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Disconnect Search

Neil J. Rubenking
 & Neil J. Rubenking Principal Writer, Security

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

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Disconnect Search fetches results from popular search engines while protecting your privacy. Once you've installed and configured it, you don't have to do another thing, and it works like a charm. - Security
4.0 Excellent

The Bottom Line

Disconnect Search fetches results from popular search engines while protecting your privacy. Once you've installed and configured it, you don't have to do another thing, and it works like a charm.

Pros & Cons

    • Prevents search sites from tracking your searches and from supplying search terms to sites you click on.
    • Can open found sites in browser's private mode.
    • Easy to use.
    • Separate active Do Not Track tool provides additional privacy protection.
    • Only supports Google, Bing, Yahoo, Blekko, and DuckDuckGo.

If you search online for pressure cookers and backpacks, will the police come knocking at your door? Perhaps not, but search sites definitely mine your search terms to target ads, and they let the sites you click on know what search terms brought you there. If the search site doesn't use HTTPS, your ISP (or any server that your connection passes through) can see just what you were seeking. That is, unless you use Disconnect Search. This simple tool gets you results from top search engines without exposing your activities to anyone.

The development team should know all about snooping searches; one is ex-NSA, three previously worked at Google. They make the product available on a "pay what you want" basis that's extremely flexible. You can pay any amount, including nothing at all. By default, 90 percent goes to the company and 10 percent to a privacy-related non-profit, but you can tweak the split any way you like.

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Final Thoughts

Disconnect Search fetches results from popular search engines while protecting your privacy. Once you've installed and configured it, you don't have to do another thing, and it works like a charm. - Security

Disconnect Search

4.0 Excellent

Disconnect Search fetches results from popular search engines while protecting your privacy. Once you've installed and configured it, you don't have to do another thing, and it works like a charm.

About Our Expert

Neil J. Rubenking

Neil J. Rubenking

Principal Writer, Security

My Experience

When the IBM PC was new, I served as the president of the San Francisco PC User Group for three years. That’s how I met PCMag’s editorial team, who brought me on board in 1986. In the years since that fateful meeting, I’ve become PCMag’s expert on security, privacy, and identity protection, putting antivirus tools, security suites, and all kinds of security software through their paces.

Before my current security gig, I supplied PCMag readers with tips and solutions on using popular applications, operating systems, and programming languages in my "User to User" and "Ask Neil" columns, which began in 1990 and ran for almost 20 years. Along the way, I wrote more than 40 utility articles, as well as Delphi Programming for Dummies and six other books covering DOS, Windows, and programming. I also reviewed thousands of products of all kinds, ranging from early Sierra Online adventure games to AOL’s precursor Q-Link.

In the early 2000s, I turned my focus to security and the growing antivirus industry. After years of working with antivirus, I’m known throughout the security industry as an expert on evaluating antivirus tools. I serve as an advisory board member for the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO), an international nonprofit group dedicated to coordinating and improving testing of anti-malware solutions.

The Technology I Use

Much of the testing I do, particularly testing with real-world ransomware, is just plain dangerous. To perform such tests safely, I sequester them inside virtual machines managed by VMWare Workstation. For cross-platform testing, I use a MacBook Air, a Google Pixel 4, and a 6th-generation iPad.

I rely on my Delphi coding skills to create and maintain small applications. These include programs to check whether an antivirus correctly handled the malware it detected, launch dangerous URLs and record the security program’s reaction, and analyze the malware that I collect for use in testing. I also wrote a tiny browser and text editor for use in testing security apps that have predefined reactions for known products.

I do my writing and research on a Dell OptiPlex desktop, relying on Microsoft Word (my fingers know all the shortcuts). Many of my articles include charts and analysis; Excel is my go-to for those. When work hours end, though, I escape the bounds of Microsoft and Windows. There’s an iPhone in my pocket, I relax with my oversized iPad, and my Kindle Oasis is always loaded with the best science fiction and fantasy.

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