Today's Deep-Dive: SearXNG

Have you ever gotten that like kind of creepy feeling?

You know when you search for something online

and then bam, it feels like every ad

is suddenly about that thing?

Oh yeah, I know exactly what you mean.

It's like all of a sudden the whole internet

knows what you're thinking.

Yeah, it's like they're reading your mind or something.

Right, like do they really need to know?

I'm looking for new hiking boots.

Anyway, today we're gonna talk about a way

to like push back against that

and take a little bit more control back.

Yeah, let's get into it.

We're diving into the world of meta search engines,

specifically a really interesting one

called Seer XNG.

And this is for anyone who's new

to this whole meta search idea.

Think of it like, imagine you're a researcher

and you go to a library.

Okay.

Instead of going to the shelves yourself

and looking through everything, right?

Imagine you go up to like a really super smart librarian.

I like it.

And you say, hey, I'm looking for information

on whatever your topic is.

That librarian, they know where everything is.

They know all the best resources,

all the different sections.

And they go and pull all that information

from all the different places in the library

and bring it back to you.

So they're like a search engine for search engines?

Exactly.

That's a perfect way to put it.

A search engine for search engines.

That's essentially what a meta search engine does.

I love it.

All right, so SearXNG is a free internet meta search engine

that does exactly that.

But here's the kicker.

The best part is that it doesn't track you.

It doesn't build some creepy profile on you

based on everything you search.

Right, it lets you search privately.

Exactly.

And speaking of online privacy, this whole deep dive

is brought to you by the fine folks over at Safe Server.

They're huge advocates for digital sovereignty,

helping you take more control of your own data.

Love it.

And if you get inspired to run your own private search

engine after this, they actually can help you do that too.

They handle hosting for software like SearXNG.

Right, so if anyone is intrigued,

definitely check them out at www.safeserver.de.

OK, so today we're going to break down SearXNG,

figure out how it keeps your searches private,

and most importantly, for our listeners

who are just discovering this, how easy

is it to actually get started?

Well, that's a good question, and that's

what we're going to get into.

But first, I think we should talk about the problem SearXNG

is trying to solve.

Yeah, let's do it.

I mean, we all use search engines, right?

But more and more people are starting

to realize that a lot of those traditional search engines

are watching everything we do online.

Oh, yeah, for sure.

They keep track of our searches, and then they

build these detailed profiles about us,

and they use that to target us with ads.

It's like you were saying.

It's like they're reading our minds.

Like, I search for one thing, and then bam,

I'm seeing ads for it everywhere.

Yeah, exactly.

And it can feel really intrusive.

Definitely.

But SearXNG offers something completely different.

It was designed from the ground up to respect your privacy.

OK, that sounds really promising.

So how does it actually work?

What are some of the key features

that protect our privacy?

Well, the biggest one, as we already touched on,

is that it doesn't track your searches or profile.

SearXNG doesn't record what you're looking for

or try to connect it back to you in any way.

OK, so that's a huge difference right there.

And you know, when I was doing a little reading about this,

I also noticed that it gives you options

for how it handles scripts and cookies.

Right.

Now, for someone who's just starting

to think about online privacy, can you

explain why that matters?

Like, what are scripts and cookies,

and why should we care about them?

Yeah, sure.

So basically, a lot of websites, they

use these little bits of code called scripts,

and they use these tiny files called cookies.

And basically, what they do is they follow you

around the internet and keep track

of what you're doing online.

Oh, wow.

OK.

But SearXNG, it actually gives you more control over this.

OK, good.

Often, you can actually choose whether or not

to allow those scripts and cookies, which

helps to limit how much information these companies

can gather about your browsing habits.

That makes sense.

So it's all about having control over who gets

to see what you're doing online.

Yeah, pretty much.

Yeah.

And on top of that, SearXNG also uses

secure encrypted connections.

Right, the HTTPS that we see at the beginning of web addresses.

Exactly.

HTTPS encrypts the communication between you and the SearXNG

instance that you're using.

So it's kind of like scrambling a phone conversation.

Exactly.

So if anyone were to try to listen

in on what you're searching, they

wouldn't be able to understand it.

Right, it just adds an extra layer of protection

to keep your searches private.

I like it.

Now, for those listeners who are really serious about staying

anonymous online, I've heard that SearXNG can even

be used with Tor.

Oh, yeah, definitely.

Is that something like next level privacy?

Yeah, for sure.

It's definitely for people who want that extra layer of anonymity.

So for those who might not know what's Tor.

