unwoke.space

Privacy policy

Last updated October 22, 2026

The short version: we keep as little about you as we can, and what you search for is never linked to you, not to your account, not to your IP address, not even to the exact time. We don't sell or share information about you, and there are no trackers, analytics services or third-party scripts on this site.

Searching

  • No account is needed. You can search without signing in.
  • Your searches are sent to other search engines from our server, not from your browser, so they see our server's address, not yours, and get none of your cookies or account details. They receive the search words, your chosen region and language, the SafeSearch setting and the page number.
  • Suggestions as you type come from DuckDuckGo. The letters you type are sent to them from our server, in the same anonymous way.
  • "Near me" searches: when you search for something like "pizza near me", we look up your approximate city from your IP address on our own server (no outside service), add the city to the search, and forget both straight away. The results page shows what was added. This is skipped when you use Tor.
  • Search statistics: to learn what people look for, we count search phrases with only the week they were searched in. Nothing about who searched is stored with them.
  • Our server logs keep a shortened IP address (the last part removed), the page visited without the search words, the browser type and the time, for 14 days, to keep the site running and fight abuse.
  • Images in results are fetched through our server, so the sites they come from don't see you.

Votes and personal settings

  • Without an account, your votes are stored under a random code in a cookie on your computer; we don't know who you are. They only re-order your own results. If you don't vote for 13 months, they are deleted.
  • With an account, your votes and personal tags are stored with your account so they can count for everyone and follow you between devices. They are deleted with your account.
  • If you vote down a suggested alternative, we remember not to suggest that site to you for that subject.
  • Region: the country you choose is kept in a cookie, and on your account when you are signed in.

Accounts

  • We store your email address (to confirm your account and reset your password), your password as a one-way hash we can't read, the date you joined and your settings.
  • Your username is private: it is kept encrypted and only you and the site's admins can see it (influencers choose to show theirs publicly).
  • We send you email only for your account (confirmations, password resets) or about your ads. Email is sent through our email provider; there are no newsletters, and your address is never given to anyone else.
  • To have your account deleted, use Contact us. Deleting it removes your email, password, username, votes, tags and invitations. Records of ad payments are kept, as the law requires for accounting.

Visit statistics

To see how many people use the site, each page view (not searches) is recorded with a shortened IP address, a random visit cookie (kept 30 days), the browser type, the page and the time. These records are deleted after 90 days; only the daily totals stay. If your browser sends "Do Not Track" or "Global Privacy Control", no visit cookie is set and the view isn't recorded.

Security limits

To stop password guessing and spam, failed logins, sign-ups, password-reset requests and messages from people who aren't signed in are counted per IP address. These records are deleted after 48 hours.

Contact messages and feedback

  • Messages sent with Contact us are kept until we've dealt with them. Your name and email are optional; give them only if you'd like a reply. If you are signed in, the message is linked to your account.
  • Feedback about search results keeps the search, the results shown and your comment, but nothing about who sent it. We may use an AI assistant to help review it.

Ads and payments

  • Ads are matched to the words of a search, so we count how often each ad is shown and clicked with only the day, never who saw or clicked it.
  • Ads are paid through PayPal. You give your payment details to PayPal, not to us; from PayPal we keep only the payment's amount, status, reference numbers and the payer's country.

Backups

So the site can be restored after a failure, we keep copies of the database on our own server, readable only by its administrator: one for each of the last 3 days, then one a week for the last month, one a month for the last year, and one a year. Only the copies of the last 3 days include visit statistics and security records; the older ones leave them out. A deleted account can remain in these copies (in the yearly ones for good); they are used only to restore the site after a failure, never to bring a deleted account back.

Cookies

We use only our own cookies, and none for advertising or tracking across sites:

  • uw_session: keeps you signed in and protects forms, until you close the browser.
  • uw_remember, uw_name: "keep me logged in" and your username (encrypted), 30 days.
  • uw_anon: the random code for your votes without an account, a year from your last vote.
  • uw_region: your chosen country, 1 year.
  • uw_vid: the random visit code for statistics, 30 days (not set with Do Not Track).
  • Search preferences you save (language, theme and so on) are kept in cookies too.

Tor

You are welcome to use the site through Tor. We check whether a visit comes from Tor only to show the 🧅 sign; nothing is stored.

Changes and questions

If we change this policy, the date at the top changes. Questions? Use Contact us. See also our Terms of use.