Many “alternative” search engines are better for privacy, but they are still vulnerable to censorship, because they rely on g**gle and m*crosoft’s indices for their search results. This isn’t a deep-hidden secret either, many of them disclose what search index they use on the “about” page, for example:

There are still search engines that (claim to) maintain their own index. Most surprisingly, br*ve:

      • PopOfAfrica@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        I will say part of the reason I find them more trustworthy is that their business model hinges on some sort of ounce of privacy. Google’s hinges on exactly the opposite.

        • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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          9 months ago

          I strongly encourage reading up on the various VPNs and the like that charge people while still monitoring and tracking everything they do.