Ixquick.com is the company’s meta search engine that doesn’t include Google search results; the company launched StartPage.com in 2009 to provide Google search results with the increased privacy that Ixquick offers.
Surfboard Holding B.V. was the first company to be successfully certified in 2008 with the European Privacy Seal Certificate for their meta-search engines Ixquick and Startpage
CEO Robert Beens credits this week’s surge in traffic to consumers looking for a more private search experience in light of the PRISM-related revelations of the past week.
“People are outraged over secret US surveillance programs and they’re looking for safe, effective search alternatives,” Beens says in the company’s announcement. “We’re excited at this growth and we welcome our newest users with open arms.”
StartPage and Ixquick call themselves "the world's most private search engines" due to powerful features that protect user privacy. StartPage lets users access Google results in total privacy, and Ixquick provides private search results that do not include Google results.
The company has never taken part in any government data collection program, including PRISM, and has never turned over user data to any government entity anywhere on earth. With its headquarters in the Netherlands, the company is not directly subject to US jurisdiction, nor does it participate in US government surveillance or data collection programs.
To further protect their users, StartPage and Ixquick offer the following privacy features:
- No IP address recorded
To complement its search products, the company will be introducing StartMail, a private, subscription-based email platform with strong encryption, later this year. Anyone interested in beta testing the program upon its release can sign up at www.Startmail.com.
EU-Digest
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