Shortly after releasing a private web browser, Mullvad VPN has now unveiled the Mullvad Leta search engine to prevent online tracking. This search engine is already available to Mullvad Browser users with premium subscriptions.
Mullvad Leta Search Engine Is The New Privacy Alternative
In a recent post, Mullvad VPN providers shared details about their new privacy-focused release. Named “Mullvad Leta,” the new product is basically a search engine that empowers users to browse links without fearing being tracked.
But this tracking prevention doesn’t mean users must bear with irrelevant search results. Instead, the Mullvad Leta relies on Google Search API for caching each search. This caching enables the search engine to share the results with all users.
For searches not previously cached, Mullvad Leta fetches information from Google by sharing the search term only (without user information). This way, the tool strives to provide better and more accurate search results with minimal costs.
Moreover, this caching also helps the search engine to ensure maximum privacy for the users while blocking tracking links. The tool does not collect user data (per Mullvad VPN’s policy) nor sell ads.
Presently, Mullvad Leta is available to Mullvad VPN users only. Users of the Mullvad Browser can access this search engine directly from their browsers. (This is just another search engine option for the users, alongside the default search engine DuckDuckGo.) Whereas other web browsers’ users need to have an active Mullvad VPN connection to connect to the search engine’s URL (https://leta.mullvad.net/).
For now, the tool has some limitations, even for premium users. First, one registered account can perform up to 100 searches per day. And that includes viewing subsequent search results pages. However, this comes with unlimited cached searches.
Another limitation is that not all searches may display recent results since the searches remain cached for 30 days.
While limitations may seem disappointing, the feature still works great for privacy freaks. Moreover, given the tool’s initial development stage, we can expect Mullvad Leta to provide an improved experience in the future.
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