Search engines: add Ecosia #1036

jonah · 2019-07-17T12:05:07Z

Mikaela commented

2019-07-17 12:05:07 +00:00

(Migrated from github.com)

Resolves: #682

The issue above is in disagreement and requires attention on whether Tor
blocking is a reason to not merge this.

Resolves: #682 The issue above is in disagreement and requires attention on whether Tor blocking is a reason to not merge this.

blacklight447 (Migrated from github.com) reviewed 2019-07-17 12:05:07 +00:00

bookercodes (Migrated from github.com) reviewed 2019-07-17 12:05:07 +00:00

privacytoolsIO (Migrated from github.com) reviewed 2019-07-17 12:05:07 +00:00

c0rdis (Migrated from github.com) reviewed 2019-07-17 12:05:07 +00:00

jonah reviewed 2019-07-17 12:05:07 +00:00

jxtsai (Migrated from github.com) reviewed 2019-07-17 12:05:07 +00:00

kewde (Migrated from github.com) reviewed 2019-07-17 12:05:07 +00:00

victorhck (Migrated from github.com) reviewed 2019-07-17 12:05:07 +00:00

Vincevrp (Migrated from github.com) reviewed 2019-07-17 12:05:07 +00:00

netlify[bot] commented

2019-07-17 12:06:45 +00:00

(Migrated from github.com)

Deploy preview for privacytools-io ready!

Built with commit 775ae6fd5a

https://deploy-preview-1036--privacytools-io.netlify.com

Deploy preview for *privacytools-io* ready! Built with commit 775ae6fd5ad7d0638685ffb12c11865d0eb47b4d https://deploy-preview-1036--privacytools-io.netlify.com

nitrohorse (Migrated from github.com) reviewed 2019-07-19 02:41:18 +00:00

nitrohorse (Migrated from github.com) left a comment

Hmm so...

I really do like that they use their profits to plant trees,
that their privacy policy is short, reasonably respectful for users, and easy to read, and
that they honor the Do Not Track browser setting.

On the other hand, in my perspective...

it's unfortunate Ecosia doesn't proxy requests to Bing like Startpage does to Google. Requests to Bing.com and Bing.net are made when searching. (Note: I also noticed (at least) on their iOS app that additional requests are made to "a-0001.a-afdentry.net.trafficmanager.net" (a CNAME for Bing.com) and "dual-a-0001.a-msedge.net")
I wish they provided an option in their settings page (like Startpage and DuckDuckGo do) for using POST or GET when making the search request. Both have their privacy trade-offs but Ecosia locks users into using GET.
And looking at Ecosia's statement here:

"...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." -- https://info.ecosia.org/privacy

Besides Ecosia's tree-planting mission, I wonder if there is a significant privacy-gain over directly using Bing. Since requests from Ecosia are "forwarded" to Bing, is it correct to assume my queries on Bing's side fall under Microsoft's user-hostile privacy policy?

Hmm so... 1) I really do like that they use their profits to plant trees, 2) that their privacy policy is short, reasonably respectful for users, and easy to read, and 3) that they honor the Do Not Track browser setting. On the other hand, in my perspective... 1) it's unfortunate Ecosia doesn't proxy requests to Bing like Startpage does to Google. Requests to Bing.com and Bing.net are made when searching. (Note: I also noticed (at least) on their [iOS app](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ecosia/id670881887) that additional requests are made to "a-0001.a-afdentry.net.trafficmanager.net" (a [CNAME for Bing.com](https://urlscan.io/domain/www.bing.com)) and "dual-a-0001.a-msedge.net") 2) I wish they provided an option [in their settings page](https://www.ecosia.org/settings) (like [Startpage](https://eu.startpage.com/search/settings) and [DuckDuckGo](https://duckduckgo.com/settings) do) for using POST or GET when making the search request. Both have their privacy trade-offs but Ecosia locks users into using GET. 3) And looking at Ecosia's statement here: > "...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." -- https://info.ecosia.org/privacy Besides Ecosia's tree-planting mission, I wonder if there is a significant privacy-gain over directly using Bing. Since requests from Ecosia are "forwarded" to Bing, is it correct to assume my queries on Bing's side fall under [Microsoft's user-hostile privacy policy](https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement)?

erciccione (Migrated from github.com) requested changes 2019-07-19 05:48:47 +00:00

erciccione (Migrated from github.com) left a comment

NACK

See my comment in #682

NACK See [my comment in #682](https://github.com/privacytoolsIO/privacytools.io/issues/682#issuecomment-498982503)

Mikaela commented

2019-07-21 10:54:35 +00:00

(Migrated from github.com)

@nitrohorse so shall we close the Ecosia case permanently? "We love trees and planting them, but due to some concerns we won't be able to list it" ?

@nitrohorse so shall we close the Ecosia case *permanently*? "We love trees and planting them, but due to some concerns we won't be able to list it" ?

nitrohorse commented

2019-07-21 16:25:05 +00:00

(Migrated from github.com)

@Mikaela yeah, I think we should.

Mikaela commented

2019-07-21 16:34:01 +00:00

(Migrated from github.com)

Case closed, see comments of #682 and comments starting from https://github.com/privacytoolsIO/privacytools.io/pull/1036#pullrequestreview-263991424.

bcye commented

2020-04-30 17:56:40 +00:00

(Migrated from github.com)

Hey @nitrohorse and @Mikaela ,

I just tried using Ecosia on my computer via the TOR browser and it just worked fine. It is still not proxying search requests but sending them to bing, but I think this should not be a deal-breaker and that Ecosia should be at least added as a "Worth Mentioning".

Hey @nitrohorse and @Mikaela , I just tried using Ecosia on my computer via the TOR browser and it just worked fine. It is still not proxying search requests but sending them to bing, but I think this should not be a deal-breaker and that Ecosia should be at least added as a "Worth Mentioning". ![CleanShot 2020-04-30 at 19 52 40](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/29666239/80743072-a7df5d00-8b1c-11ea-81de-849df23fb91d.gif)

nitrohorse commented

2020-05-01 05:45:15 +00:00

(Migrated from github.com)

Hey @bcye, thanks for reaching out. I don't think my position has changed. Ecosia forwards requests to Bing which logs queries. And then "after 7 days [Ecosia] remove[s] all personal information (like the IP address) from [stored] search data." They take steps toward privacy but it's not as high a priority like other search engines -- that doesn't make Ecosia a bad choice for users; just maybe not the right fit for PrivacyTools.

From my understanding, this is also unfortuanely the case for other environment-forward search engines that forward requests with personal information to Bing/Google such as Ekoru, Lilo, OceanHero, YouCare, Givero, and Gexsi.

Hey @bcye, thanks for reaching out. I don't think my position has changed. Ecosia forwards requests to Bing which logs queries. And then "after 7 days [Ecosia] remove[s] all personal information (like the IP address) from [stored] search data." They take steps toward privacy but it's not as _high_ a priority like other search engines -- that doesn't make Ecosia a bad choice for users; just maybe not the right fit for PrivacyTools. From my understanding, this is also unfortuanely the case for other environment-forward search engines that forward requests with personal information to Bing/Google such as [Ekoru](https://www.ekoru.org), [Lilo](https://search.lilo.org/), [OceanHero](https://oceanhero.today/), [YouCare](https://youcare.world), [Givero](https://www.givero.com/), and [Gexsi](https://gexsi.com/en).

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