Supporting privacy is one thing and I'm appreciative of Google's stance. But when we're talking about personally identifiable information we're talking about a

Supporting privacy is one thing and I'm appreciative of Google's stance. But when we're talking about personally identifiable information we're talking about a binary. Either you're personally identifiable from the data being stored or you're not. The bottom line is that I'm identifiable with the data stored on me by Google but not by the data stored on me by DDG. Google has made this decision to store identifiable information in order to improve the usability of their search and DDG has opted for a different route. I will point out that there is nothing wrong with that. Google is not for those with strong privacy requirements, just as all popular operating systems are not for those with strong security requirements. Google falls at one point on the privacy/usability continuum and DDG falls at another point. But as far as the article being unfair to Google goes, I'll have to disagree. You are identifiable with Google's data and that's a reality.