Privacy#

Searpa is built to be a private alternative to surveillance-funded search. Here is what that means in practice.

What Searpa does not do#

No tracking. Searpa does not follow you around the web or across sessions to build a profile.
No ads. There is no advertising, so there is no incentive to profile you.
No selling data. Your searches are not a product sold to anyone.

How your queries are handled#

Searches run server-side. Searpa talks to upstream providers (Brave, Mojeek, Marginalia and the rest) on your behalf, so those providers don’t see your browser or IP, they see Searpa’s server.
Provider API keys never reach your browser. All upstream calls happen on the server.
Image proxying (optional, in Settings) routes thumbnails through the Searpa server so source sites don’t see your browser either.
Results are briefly cached on the server to keep things fast and reduce load on providers; the cache is keyed to the query, not to you.

Your data#

Your settings sync to your account so they follow you across devices. You can export or delete them.
Your email, if you add one, is used only for password reset, see Your account.

Where it’s run#

The hosted service is operated in the European Union under European privacy law. Because the search engine is open source, anyone can audit how it works, or run their own copy and be the only operator who ever touches their data.

The specific privacy policy, terms and legal notice depend on who operates the instance you use. On the hosted service, see the links in the site footer.