What Your Search History Reveals About You

As a reader of our blog, it’s unlikely that we need to stress to you the importance of keeping your search history private. After all, you’re already following the most private search engine in the world, which would hopefully mean that you’ve already added our engine to your Online Privacy Toolkit. We’ve also written at length about the data that non-private engines collect on you and how they use it to target you, influence your behavior, or even serve you different information.

But what about the people in your life who still use non-private search engines? Do they not care about protecting their privacy?

In our experience, most non-private searchers fall into two groups: those who don’t know any better, and those who think they don’t have a choice. We wanted to do something that could help people in both groups, which is why we’re proud to share the first installment of our video explainers series: “What Your Search History Reveals About You”! We know how challenging it can be to convince the people in your circle to make the changes necessary to protect their data privacy. After all, we have friends and family too (or at least most of us do)! So rather than convincing them yourself, we wanted to create something that could do all of the explaining and convincing for you in a quick and easy way that they will actually want to watch. Better yet, we’ve made sure to share it on all of the major social platforms: YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, X, and even LinkedIn.

So check out the video below, and share it with anyone you know who still doesn’t search privately. And also be sure to keep your eyes out for much more original video content coming soon!

Frequently Asked Questions

How much can someone deduce about me just from my search history, even if they don’t know my name?

Search history by itself can reveal a lot (your interests, concerns, hobbies, current life situation, and future plans) because what you search shows what you care about or what you’re investigating. Over time, a pattern of searches can become a detailed profile of habits, health questions, financial concerns, or personal interests.

Who might have access to my search history (or be able to get it), beyond just me?

Not only the search engine itself, but also internet service providers (ISPs), network administrators (e.g. at work or school), anyone who controls the network, and potentially advertisers or data-brokers who buy or trade search/browsing data. Also anyone with access to your device—or anyone who intercepts network traffic (if unencrypted)—could view your search queries.

Can anonymous or private search engines completely protect me, or are there still risks if I use them?

Private or anonymous search engines can significantly reduce the amount of data stored about you and prevent long-term tracking tied to your identity. But even then, your behavior—the kinds of things you search for, when, and how often—can still carry risk if someone were to link them together or combine them with other data (for example network logs, metadata, or public information). Anonymity reduces but rarely eliminates all exposure.

If I delete my local browser history, does that erase the trail of what I searched?

Removing history from your own device helps obscure what you searched from anyone who later uses that same device. However, it may not remove records held by the search engine, your ISP, or any third-party trackers that logged your search at the time. In other words: deletion on your end is only part of the picture.

Could small, harmless searches become risky if someone aggregates a lot of them over time?

Yes. What might look like benign, unrelated searches (e.g. looking up book reviews, recipes, travel ideas, or articles) can form a “mosaic” that reveals patterns about your lifestyle, interests, health, relationships, beliefs, or future plans. Combined data becomes far more sensitive than individual isolated searches.