Hi Everyone, Startpage here. We are happy to answer any questions people have, please feel free to ask us.
To start, we’ve addressed some existing comments and questions with the information below. I’d also suggest reading this open letter about the acquisition from Startpage Founder and CEO Robert E.G. Beens (https://preview.redd.it/zher3ok6pct31.jpg).
- To ensure that our mission and privacy practices do not change, the investment includes covenants that ensure Startpage’s founders in the Netherlands will retain complete control over all privacy-related decisions.
- Robert still has final say over all product decisions, and Startpage will always be headquartered in the Netherlands.
- System1 invested in Startpage because they recognize increasing consumer demand for privacy-focused tools, not because they plan to alter Startpage’s core mission in any way.
- We will never compromise or weaken Startpage’s industry-leading privacy policy.
- We will not depart from Startpage’s core business model, which has been profitable since 2006. We make money with contextual ads (based solely on your search query) vs. other search engines that make money with behavioral ads (based on your personal profile and browsing history).
- The purpose of this investment is to allow Startpage to reach more users worldwide and advance our mission of making safe, private search available to everyone.
I’m a senior engineer at Startpage, and I can personally confirm all of the above. Our system is implemented in such a way that we never store a user's search query, IP address, or any other personally identifying information, and that will never change. If anyone is interested, I can answer specific questions about technical details.
To start, we’ve addressed some existing comments and questions with the information below. I’d also suggest reading this open letter about the acquisition from Startpage Founder and CEO Robert E.G. Beens (https://preview.redd.it/zher3ok6pct31.jpg).
- To ensure that our mission and privacy practices do not change, the investment includes covenants that ensure Startpage’s founders in the Netherlands will retain complete control over all privacy-related decisions.
- Robert still has final say over all product decisions, and Startpage will always be headquartered in the Netherlands.
- System1 invested in Startpage because they recognize increasing consumer demand for privacy-focused tools, not because they plan to alter Startpage’s core mission in any way.
- We will never compromise or weaken Startpage’s industry-leading privacy policy.
- We will not depart from Startpage’s core business model, which has been profitable since 2006. We make money with contextual ads (based solely on your search query) vs. other search engines that make money with behavioral ads (based on your personal profile and browsing history).
- The purpose of this investment is to allow Startpage to reach more users worldwide and advance our mission of making safe, private search available to everyone.