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.