I was flabbergasted when I heard that London-based search engine Startpage has launched a rather unique web search service that only a few have don’t it before — anonymous web browsing. It works similar to Firefox’s Private Browsing mode but the only difference is that the latter prevents information from being recorded on your computer and it doesn’t make you anonymous on the Internet. This is when the new proxy service brings online browsing to the next level.
Touted as “the world’s most private search engine”, it uses its Ixquick proxy server to allow users concerned about privacy to carry out web searches and click on linked pages without revealing their identify. For example, IP addresses and information stored in cookies will be invisible to the web administrator. When you select a search result on Google or Yahoo!, the site being visited could see your information. Startpage has reportedly solved that problem by introducing a proxy feature that gives users the ability to surf the web anonymously.
However, there is one major drawback. Pages load more slowly as Ixquick must retrieve the contents and redisplay them. Users also cannot use the proxy to fill up forms that require text input and some features that runs on Javascript will not function properly. So if you’re looking for a way to browse the web without being identified, tracked or recorded, then Startpage’s privacy feature is definitely a good choice.
“People are more concerned about online data retention policies than ever before,” said StartPage CEO Robert Beens. “We wanted to offer them a useful tool and this proxy is a logical extension of our services. A search engine is a starting point for people to visit other pages. Now our users can take the privacy they get with Startpage to the next step, and go privately to the sites they have found as well. This proxy completes the total search privacy picture.”