<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en" data-content_root="./"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <title>Why use a private instance? — SearXNG Documentation (2023.12.31+3535377c9)</title> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="_static/pygments.css?v=4f649999" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="_static/searxng.css?v=52e4ff28" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="_static/tabs.css?v=a5c4661c" /> <script src="_static/documentation_options.js?v=b1d9d925"></script> <script src="_static/doctools.js?v=888ff710"></script> <script src="_static/sphinx_highlight.js?v=dc90522c"></script> <link rel="index" title="Index" href="genindex.html" /> <link rel="search" title="Search" href="search.html" /> <link rel="next" title="Administrator documentation" href="admin/index.html" /> <link rel="prev" title="About SearXNG" href="user/about.html" /> </head><body> <div class="related" role="navigation" aria-label="related navigation"> <h3>Navigation</h3> <ul> <li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px"> <a href="genindex.html" title="General Index" accesskey="I">index</a></li> <li class="right" > <a href="py-modindex.html" title="Python Module Index" >modules</a> |</li> <li class="right" > <a href="admin/index.html" title="Administrator documentation" accesskey="N">next</a> |</li> <li class="right" > <a href="user/about.html" title="About SearXNG" accesskey="P">previous</a> |</li> <li class="nav-item nav-item-0"><a href="index.html">SearXNG Documentation (2023.12.31+3535377c9)</a> »</li> <li class="nav-item nav-item-this"><a href="">Why use a private instance?</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="document"> <div class="documentwrapper"> <div class="bodywrapper"> <div class="body" role="main"> <section id="why-use-a-private-instance"> <h1>Why use a private instance?<a class="headerlink" href="#why-use-a-private-instance" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h1> <aside class="sidebar"> <p class="sidebar-title">Is it worth to run my own instance?</p> <p>.. is a common question among SearXNG users. Before answering this question, see what options a SearXNG user has.</p> </aside> <nav class="contents local" id="contents"> <ul class="simple"> <li><p><a class="reference internal" href="#how-does-searxng-protect-privacy" id="id1">How does SearXNG protect privacy?</a></p> <ul> <li><p><a class="reference internal" href="#what-are-the-consequences-of-using-public-instances" id="id2">What are the consequences of using public instances?</a></p></li> <li><p><a class="reference internal" href="#i-see-what-about-private-instances" id="id3">I see. What about private instances?</a></p></li> </ul> </li> <li><p><a class="reference internal" href="#conclusion" id="id4">Conclusion</a></p></li> </ul> </nav> <p>Public instances are open to everyone who has access to its URL. Usually, these are operated by unknown parties (from the users’ point of view). Private instances can be used by a select group of people. It is for example a SearXNG of group of friends or a company which can be accessed through VPN. Also it can be single user one which runs on the user’s laptop.</p> <p>To gain more insight on how these instances work let’s dive into how SearXNG protects its users.</p> <section id="how-does-searxng-protect-privacy"> <span id="searxng-protect-privacy"></span><h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id1" role="doc-backlink">How does SearXNG protect privacy?</a><a class="headerlink" href="#how-does-searxng-protect-privacy" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2> <p>SearXNG protects the privacy of its users in multiple ways regardless of the type of the instance (private, public). Removal of private data from search requests comes in three forms:</p> <blockquote> <div><ol class="arabic simple"> <li><p>removal of private data from requests going to search services</p></li> <li><p>not forwarding anything from a third party services through search services (e.g. advertisement)</p></li> <li><p>removal of private data from requests going to the result pages</p></li> </ol> </div></blockquote> <p>Removing private data means not sending cookies to external search engines and generating a random browser profile for every request. Thus, it does not matter if a public or private instance handles the request, because it is anonymized in both cases. IP addresses will be the IP of the instance. But SearXNG can be configured to use proxy or Tor. <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/asciimoo/morty">Result proxy</a> is supported, too.</p> <p>SearXNG does not serve ads or tracking content unlike most search services. So private data is not forwarded to third parties who might monetize it. Besides protecting users from search services, both referring page and search query are hidden from visited result pages.</p> <section id="what-are-the-consequences-of-using-public-instances"> <h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#id2" role="doc-backlink">What are the consequences of using public instances?