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What reason do I have to assume that DuckDuckGo is not collecting data about me? How can I be sure they're going to forget we ever met after a few minutes?

scrose 6y ago
The fact that their entire business and privacy policy is built on that idea? Trust isn't a binary thing. You can trust someone but still, rightfully, be concerned that what they're saying may not be 100% accurate. But if you have to choose who to trust more between two established companies, with one stating 'We don't collect your personal information, here's why you should care.' and another saying 'When you use our services, you’re trusting us with your information'. And the latter proceeds to hit you with a 50+ page doc explaining how they track essentially every interaction you make on their services, or services that use them, which would you trust more?
- garbagetime 6y ago
  My question was whether or not we should trust DuckDuckGo, not whether DuckDuckGo is more trustworthy than some alternatives, and not whether they collect less user-specific data than some alternatives. My thinking is that there isn't much reason to trust them. I disagree that their business is built on them being trustworthy. Their business is built on people believing them trustworthy. This may act as a disincentive to act in an untrustworthy manner, but it is simply another factor for their cost-benefit analyses. Most companies benefit from appearing trustworthy, such as banks, but the unfortunate reality is that this doesn't mean that they will actually work in your best interest.
  - Spooky23 6y ago
    Even if they are just faux-trustworthy, that certainly limits their room for maneuver. Facebook basically says "so what" and issues a non-apology later. DDG's whole reason to exist is predicated on their behavior.
  - scrose 6y ago
    > My question was whether or not we should trust DuckDuckGo, not whether DuckDuckGo is more trustworthy than some alternatives, and not whether they collect less user-specific data than some alternatives. Your question would be answered far better by reading their privacy policies and help site[0] to get an idea of everything they do to preserve your privacy, rather than asking on Hackernews. Of course, if you don't believe what the company is saying, I'm not sure what a rando on HN can say to convince you otherwise? [0] https://help.duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/privacy/no-tracking/ https://help.duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/privacy/no...
approxim8ion 6y ago
Don't assume it, then. That said, the scope of what the can do with the collected data is pretty much limited to selling it to a broker, unlike Google which can and does do incredible things with their corpus of collected data over the years. Unless there is a better option, I know which one I feel safer using.
- garbagetime 6y ago
  >Unless there is a better option, I know which one I feel safer using. There is one option you might not be considering: reducing one's use of internet search engines.
  - approxim8ion 6y ago
    It's a fair option, and I do what I can do reduce it, like searching on the sites I want to pull data from (I usually know this beforehand). But the internet is a rather large place, and there is only so much navigation one can do without resorting to a search engine.

scrose 6y ago

The fact that their entire business and privacy policy is built on that idea? Trust isn't a binary thing. You can trust someone but still, rightfully, be concerned that what they're saying may not be 100% accurate. But if you have to choose who to trust more between two established companies, with one stating 'We don't collect your personal information, here's why you should care.' and another saying 'When you use our services, you’re trusting us with your information'. And the latter proceeds to hit you with a 50+ page doc explaining how they track essentially every interaction you make on their services, or services that use them, which would you trust more?

garbagetime 6y ago
My question was whether or not we should trust DuckDuckGo, not whether DuckDuckGo is more trustworthy than some alternatives, and not whether they collect less user-specific data than some alternatives. My thinking is that there isn't much reason to trust them. I disagree that their business is built on them being trustworthy. Their business is built on people believing them trustworthy. This may act as a disincentive to act in an untrustworthy manner, but it is simply another factor for their cost-benefit analyses. Most companies benefit from appearing trustworthy, such as banks, but the unfortunate reality is that this doesn't mean that they will actually work in your best interest.
- Spooky23 6y ago
  Even if they are just faux-trustworthy, that certainly limits their room for maneuver. Facebook basically says "so what" and issues a non-apology later. DDG's whole reason to exist is predicated on their behavior.
- scrose 6y ago
  > My question was whether or not we should trust DuckDuckGo, not whether DuckDuckGo is more trustworthy than some alternatives, and not whether they collect less user-specific data than some alternatives. Your question would be answered far better by reading their privacy policies and help site[0] to get an idea of everything they do to preserve your privacy, rather than asking on Hackernews. Of course, if you don't believe what the company is saying, I'm not sure what a rando on HN can say to convince you otherwise? [0] https://help.duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/privacy/no-tracking/ https://help.duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/privacy/no...

approxim8ion 6y ago

Don't assume it, then. That said, the scope of what the can do with the collected data is pretty much limited to selling it to a broker, unlike Google which can and does do incredible things with their corpus of collected data over the years. Unless there is a better option, I know which one I feel safer using.

garbagetime 6y ago
>Unless there is a better option, I know which one I feel safer using. There is one option you might not be considering: reducing one's use of internet search engines.
- approxim8ion 6y ago
  It's a fair option, and I do what I can do reduce it, like searching on the sites I want to pull data from (I usually know this beforehand). But the internet is a rather large place, and there is only so much navigation one can do without resorting to a search engine.