Despite the numerous high profile cases personal data breaches seem to be an ongoing issue. But do you think about the risk when you perform a web search? Whilst tapping in our search terms how many of us think about what data is being collected and, more importantly, where this data ends up.
If this approach doesn’t sit comfortably with you there is another way… Mojeek.
Mojeek[i] is an alternative search engine that values your privacy, whilst also providing its own unique and unbiased search results. Without attaining or storing any personal data on its users, Mojeek instead focuses on improving relevancy of search results based on your keywords, not your history. The search engine also uses its own technology, rather than simply using other search engines to generate results.
The need for an alternative search engine is becoming all too apparent – even World Wide Web founder Tim Berners-Lee in a Guardian article[ii] in November 2017, explained: “We are so used to these systems being manipulated that people just think that’s how the internet works. We need to think about what it should be like”. He also expressed concern over the neutrality of search results which all too often are ‘tailored’ based on user data, of which the author and internet activist Eli Pariser coined the term ‘filter bubbles’[iii].
Since then, the world has seen the dangers of this data being used elsewhere – with the possible engineering of the US presidential election results in 2016[iv] and lawsuits for the alleged tracking of 4.4 million UK iPhone users’ browsing data without their knowledge[v]. This is just a drop in the ocean with many more data breaches[vi] increasingly apparent.
A personal project run from Marc's bedroom for a number of years, Mojeek was built from scratch, and programmed using the C programming language without the use of other search or web crawler technology. As the world's first search engine to fight back against user tracking, Mojeek went official in 2009 and has since become one of the largest searchable indexes of the Web. Explanatory information is available on the ‘About Mojeek’ page, including an introductory video explaining, ‘who they are’ and ‘why they exist’’.[vii]
[ii]https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/15/tim-berners-lee-world-wide-web-net-neutrality
[iii]https://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles
[iv]https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/16/qa-russian-hackers-vladimir-putin-donald-trump-us-presidential-election
[v]https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/may/21/google-sued-tracking-44m-uk-iphone-users-browsing-data-apple-safari
[vi]https://www.techworld.com/security/uks-most-infamous-data-breaches-3604586/