Definition:
Gibiru is a search engine that lets users look up pages on the internet and presents itself as an alternative focused on search privacy. Its proposition is to provide results without using a personal search history for advertising tracking.
The service states that it does not keep search logs or set its own cookies. These conditions apply to the search engine: they do not mean that pages opened from its results stop collecting information about visitors.
Table of contents
How to use Gibiru
A search begins by entering a query on the Gibiru website. The service displays results linking to related pages, which users can open to read their content.
As with other search engines, it is important to distinguish the results page from the destination website. The former helps users find information; the latter is an independent service with its own terms and data collection mechanisms.
Choosing Gibiru as a search engine does not replace the browser either. The browser remains the application that loads pages, manages permissions and retains certain browsing data according to its settings.
What privacy it offers for searches
Gibiru’s privacy policy states that the service does not keep query logs, set cookies on the device or sell browsing history data. It also provides for reviewing server logs to manage performance and bandwidth, and states that these reviews do not use identifiable information such as IP addresses.
These are the provider’s commitments about how information is handled, not a guarantee of complete anonymity on the internet. HTTPS encrypts the connection to the service, but does not by itself eliminate all the data that may be involved in a communication.
When a result is opened in a conventional browser, the destination website may receive the connection’s IP address and use cookies or other tracking mechanisms. The search engine’s policy does not automatically extend to that website.
What its unfiltered search proposition means
Gibiru uses expressions such as unfiltered and uncensored to describe its approach to accessing information. It presents this approach as an alternative to the restrictions it attributes to major search engines.
This does not establish that its results are exhaustive, impartial or free from any selection process. A search engine needs to determine which content it can display and in what order; a marketing description does not by itself explain all those criteria.
Nor does appearing in the results make a page reliable. Its authorship, sources, date and the evidence supporting its claims remain relevant when assessing information.
The difference between the search engine, Wormhole and a VPN
Gibiru presents its web search engine, the Wormhole mobile application and its VPN service recommendations separately. These are different components, and not all the capabilities advertised for the others should be attributed to the search engine.
Wormhole is described as an application that opens pages within its own interface. Its functionality and availability should be checked in the specific application; it is not a feature that necessarily activates when searching from any browser.
A VPN, in turn, can make websites see its exit server’s IP address rather than that of the user’s connection. Searching with Gibiru is not the same as activating a VPN, and using a VPN does not prevent a website from recognising someone who signs in to it.
How Gibiru is funded
Gibiru states that it earns commissions when users make certain purchases or take actions through the service. Its website also promotes external services, such as a VPN.
A privacy-focused approach therefore does not imply an absence of commercial activity. It is useful to distinguish commitments about data use from the provider’s commercial recommendations and agreements.