So Tor, it stands for the onion router.

And basically, it's a network that

makes your internet traffic a lot harder to trace.

It bounces your traffic through a bunch of different servers

all over the world.

So it's like your searches are taking a really roundabout route

to their destination.

Yeah, exactly.

And that makes it much harder for anyone to figure out

where they came from.

OK, so if you're someone who needs

that level of anonymity, SearXNG has got you covered.

Yes, exactly.

It's a great option.

All right, so it sounds like SearXNG is really

focused on keeping our searches private.

But what about the results?

If it's not using those big search engines directly,

are we going to miss out on information?

That's a great question.

And to be honest, it's something that I thought about, too,

before I started using SearXNG.

But what's really interesting is that SearXNG can actually

pull results from a surprisingly large number

of different sources.

Like it says in the documentation,

it uses up to 231 different search services.

Wow, 231.

Yeah, and includes the major search engines that we all

know, but it also includes a ton of specialized databases

and other sources that we might not even know about.

So you might actually end up with more diverse results

than you would get from just using one search engine.

Exactly.

And I mean, I know this from personal experience.

There have been times when I've used SearXNG

and I found these really interesting research papers

or forum discussions that I never

would have found if I had just stuck to one of the big guys.

That's awesome.

So it's kind of like taking the blinders off

and seeing the bigger picture.

Exactly.

And there's also about 70 well-maintained public instances

that are already set up.

Oh, wow.

And they're all listed on https://searx.space/.

So you can try it out right now without having

to install anything.

So if I'm just getting started, I literally just go to https://searx.space/,

click a link, and I can start searching privately.

Exactly.

It's super easy.

That is very cool.

All right, so beyond just searching,

I noticed that SearXNG is open source

and driven by a community.

What does that mean for someone who's just using it to search?

Well, it basically means that the software

is developed in a way that's completely transparent.

OK.

Anyone can look at the code, see how it works,

and even contribute to it.

So it's not like some mysterious black box

controlled by a big corporation.

Exactly.

It's more like a collaborative effort,

a bunch of people working together to make something great.

And even if you're not a techie, there are still

ways that you can get involved.

Oh, OK.

Like how?

Well, you can help with things like translations,

or you can report bugs, or you can just

participate in the discussions about the development

of the software.

Oh, cool.

So it's kind of like a big open community project.

Yeah, exactly.

Now, I also saw that SearXNG is a fork of another project

called CRX.

What does that mean for the average user?

Do we need to know the backstory?

It's not essential to use it, but it

is kind of interesting.

So basically, in the world of software development,

a fork happens when a group of developers

takes the code of an existing project,

and then they start developing it in a new direction.

OK, so it's like a branching off point.

Exactly.

And in the case of SearXNG, this happened back in mid-2021.

A group of developers took the CRX project,

and they created SearXNG.

So basically, SearXNG is like a continuation

of that original idea of a privacy-respecting meta

search engine.

So it's kind of like CRX 2.0.

Yeah, you could think of it that way.

So to get started, the easiest way

is to just go to CRX.space and pick a public instance.

But for those who are maybe a little more tech savvy,

are there other ways to use SearXNG?

Oh, yeah, definitely.

For those who like to tinker, you can actually

self-host SearXNG, which means that you

run your own private version of SearXNG on your own server

or your own computer.

And the cool thing is there's a Docker image available,

which makes it super easy to set up.

Now, a Docker image, is that something

that a beginner should be trying to tackle?

I would say probably not.

But if you're comfortable using the command line

and things like that, then it's definitely

something you could explore.

There are also installation scripts and step-by-step

instructions if you prefer to go that route.

Well, it's good to know that the option is there for people

who want that level of control.

Yeah, for sure.

Awesome.

So to quickly summarize, SearXNG is this awesome free meta

search engine that pulls in results

from hundreds of different sources

without tracking you or building a profile on you.

And you can start using it right now by going to crx.space.

And by using SearXNG, you're taking control

of your privacy online.

You're seeing a wider range of information

without having your results filtered or influenced

by those algorithms.

So what might you discover when your searches are truly

your own?

Good question.

We really encourage everyone to check out

SearXNG at crx.space and see what they find.

I agree.

And of course, we want to thank Safe Server for supporting

this deep dive into the world of private search.

They're dedicated to digital sovereignty,

and they offer hosting solutions for projects

like SearXNG.

You can learn more about them at www.safeserver.safeserver.de.

Thanks again to Safe Server.

All right, that's it for this episode of the Deep Dive.

We'll catch you next time.