Private by Default

A large part of Phoebe's uniqueness is the way it can utilize feedback from searchers to improve itself. As we mentioned in our section on data we don't want this advantage to come at the cost of your privacy - so we will be private by default.

Complete Anonymity

Individuals who come and browse Phoebe without creating an account will have their searches private by default.

We aren't afraid to admit that DuckDuckGo has set the standard here and we intend to emulate them. We admire DDG and their work.

Anonymous Accounts

"No account required. But you might want one."

-- Mozilla Firefox.

Individuals who register for an account will be able to create the account without connecting other parts of their identity to the account (e.g. email address, social network provider, phone number). When you sign up for an account you'll be able to choose your storage provider and whether you want us to save your queries or forget them.

Assuming an individual wants their queries saved it will be in the location of their choice and attached to them only by an account which has no ties to their identity inherent in it.

We see Proton Mail as a great example of how such a service can be offered. One can create an email account without attaching some form of identity verification to it. We hope to emulate their approach.

Selectively Private Accounts

Optionally, you will be able to share your data with us, with select other parties, or with the whole world on a granular level.

Entirely Public Accounts

These accounts invert our private by default practices and allow individuals to choose to make their account public by default instead.

You will be able to control the content that is displayed on a granular level just as other accounts can but the default will be your data is public for all to see.

"I include a lot of personal health data, test files, what bacteria live in my poop (yes, really). Feel free to share all this. I don't care about my privacy."

-- Serge Faguet, founder of Mirror AI, Tokbox, and Ostrovok.

For Future Consideration

• Evan Miyazono has a Draft Open Problem Statement regarding identity verification which outlines some of the difficulties with current options and potential solutions.