Re: Google Integration

I'm enjoying Zorin 12 Ultimate, so far it's working very well. Being leery of Google, I have switched my search engine to Duck Duck. I am using Chromium, but don't sign in to the Chrome Store (although I have downloaded a free theme there). Is there anything else I should be doing, or not doing, to prevent Google snooping?

mdiemer wrote:I'm enjoying Zorin 12 Ultimate, so far it's working very well. Being leery of Google, I have switched my search engine to Duck Duck. I am using Chromium, but don't sign in to the Chrome Store (although I have downloaded a free theme there). Is there anything else I should be doing, or not doing, to prevent Google snooping?

Provided that you using the extension from DuckDuckGo then you should be able to query them instead of Google's servers. Though if you didn't configure Chrome to not send information you didn't want then do keep in mind that you might still be sending stuffs to Google's servers.

If you go on YouTube for example you get the chance to go through and switch everything off - but that still doesn't mean you won't be tracked by using any of its services! You're other option is to use Firefox instead - In fact it should be the default Browser as it is the only one that is compatible with Screen Reader software for the persons with poor or no vision, whether GNU/Linux or Windows. If you want the 'essence of Google search' but totally privately, then use 'ixquick.com' - for total anonymous browsing - sure it uses Google Search but nothing is kept. You will of course notice a reduced number of finds for information because some sites have Google Analytics embedded in them. So for example, ixquick gives you the option to view the site anonymously - you make that choice and find you can't do it because Google has got it's tentacles in that site.

Thanks for the tips, very helpful!