[raverbashing]

> When looking at other alternatives such as Ecosia, Qwant

W.r.t. them I agree, but have they been subject to a 3rd party audit (honest question, I'm not familiar with them)?

I'm not saying we should trust DDG (or any search engine) 100% without proof, but the best way of keeping your privacy is not collecting data and it seems DDG is doing that.

[Fnoord]

We don't know what they are collecting. They could just as well be an NSA front and easily profile based on IP searches. In the end, American companies bend to US law. That is why Europeans should desire a European alternative in the first place. The workaround is using Tor.