, it's most likely because the Bing API uses the searchers IP address if you want location specific search results like weather, local restaurants, etc. > Results are customized to the location or market of the user. The location or market can be determined implicitly (via IP address) or configured explicitly. https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cognitive-services/bing-web-search-api/ https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cognitive-service...