Slowly beginning to use European alternatives for the following. See the list below.
I figured it was a good start to all the new ones around here:
Google -> Qwant
Apple Music -> Qobuz
ChatGPT -> Me Chat
Twitter/X -> Mastodon
And of course:
Reddit -> Lemmy
I will update this list as I continue 👌🏼
I sure hope it’s not or we’re in trouble : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qwant#Controversies
Could you expand on the privacy issues you refer to?
The wikipedia article doesn’t make much sense nor present anything too concerning.
It also reads like a machine translation so it might be some nuance is simply lost there.
The french version has a bit more info, if you speak french
The last part in english is still recent and concerning :
"### CNIL and the Qwant - Microsoft Partnership
In February 2025, the CNIL issued a legal reminder to Qwant, stating that the data processed by the search engine to Microsoft was personal data rather than anonymous data"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commission_nationale_de_l'informatique_et_des_libertés
Thanks! And yes that’s bad. Especially since it’s clearly an ongoing issue.
Shame, I liked the results a bit better than those I was getting on DDG.
@tatann @hamburgkai What are you referring to? The only thing that this says is that they were not privacy focused from the get-go in 2013 (12 years ago!).
Also, please don’t use Wikipedia as single point of truth. I could go in there anonymously and write that Qwant is the worlds best search engine for privacy and nothing else compares or that it is the worst thing since the Stasi. Both statements are untrue. Always cross reference and do some further research.
So what’s the alternative you suggest then? We’re being fucked on all fronts, privacy doesn’t exist by this point.
I don’t think there’s an ideal alternative, I personnally use Startpage right now cause Qwant was removed from the latest Ironfox update.
I just wanted to point out Qwant had its fair share of privacy issues.
Startpage is American based
"By maintaining its headquarters and operations in the Netherlands, Startpage continues to be protected by Dutch and European Union (EU) privacy laws’
🤔
@tatann @igiIq Nope, they are not American based… They are based in the Netherlands. They are partially owned by an American Company though. I couldn’t quickly find sources to what percentage.
But still, I think they also changed their practices to make it for profit and it also still depends on google