Say you like the search results you get from Google, but don’t like the idea of a big company tracking your search queries. Disconnect has an interesting solution.

Instead of switching to a more privacy-centric search engine like DuckDuckGo, Disconnect lets you search Google, Bing, or other major sites (including DuckDuckGo). But Disconnect hides all of your data before sending your query to Google so nobody has to know that you’re looking for athlete’s foot remedies or pictures of furries.

disconnect app

Disconnect routes your queries through their own servers so that Google or Bing will think your request is coming form Disconnect not from your PC. At the same time, Disconnect encrypts your search queries so that your ISP can’t figure out what you’re looking for either — and Disconnect says it doesn’t store any of your data itself.

The team launched browser plugins for Chrome and Firefox in 2013. Now Disconnect is also available as an Opera or Safari plugin, an Android app, or a standalone web page.

Just enter your search term, choose your search engine, and Disconnect does the rest. The Android app is pretty basic — when you enter a term and hit enter it’ll open your default web browser with the results. If you want to change your search engine you’ll have to do it from that page, not from within the app itself.

You could just bookmark the Disconnect website — but the advantage of the native Android app is that it you can use it to install a search widget on your home screen.

disconnect app

via GigaOm

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2 replies on “Disconnect offers private search on Android, web”

  1. Seems like a VPN (and Private/Incognito browsing) would do the same and more…

  2. Aren’t they are providing the search in exchange for that information in what is intended to be essentially a mutual agreement?
    Just switch search engines.

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