/e/OS, the deGoogled and pro-privacy smartphone operating system (OS), is bringing the privacy-focused independent search engine Mojeek to its users for the first time. Mojeek is the only genuine, privacy-first, non-tracking search engine based in Europe and a genuine alternative to the hegemony of Bing, Google, and Apple. Mojeek gives internet users new choices to conduct anonymous searches online in response to privacy concerns.
Mojeek and /e/OS are looking at new ways this combo can benefit people who want to escape Silicon Valley’s walled gardens of what internet users consider to be ‘intrusive surveillance’. Gael Duval and Marc Smith, the founders of the two alternative tech initiatives /e/OS and Mojeek, respectively, have developed resilient companies that compete with Big Tech and provide consumers actual options.
Numerous other alternative search engines, such as Duck Duck Go, Neeva, and Ecosia, continue to use the information that Bing and Google supply in comparison. But, Mojeek has its own index of more than 6 billion pages, so it can deliver results without using external user data.
The Mojeek search engine is now available in the /e/OS Browser app’s list of other privacy search choices with the release of the most recent upgrade of /e/OS 1.8.
By selecting the three dots icon in the top right corner and going to Settings > Search engine, users of smartphones running the /e/OS operating system can modify the default search engine in the Browser app. /e/OS is a deGoogled mobile operating system that goes to considerable pains to eliminate all the obtrusive and privacy-invading features often seen when using other search engines. Gael and his team have simplified the transition to privacy for the end-user through their work with Mojeek.
With most comparable operating systems, you need to have enough technical know-how to unlock and re-flash your previously Android-running device. However, with their trading arm, users can purchase Murena smartphones, including the Murena One, with the /e/OS operating system already installed on them. Moreover, pre-flashed /e/OS smartphone versions come from Fairphone, an anti-e-waste electronics company that provides an ethical and sustainable smartphone option.
Founded in 2004, Mojeek is a non-tracking search engine that is truly and openly independent, in contrast to the majority of purportedly “alternative” search engines that still use Google or Microsoft’s Bing as their primary sources of results.
By utilising the support of devoted private investors that support Mojeek’s objectives, Mojeek has grown sustainably since becoming the first private search engine in history back in 2006. Their staff has steadily expanded as a result of the addition of people who cherish privacy and support human rights. This includes Colin Hayhurst, a seasoned software entrepreneur who became CEO in 2020.
