This is an absolutely valid concern. The answer here, unfortunate as it is, is trust. There's probably things they can do here to remove the need for an actual

This is an absolutely valid concern. The answer here, unfortunate as it is, is trust. There's probably things they can do here to remove the need for an actual identity (Mullvad's payment model comes to mind), but I suspect that takes more legal/financial infrastructure than they have access to at the moment. PS: I am not a lawyer, but for what it's worth, if you _pay_ for Kagi and they advertise their privacy policy as a feature you pay for (see https://kagi.com/privacy https://kagi.com/privacy), one could reasonable sue for false advertising or demand a refund for not providing a promised service. This would make any pushback subject to consumer protection laws in addition to whatever nascent privacy law they may be subject to.