1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,440 Have you ever gotten that like kind of creepy feeling? 2 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:04,060 You know when you search for something online 3 00:00:04,060 --> 00:00:06,720 and then bam, it feels like every ad 4 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:08,120 is suddenly about that thing? 5 00:00:08,120 --> 00:00:09,560 Oh yeah, I know exactly what you mean. 6 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:10,960 It's like all of a sudden the whole internet 7 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:11,800 knows what you're thinking. 8 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:13,400 Yeah, it's like they're reading your mind or something. 9 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:15,280 Right, like do they really need to know? 10 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:17,180 I'm looking for new hiking boots. 11 00:00:17,180 --> 00:00:19,080 Anyway, today we're gonna talk about a way 12 00:00:19,080 --> 00:00:20,560 to like push back against that 13 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:22,000 and take a little bit more control back. 14 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:23,360 Yeah, let's get into it. 15 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:27,280 We're diving into the world of meta search engines, 16 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:28,960 specifically a really interesting one 17 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:31,080 called Seer XNG. 18 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:32,280 And this is for anyone who's new 19 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:33,940 to this whole meta search idea. 20 00:00:33,940 --> 00:00:37,480 Think of it like, imagine you're a researcher 21 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:39,200 and you go to a library. 22 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:40,040 Okay. 23 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:41,800 Instead of going to the shelves yourself 24 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:44,000 and looking through everything, right? 25 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:47,720 Imagine you go up to like a really super smart librarian. 26 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:48,680 I like it. 27 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,320 And you say, hey, I'm looking for information 28 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:53,800 on whatever your topic is. 29 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,120 That librarian, they know where everything is. 30 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:57,640 They know all the best resources, 31 00:00:57,640 --> 00:00:58,920 all the different sections. 32 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:00,640 And they go and pull all that information 33 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:02,400 from all the different places in the library 34 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:03,840 and bring it back to you. 35 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:05,920 So they're like a search engine for search engines? 36 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:06,760 Exactly. 37 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:07,760 That's a perfect way to put it. 38 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:09,320 A search engine for search engines. 39 00:01:09,320 --> 00:01:11,680 That's essentially what a meta search engine does. 40 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:12,500 I love it. 41 00:01:12,500 --> 00:01:16,480 All right, so SearXNG is a free internet meta search engine 42 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:17,880 that does exactly that. 43 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:19,160 But here's the kicker. 44 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:21,800 The best part is that it doesn't track you. 45 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:24,320 It doesn't build some creepy profile on you 46 00:01:24,320 --> 00:01:25,720 based on everything you search. 47 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:27,200 Right, it lets you search privately. 48 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:28,520 Exactly. 49 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:31,480 And speaking of online privacy, this whole deep dive 50 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:34,640 is brought to you by the fine folks over at Safe Server. 51 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:36,880 They're huge advocates for digital sovereignty, 52 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,200 helping you take more control of your own data. 53 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:40,040 Love it. 54 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:41,960 And if you get inspired to run your own private search 55 00:01:41,960 --> 00:01:44,280 engine after this, they actually can help you do that too. 56 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,160 They handle hosting for software like SearXNG. 57 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:49,360 Right, so if anyone is intrigued, 58 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:53,600 definitely check them out at www.safeserver.de. 59 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:57,680 OK, so today we're going to break down SearXNG, 60 00:01:57,680 --> 00:01:59,960 figure out how it keeps your searches private, 61 00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:01,600 and most importantly, for our listeners 62 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:03,480 who are just discovering this, how easy 63 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:05,120 is it to actually get started? 64 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:06,320 Well, that's a good question, and that's 65 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:07,520 what we're going to get into. 66 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:11,200 But first, I think we should talk about the problem SearXNG 67 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:12,160 is trying to solve. 68 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:13,440 Yeah, let's do it. 69 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:15,640 I mean, we all use search engines, right? 70 00:02:15,640 --> 00:02:17,200 But more and more people are starting 71 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:20,000 to realize that a lot of those traditional search engines 72 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:22,040 are watching everything we do online. 