consider DuckDuckGo. It's a search engine that, unlike Google and most others, does not track you and does not share your personal information. So when you seek information online, it gives you a range of hits not concocted to mirror your perceived opinions and habits. Also unlike Google, DuckDuckGo doesn't hide how it works: its variety of preference settings is awesome. For instance, it lets you choose to not view ads. I've personally opted to make the ads visible because I'm willing to do that for a search engine that treats me with respect as an Internet user. But it's nice to have the choice.
I've ditched Google to try DuckDuckGo and, so far, I'm liking it. (Just so you know, I have no stake at all in DuckDuckGo; I'm an independent user just like you. I just dislike the idea of being guided to certain information and points of view based on some algorithm's idea of who I am. And I mistrust any machinery that hides itself from me.)
I heard about DuckDuckGo through Eli Pariser of MoveOn.org, whose new book The Filter Bubble discusses how Internet filters create a false "world" for you as a search engine user, and whose TED Talk on the topic might spur you to re-think your online habits.
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