# MetaGer privacy rating

Open-source metasearch engine run by the German non-profit SUMA-EV that combines results from several search providers, paid for with a prepaid anonymous key, and includes an anonymizing proxy for opening results.

## Summary

MetaGer scores 73 out of 100 (grade C) on the search engines criteria. It meets 6 of 11 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, TLS configuration, no search history logs and no profile-based ads. It partly meets security headers and no account needed. It does not meet independent audit, transparency report and tells users about requests. It is based in Germany: Fourteen Eyes member; EU member (GDPR). Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade B.

- Website: https://metager.org
- Source code: https://gitlab.metager.de/open-source/MetaGer
- Jurisdiction: Germany. Fourteen Eyes member. EU member (GDPR).
- Home page trackers: none found
- Category: [Search engines](https://privacyratings.com/search-engines/)
- Grade: C (73/100)

## Criteria

| Criterion | Answer | Note | Evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Open source | Yes | AGPL-3.0. | https://gitlab.metager.de/open-source/MetaGer/-/blob/development/LICENSE |
| No trackers or telemetry | Yes | No tracking or third-party analytics; error reports go to a self-hosted GlitchTip instance with IP addresses removed. | https://metager.org/datenschutz |
| No ads or data sales | Yes | Funded by prepaid search keys and donations to the non-profit SUMA-EV, with no ads. | https://metager.org/preise |
| Independent audit | No | No independent audit is published. |  |
| Transparency report | No | No transparency report or government request policy is published. |  |
| Tells users about requests | No | No published policy on notifying users about data requests. |  |
| TLS configuration | Yes | Grade A | https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=metager.org&hideResults=on |
| Security headers | Partial | Grade B (75/100+) | https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/observatory/analyze?host=metager.org |
| Modern web standards | Not tested yet | Not tested yet. |  |
| No search history logs | Yes | IP addresses and user agents are not saved, and queries are passed to search partners without identifiers. | https://metager.org/datenschutz |
| No profile-based ads | Yes | No ads are shown. | https://metager.org/ |
| No account needed | Partial | No account or email is needed, but searching requires a prepaid, randomly generated MetaGer key. | https://metager.org/ |

Source: https://privacyratings.com/search-engines/metager/
Edit: https://github.com/privacyratings/privacyratings.com/edit/main/ratings/search-engines/metager.md