[ubuntu-uk] Google & Privacy

[Mac]

LeeGroups wrote:
>> Thanks, guys, for the info.
>> For anyone who prefers to use a less obvious method of searching, may I 
>> suggest using Vivismo's Clusty search engine - IE/Netscape/Mozilla 
>> plugin available at http://clusty.com/toolbar/mozilla. Found, naturally, 
>> with an extensive Google search - why hand it to monoliths on a plate?
>>
>> Jeffef
> That sounds useful, however the T&C's are a bit vague "we don't collect 
> data, but might in the future"...
> 
> I've been using Scoogle.org for a while now... they really have a 
> paranoid streak... no data collection, log deletion etc.. have a look at 
> their T&C's... :)


Thought you might be interested in the outcome of a bit of digging 
around on this.  I discovered that if you just type some search terms 
into the address bar of Firefox (as you might do by mistake, or a naive 
user, not knowing the difference between the address bar and the search 
bar, might do on purpose), Firefox passes these terms to Google, which 
returns the search results.

This somewhat surprising behaviour on Firefox's part is due to a 
Preference (see about:config) called 'keyword.URL' whose default value 
is a google search string to which the words you enter get passed.

However, you can change the value of 'keyword.URL' to

https://ssl.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/nbbw.cgi?Gw=

and this will pass the words to a secure scroogle search.

This is more than just a fix for a default Firefox behaviour you might 
not like if you are bothered about Google.  Since Firefox does not have 
scroogle as a 'search engine' to add to the search bar (not surprising, 
seeing how Firefox gets a lot of financial support from Google), this 
method provides a 'workaround' that lets you do instant searches with 
Scroogle by typing search terms in the address bar.

Mac