73 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:23,160 Oh, yeah, for sure. 74 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:25,060 They keep track of our searches, and then they 75 00:02:25,060 --> 00:02:27,760 build these detailed profiles about us, 76 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:29,920 and they use that to target us with ads. 77 00:02:29,920 --> 00:02:31,040 It's like you were saying. 78 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:32,540 It's like they're reading our minds. 79 00:02:32,540 --> 00:02:34,680 Like, I search for one thing, and then bam, 80 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:36,200 I'm seeing ads for it everywhere. 81 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:37,360 Yeah, exactly. 82 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:39,080 And it can feel really intrusive. 83 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:39,720 Definitely. 84 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:42,720 But SearXNG offers something completely different. 85 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:45,400 It was designed from the ground up to respect your privacy. 86 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:47,760 OK, that sounds really promising. 87 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:49,560 So how does it actually work? 88 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:51,240 What are some of the key features 89 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:52,880 that protect our privacy? 90 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:55,080 Well, the biggest one, as we already touched on, 91 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:57,720 is that it doesn't track your searches or profile. 92 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:02,160 SearXNG doesn't record what you're looking for 93 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,200 or try to connect it back to you in any way. 94 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:07,120 OK, so that's a huge difference right there. 95 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:09,400 And you know, when I was doing a little reading about this, 96 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,640 I also noticed that it gives you options 97 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:14,680 for how it handles scripts and cookies. 98 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:15,240 Right. 99 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:16,840 Now, for someone who's just starting 100 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:18,840 to think about online privacy, can you 101 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:20,000 explain why that matters? 102 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:21,480 Like, what are scripts and cookies, 103 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:23,000 and why should we care about them? 104 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:24,040 Yeah, sure. 105 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:25,520 So basically, a lot of websites, they 106 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:28,240 use these little bits of code called scripts, 107 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:30,280 and they use these tiny files called cookies. 108 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:32,160 And basically, what they do is they follow you 109 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:33,620 around the internet and keep track 110 00:03:33,620 --> 00:03:34,800 of what you're doing online. 111 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:35,320 Oh, wow. 112 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:35,840 OK. 113 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:39,360 But SearXNG, it actually gives you more control over this. 114 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:40,040 OK, good. 115 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:41,880 Often, you can actually choose whether or not 116 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:44,120 to allow those scripts and cookies, which 117 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:47,040 helps to limit how much information these companies 118 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:49,480 can gather about your browsing habits. 119 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:50,280 That makes sense. 120 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:52,400 So it's all about having control over who gets 121 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:54,080 to see what you're doing online. 122 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:55,020 Yeah, pretty much. 123 00:03:55,020 --> 00:03:55,520 Yeah. 124 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:57,660 And on top of that, SearXNG also uses 125 00:03:57,660 --> 00:03:59,200 secure encrypted connections. 126 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:02,360 Right, the HTTPS that we see at the beginning of web addresses. 127 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:03,520 Exactly. 128 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:08,800 HTTPS encrypts the communication between you and the SearXNG 129 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:09,960 instance that you're using. 130 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:12,400 So it's kind of like scrambling a phone conversation. 131 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:12,900 Exactly. 132 00:04:12,900 --> 00:04:14,440 So if anyone were to try to listen 133 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:15,780 in on what you're searching, they 134 00:04:15,780 --> 00:04:17,280 wouldn't be able to understand it. 135 00:04:17,280 --> 00:04:19,240 Right, it just adds an extra layer of protection 136 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:20,360 to keep your searches private. 137 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:20,860 I like it. 138 00:04:20,860 --> 00:04:24,040 Now, for those listeners who are really serious about staying 139 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:26,560 anonymous online, I've heard that SearXNG can even 140 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:27,960 be used with Tor. 141 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:29,040 Oh, yeah, definitely. 142 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:31,040 Is that something like next level privacy? 143 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,040 Yeah, for sure. 144 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:35,920 It's definitely for people who want that extra layer of anonymity. 145 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:37,880 So for those who might not know what's Tor. 146 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:40,660 So Tor, it stands for the onion router. 147 00:04:40,660 --> 00:04:42,240 And basically, it's a network that 148 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,720 makes your internet traffic a lot harder to trace. 