Browser & Search Engine Privacy Grades
4 companies analysed · Sorted by privacy score
Search queries are among the most intimate telemetry a company can hold—health fears, political curiosity, legal worries—and browsers extend that visibility to every tab, extension, and sync channel. Incumbents often pair query logs with identity graphs for ads; challengers try to fund product with subscriptions, private ads, or syndication deals that still deserve scrutiny on click paths and partners. Beyond logging, compare fingerprint resistance, default sync behaviour, in-browser AI features, and whether “private mode” is local-only marketing or a documented data deletion story. A hardened browser plus a logging-averse search stack is still undermined if either partner ships aggressive analytics SDKs. Our table ranks full policies, not slogans; read the About page for pillar weights and examples.
| # | Company | Grade | Score | In plain English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | 88/100 | Kagi is a paid search engine that treats your data as a liability rather than an asset — it doesn't …Kagi is a paid search engine that treats your data as a liability rather than an asset — it doesn't track your searches, offers cryptocurrency and Tor payment options for near-total anonymity, and publishes a warrant canary; the main caveats are US jurisdiction, third-party content providers loaded on demand, and 'whenever possible' hedging on its AI providers. | → | |
| 2 | A | 86/100 | Brave's browser collects no browsing history and routes most sensitive requests through its own prox…Brave's browser collects no browsing history and routes most sensitive requests through its own proxies to strip your IP address — the privacy architecture is genuinely sophisticated — but it's a US company, Safe Browsing on mobile exposes your IP to Google or Apple, and Leo AI feedback submissions can include full conversation transcripts retained for a year. | → | |
| 3 | B+ | 84/100 | DuckDuckGo genuinely doesn't build a profile of your searches or browsing — the policy is short beca…DuckDuckGo genuinely doesn't build a profile of your searches or browsing — the policy is short because the collection is genuinely minimal — but it's a US company, ad clicks are routed through Microsoft's network, and optional features like Email Protection require you to hand over personal data under a separate policy. | → | |
| 4 | D | 26/100 | Google tracks almost everything you do online — every search, email, location, video, and website vi…Google tracks almost everything you do online — every search, email, location, video, and website visit — across all their products and millions of third-party sites, then uses it to sell ads. They do give you unusually good tools to review and delete your data, but the defaults collect everything. | → |