Anonomized Search Results with Scroogle

Scroogle is a web service masks the IP address of users who want to run Google searches anonymously and has an option for SSL encryption (256-bit AES key) of all communication between their computer and the search page.

Scroogle acts as a proxy for Google searches. This means the search terms, IP addresses, and other search info that is usually recorded by Google about your searches is anonomized through this system.

Scroogle also deletes all logs and cookies on their servers within 48 hours for an added measure of privacy.

Scroogle was created by David Brandt who is concerned about the privacy policies of Google Inc., Google AdSense, and other internet privacy issues.



Google Inc. the dominant worldwide force in Internet search, cloud computing, mobile computing, and advertising technologies.

Google, like most search engines, places a cookie to track a person's search history, on each registered user's computer.
This Google cookie is used to maintain user preferences between sessions. This cookie will expire after 18 months, but the cookie is renewed whenever a Google service (search, Gmail, etc.) is used.

Google also aggregates search data by IP address, storing data for 9 months.

The stored search data is a potential treasure trove of marketing information, which could be used to create detailed behavior profiles to assist in targeting advertising and other uses. The potential power of this type of aggregate data to profile individuals is concerning to privacy advocates.

Additional concerns have been raised regarding the potential use of stored search data by law enforcement, government agencies, and even criminal enterprises.