POST Search Privacy

SUMMARY

Automatically replaces insecure GET requests of search providers with secure/private POST requests.

Version: 1.0.2

Supported Search Engines:

- Startpage
- DuckDuckGo

Tried to add the qwant privacy-centric search-engine but they don't support HTTP POST. Imagine my surprise.

Motivation

This is a pretty simple yet longstanding problem. We all know that if we visit a site with `https://` in the link, it means our web browser has an encrypted (SSL) connection to the web-site. This is great for securely submitting passwords and other personal data. The problem is, the characters that comprise the URL in a GET request are not private at all.

- POST requests aren't cached by the browser or search history (GET requests are).
- POST requests on an `https` site are hidden from your ISP (GET requests are not).

GET & POST Requests?

Let's say Alice visits `https://acmebank.com` where she logs into her bank account. To login, she submits a form on the bank's web-site containing her username and password. When she clicks the login/submit button, her username and password are sent securely to `acmebank.com` because:

- Login forms traditionally use the HTTP (Over HTTPS) method called POST.
- POST requests (Forms) are transmitted to the website via HTTP headers. If the URL starts with `https://`, the POST request is encrypted. No outside entities (Her ISP, governments, etc.) can directly spy on what Alice submitted. If it had instead been a GET request, Alice would see something like this in her address bar after clicking submit: `https://acmebank.com/login/?user=alice&password=monkey123`.

Search Engines Use GET? WHY!

It doesn't make much sense, does it? Go to just about any search engine, even the privacy-centric ones (DuckDuckGo, Startpage, etc.), and search for `test123`. You'll see that the address in the address-bar now contains your search query (Like `https://www.startpage.com/do/search?query=test123` ). Congrats. You now have zero privacy of your search habits.

The Conspiracy

I'd take the odds of a conspiracy here. You have a superior programming method which all web developers know to use by default, yet magically:

- All major search engines, including the privacy-centric ones (DuckDuckGo & Startpage) use GET requests by default.
- No major web browser, including the privacy-centric one (Brave), supports POST requests for search providers.

It's not like they don't support POST. Both DuckDuckGo and Startpage both support it but it's off by default and not supported by browser search providers. The NSA and British intelligence have clearly infiltrated our search infrastructure.

Hail Hydra (Or don't and use this extension)

The Simple Solution

The extension monitors your searches in the background. If it sees a GET request being used to search a popular search-engine, it converts it to POST on-the-fly. The extension doesn't keep any records of your search history and can't transmit it anywhere except securely to the engine you're searching. Alice's ISP, government, etc. will only see that she visited `https://www.startpage.com/do/search`. Her search query `test123` (And all future searches) is now transmitted securely and privately.

For we who install extensions, problem solved. What about everyone else? Well, there have been massive feature request threads going back several years. I participated in some of them. Here we sit.

------------ Changelog ------------
1.0.2
- Removed build cache from vcs with BFG for #2
- Moved Web Store art to art.zip & moved art.zip to root for #3
- Minor refactoring.
1.0.1
- Fixed the bug which was breaking Startpage searches from the address bar.
- Added dark theme styles to the search loading page so that it looks nicer.
- Made some improvements (675c642 & ebe3cbb) to the README.md file.
- Created Chrome Web Store tile images.
1.0.0
- Initial release version.

The latest version of POST Search Privacy is available on the Chrome web and is currently being used by 207 active users. The initial version was launched on 2021-02-19.

HOW TO INSTALL POST Search Privacy FROM A CRX FILE

1. Download POST Search Privacy CRX file
2. NOTE: Sometimes the browser may block downloading / installing CRX file from outside the Chrome Web Store. If so, you may need to download the ZIP file instead
3. In the URL bar, go to chrome://extensions
4. Enable Developer mode

Ratings

USER REVIEWS (0)