Search engines
Startpage privacy rating
Dutch search engine returning primarily Google results, proxied to strip IP and identifiers. Includes an "Anonymous View" proxy for previewing results privately.
Summary
Startpage scores 45 out of 100 (grade D) on the search engines criteria. It meets 3 of 11 criteria: TLS configuration, no search history logs and no profile-based ads. It partly meets no ads or data sales, transparency report, security headers and no account needed. It does not meet open source, no trackers or telemetry, independent audit and tells users about requests. It is based in the Netherlands: Nine Eyes member; EU member (GDPR). Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A+ and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade B.
Score 45 out of 100. How scoring works
Criteria
- No
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No
No trackers or telemetry Weight 3 of 3
Are the website and apps free of third-party trackers, with any analytics anonymous and any telemetry off by default?
The website has no tracking cookies, but the Startpage app sends crash reports through Sentry and anonymized product analytics, with no documented opt-out.
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Partial
No ads or data sales Weight 2 of 3
Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data?
Funded by non-personalized sponsored links from Google AdSense.
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No
Independent audit Weight 2 of 3
Has an independent security or privacy audit been published within the last three years?
No independent audit is published.
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Partial
Transparency report Weight 2 of 3
Does the provider regularly publish how many government and legal requests it receives and how it responds?
The privacy policy describes how government requests are handled, but no request counts are published.
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No
Tells users about requests Weight 1 of 3
Does the provider promise to tell users about requests for their data, unless a court forbids it?
No published policy on notifying users about data requests.
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Yes
No search history logs Weight 3 of 3
Are searches stored without IP addresses or other identifiers?
IP addresses and search queries are not recorded, except for blocking automated abuse.
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Yes
No profile-based ads Weight 2 of 3
Are ads (if any) based only on the current search, not a profile?
Only non-personalized ads are shown.
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Partial
No account needed Weight 1 of 3
Can every feature be used without an account?
Search works without an account; the paid subscription needs a Startpage account.
Automated tests
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Yes
TLS configuration Weight 2 of 3
Does the website pass the Qualys SSL Labs test with a grade of A or better?
Grade A+
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Partial
Security headers Weight 1 of 3
Does the website pass the Mozilla HTTP Observatory test with a grade of A or better?
Grade B (70/100+)
-
Not tested yet
Modern web standards Weight 1 of 3
Does the website score 90% or higher on the Internet.nl website test?
Not tested yet.