Browser & Search Engine Privacy Grades
4 companies analysed · Sorted by privacy score
Your search engine sees your unfiltered thoughts — every question you're too embarrassed to ask a person, every symptom you look up, every purchase you consider. Your browser knows every site you visit. Together, they form the most complete picture of your online life. Google monetises that picture through advertising. DuckDuckGo, Brave, and Kagi are built on the premise that search can be funded without building an advertising profile. The grades in this category span the full range — from an F to an A.
| # | 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. | → |
How we grade·Each company is scored 0–100 across four pillars: data collection, third-party sharing, user controls, and policy promises. The overall grade maps to the score band. → Read the full methodology