149 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:48,200 It bounces your traffic through a bunch of different servers 150 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:49,200 all over the world. 151 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:52,280 So it's like your searches are taking a really roundabout route 152 00:04:52,280 --> 00:04:53,600 to their destination. 153 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:54,400 Yeah, exactly. 154 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:56,560 And that makes it much harder for anyone to figure out 155 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:57,440 where they came from. 156 00:04:57,440 --> 00:04:58,960 OK, so if you're someone who needs 157 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:02,320 that level of anonymity, SearXNG has got you covered. 158 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:03,120 Yes, exactly. 159 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:04,440 It's a great option. 160 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:06,880 All right, so it sounds like SearXNG is really 161 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:09,440 focused on keeping our searches private. 162 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:11,640 But what about the results? 163 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:14,660 If it's not using those big search engines directly, 164 00:05:14,660 --> 00:05:16,920 are we going to miss out on information? 165 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:18,160 That's a great question. 166 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:20,280 And to be honest, it's something that I thought about, too, 167 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:22,200 before I started using SearXNG. 168 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:24,600 But what's really interesting is that SearXNG can actually 169 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:28,600 pull results from a surprisingly large number 170 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:30,280 of different sources. 171 00:05:30,280 --> 00:05:31,700 Like it says in the documentation, 172 00:05:31,700 --> 00:05:34,880 it uses up to 231 different search services. 173 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:36,480 Wow, 231. 174 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:39,560 Yeah, and includes the major search engines that we all 175 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,700 know, but it also includes a ton of specialized databases 176 00:05:42,700 --> 00:05:45,000 and other sources that we might not even know about. 177 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:47,320 So you might actually end up with more diverse results 178 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:49,800 than you would get from just using one search engine. 179 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:50,480 Exactly. 180 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:53,040 And I mean, I know this from personal experience. 181 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:55,040 There have been times when I've used SearXNG 182 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:58,200 and I found these really interesting research papers 183 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:00,400 or forum discussions that I never 184 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:03,320 would have found if I had just stuck to one of the big guys. 185 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:03,920 That's awesome. 186 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:05,680 So it's kind of like taking the blinders off 187 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:07,100 and seeing the bigger picture. 188 00:06:07,100 --> 00:06:08,120 Exactly. 189 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,600 And there's also about 70 well-maintained public instances 190 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:12,760 that are already set up. 191 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:13,280 Oh, wow. 192 00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:15,480 And they're all listed on https://searx.space/. 193 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:17,280 So you can try it out right now without having 194 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:18,360 to install anything. 195 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:22,160 So if I'm just getting started, I literally just go to https://searx.space/, 196 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:24,720 click a link, and I can start searching privately. 197 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:25,320 Exactly. 198 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:26,360 It's super easy. 199 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:27,640 That is very cool. 200 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:29,680 All right, so beyond just searching, 201 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:32,920 I noticed that SearXNG is open source 202 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:35,080 and driven by a community. 203 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:38,040 What does that mean for someone who's just using it to search? 204 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:40,280 Well, it basically means that the software 205 00:06:40,280 --> 00:06:42,600 is developed in a way that's completely transparent. 206 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:43,120 OK. 207 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:44,720 Anyone can look at the code, see how it works, 208 00:06:44,720 --> 00:06:45,960 and even contribute to it. 209 00:06:45,960 --> 00:06:48,400 So it's not like some mysterious black box 210 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:50,440 controlled by a big corporation. 211 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:50,920 Exactly. 212 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:52,560 It's more like a collaborative effort, 213 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,240 a bunch of people working together to make something great. 214 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:57,240 And even if you're not a techie, there are still 215 00:06:57,240 --> 00:06:58,600 ways that you can get involved. 216 00:06:58,600 --> 00:06:59,920 Oh, OK. 217 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:01,080 Like how? 218 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:03,200 Well, you can help with things like translations, 219 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:05,200 or you can report bugs, or you can just 220 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:07,360 participate in the discussions about the development 221 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:08,120 of the software. 