</a><a class="headerlink" href="#what-are-the-consequences-of-using-public-instances" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3> <p>If someone uses a public instance, they have to trust the administrator of that instance. This means that the user of the public instance does not know whether their requests are logged, aggregated and sent or sold to a third party.</p> <p>Also, public instances without proper protection are more vulnerable to abusing the search service, In this case the external service in exchange returns CAPTCHAs or bans the IP of the instance. Thus, search requests return less results.</p> </section> <section id="i-see-what-about-private-instances"> <h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#id3" role="doc-backlink">I see. What about private instances?</a><a class="headerlink" href="#i-see-what-about-private-instances" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h3> <p>If users run their <a class="reference internal" href="admin/installation.html#installation"><span class="std std-ref">own instances</span></a>, everything is in their control: the source code, logging settings and private data. Unknown instance administrators do not have to be trusted.</p> <p>Furthermore, as the default settings of their instance is editable, there is no need to use cookies to tailor SearXNG to their needs. So preferences will not be reset to defaults when clearing browser cookies. As settings are stored on their computer, it will not be accessible to others as long as their computer is not compromised.</p> </section> </section> <section id="conclusion"> <h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id4" role="doc-backlink">Conclusion</a><a class="headerlink" href="#conclusion" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2> <p>Always use an instance which is operated by people you trust. The privacy features of SearXNG are available to users no matter what kind of instance they use.</p> <p>If someone is on the go or just wants to try SearXNG for the first time public instances are the best choices. Additionally, public instance are making a world a better place, because those who cannot or do not want to run an instance, have access to a privacy respecting search service.</p> </section> </section> <div class="clearer"></div> </div> </div> </div> <span id="sidebar-top"></span> <div class="sphinxsidebar" role="navigation" aria-label="main navigation"> <div class="sphinxsidebarwrapper"> <p class="logo"><a href="index.html"> <img class="logo" src="_static/searxng-wordmark.svg" alt="Logo"/> </a></p> <h3><a href="index.html">Table of Contents</a></h3> <ul class="current"> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="user/index.html">User information</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1 current"><a class="current reference internal" href="#">Why use a private instance?</a><ul> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="#how-does-searxng-protect-privacy">How does SearXNG protect privacy?</a><ul> <li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="#what-are-the-consequences-of-using-public-instances">What are the consequences of using public instances?</a></li> <li class="toctree-l3"><a class="reference internal" href="#i-see-what-about-private-instances">I see. What about private instances?</a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toctree-l2"><a class="reference internal" href="#conclusion">Conclusion</a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="admin/index.html">Administrator documentation</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="dev/index.html">Developer documentation</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="utils/index.html">DevOps tooling box</a></li> <li class="toctree-l1"><a class="reference internal" href="src/index.html">Source-Code</a></li> </ul> <h3>Project Links</h3> <ul> <li><a href="https://github.com/searxng/searxng/tree/master">Source</a> <li><a href="https://github.com/searxng/searxng/wiki">Wiki</a> <li><a href="https://searx.space">Public instances</a> <li><a href="https://github.com/searxng/searxng/issues">Issue Tracker</a> </ul><h3>Navigation</h3> <ul> <li><a href="index.html">Overview</a> <ul> <li>Previous: <a href="user/about.html" title="previous chapter">About SearXNG</a> <li>Next: <a href="admin/index.html" title="next chapter">Administrator documentation</a> </ul> </li> </ul> <div id="searchbox" style="display: none" role="search"> <h3 id="searchlabel">Quick search</h3> <div class="searchformwrapper"> <form class="search" action="search.html" method="get"> <input type="text" name="q" aria-labelledby="searchlabel" autocomplete="off" autocorrect="off" autocapitalize="off" spellcheck="false"/> <input type="submit" value="Go" /> </form> </div> </div> <script>document.getElementById('searchbox').style.display = "block"</script> <div role="note" aria-label="source link"> <h3>This Page</h3> <ul class="this-page-menu"> <li><a href="_sources/own-instance.rst.txt" rel="nofollow">Show Source</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div class="clearer"></div> </div> <div class="footer" role="contentinfo"> © Copyright SearXNG team. </div> <script src="_static/version_warning_offset.js"></script> </body> </html>