Privacy-wise, yeah... But you are still using google.
duckduckgo and startpage are both scraper pages... They send your search request on to google, scrape the returns, and load them into a page to present to you... Or at least that's how they started.
Basically yes, I believe Duck Duck Go has a small operation web crawler that logs some of the net, but Startpage (which I use) doesn't.
Startpage has the advantage of if you are really serious about privacy, you set the default (in their settings) to use the overseas server which is bound to tighter privacy (handing over to NSA) standards. I use the default setting (which has some parental blocks on web sites), but one gets a better return with that turned off (again in the settings). You can customize your search in Startpage and basically get a google return without feeding google your information.
Duck Duck Go is my second choice, but I think it has a US center, thus NSA may be scraping off data (but at least it ain't going to Google to use)....
Qwant is another privacy search engine, but mainly bases it's results off Bing results. It has a few twists (a kid search engines that is suppose to be kid friendly and safe).... Also after doing a search you can refine you search down to categories like web, news, social media, images, video, and shopping. Neat feature, but not enough for me to switch from Startpage.
Search.disconnect.me ... It claims privacy but seems to have weird tie-ins with some leftist sources. Recommended by the NYTimes (barf) for privacy is not exactly my idea recommendation.
Mainly I stick with Startpage, if that is slow for some reason that day, I go to DuckDuckGo, and occasionally use Qwant if not getting results from the first two just as a wild goose chase.
Google has one purpose that I occasionally have to use, it has a great reverse image search that Tineye.com does not catch. I try to make it rare and far between before I use anything Google (including their maps).
Email wise, I use the free version of Tutanota.com .... You can send encripted emails if needed. Plain Jane interface, but nobody is tracking your emails.
@libertybele hope you don't mind I pinged ya.
