<....”The targeted ads for something I look at online follows me constantly”....>
I’m using “Abine”...Do Not Track ME system. In the first four days it blocked over a thousand companies and websites tracking me.
So far I like it...as it does not interfer with any other programs at all...and appears to be doing it’s work. Plus my computer is actually faster with out all that loading on.
Most people don’t realize that social networks like facebook,google etc. all track you....even when you are NOT on their site.
We shall see how this works....I also use StartPage....
That is very much the truth. Frees up considerable memory, too. I have some very old laptops -- oldest is 1999 -- that I keep running using Linux just as a hobby. Without ad blockers, script blockers, do-not-track add-ons they would be pretty useless for browsing most commercial websites. With the blockers they are still slow, obviously, but quite usable.
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Ixquick search engine has improved considerably. They say they are the “world’s most private search engine” And as you mentioned StartPage, it is their sister search engine that does anonymous searches on Google.