222 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:08,620 Oh, cool. 223 00:07:08,620 --> 00:07:11,000 So it's kind of like a big open community project. 224 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:12,240 Yeah, exactly. 225 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:16,920 Now, I also saw that SearXNG is a fork of another project 226 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:18,760 called CRX. 227 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:20,840 What does that mean for the average user? 228 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:22,440 Do we need to know the backstory? 229 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:24,840 It's not essential to use it, but it 230 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:25,760 is kind of interesting. 231 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:28,180 So basically, in the world of software development, 232 00:07:28,180 --> 00:07:31,320 a fork happens when a group of developers 233 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:33,760 takes the code of an existing project, 234 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:36,080 and then they start developing it in a new direction. 235 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:38,000 OK, so it's like a branching off point. 236 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:39,040 Exactly. 237 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:43,000 And in the case of SearXNG, this happened back in mid-2021. 238 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:45,200 A group of developers took the CRX project, 239 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:46,640 and they created SearXNG. 240 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:49,080 So basically, SearXNG is like a continuation 241 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:52,640 of that original idea of a privacy-respecting meta 242 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:53,240 search engine. 243 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:55,000 So it's kind of like CRX 2.0. 244 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:56,540 Yeah, you could think of it that way. 245 00:07:56,540 --> 00:07:58,480 So to get started, the easiest way 246 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:03,840 is to just go to CRX.space and pick a public instance. 247 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:06,680 But for those who are maybe a little more tech savvy, 248 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,560 are there other ways to use SearXNG? 249 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:11,160 Oh, yeah, definitely. 250 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:13,960 For those who like to tinker, you can actually 251 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:17,200 self-host SearXNG, which means that you 252 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:21,320 run your own private version of SearXNG on your own server 253 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:23,200 or your own computer. 254 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:26,080 And the cool thing is there's a Docker image available, 255 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:27,920 which makes it super easy to set up. 256 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:29,760 Now, a Docker image, is that something 257 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:32,480 that a beginner should be trying to tackle? 258 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:35,000 I would say probably not. 259 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:36,960 But if you're comfortable using the command line 260 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:38,280 and things like that, then it's definitely 261 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:39,560 something you could explore. 262 00:08:39,560 --> 00:08:42,380 There are also installation scripts and step-by-step 263 00:08:42,380 --> 00:08:44,640 instructions if you prefer to go that route. 264 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:46,760 Well, it's good to know that the option is there for people 265 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:48,380 who want that level of control. 266 00:08:48,380 --> 00:08:49,280 Yeah, for sure. 267 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:49,960 Awesome. 268 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:53,120 So to quickly summarize, SearXNG is this awesome free meta 269 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:54,800 search engine that pulls in results 270 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:56,240 from hundreds of different sources 271 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,280 without tracking you or building a profile on you. 272 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:03,160 And you can start using it right now by going to crx.space. 273 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:05,400 And by using SearXNG, you're taking control 274 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:07,520 of your privacy online. 275 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:09,400 You're seeing a wider range of information 276 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:11,640 without having your results filtered or influenced 277 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:12,840 by those algorithms. 278 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:15,520 So what might you discover when your searches are truly 279 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:16,760 your own? 280 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:17,680 Good question. 281 00:09:17,680 --> 00:09:19,480 We really encourage everyone to check out 282 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,800 SearXNG at crx.space and see what they find. 283 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:23,700 I agree. 284 00:09:23,700 --> 00:09:26,040 And of course, we want to thank Safe Server for supporting 285 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:28,840 this deep dive into the world of private search. 286 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:30,680 They're dedicated to digital sovereignty, 287 00:09:30,680 --> 00:09:32,680 and they offer hosting solutions for projects 288 00:09:32,680 --> 00:09:34,000 like SearXNG. 289 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:38,500 You can learn more about them at www.safeserver.safeserver.de. 290 00:09:38,500 --> 00:09:39,720 Thanks again to Safe Server. 291 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:41,600 All right, that's it for this episode of the Deep Dive. 292 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:42,600 We'll catch you next time.