Last updated: 1 September 2026
Protecting your privacy is a core principle of GOOD Search. We do not store search terms, keep a personal search history, or create advertising or behavioural profiles.
1. Controller and contact
The controller responsible for GOOD Search is:
Good Search UG (haftungsbeschränkt)
Goethestraße 69
79100 Freiburg im Breisgau
Germany
Website: https://www.good-search.org
Email: mail@good-search.org
Represented by Dr Andreas Renner and Kevin Fuchs.
Privacy contact:
Kevin Fuchs
Email: kevin@good-search.org
2. Our principles
We do not link search requests to your user account. This also applies when you are signed in.
We do not store search terms or create a personal search history. We do not record which search results you click or how long you spend on external websites. We do not sell personal data or share it for advertising or profiling purposes.
3. Website, hosting and security
To provide GOOD Search technically and securely, we process necessary connection and log data. This may include your IP address, the time of access, the page accessed, and browser and security information.
We host our services and data with Hetzner Online GmbH on servers located within the European Union. Hetzner processes data on our behalf.
We use this data only to provide GOOD Search securely, reliably and without misuse. Log data are deleted or anonymised after 14 days, unless they need to be retained longer to investigate a security incident.
4. Search function and search providers
When you perform a search, we send your search request server-side to the search provider used for that request. Your browser does not connect directly to these providers.
We use, in particular:
- Staan, operated by European Perspective SAS, France
- Mojeek, operated by Mojeek Limited, United Kingdom
- Brave Search API, operated by Brave Software, Inc., United States
We do not transmit your IP address, account ID, email address or other direct identifiers of GOOD Search users. We do not store search requests or link them to your user account.
A search request may nevertheless contain personal information if you enter it yourself. Please therefore do not enter confidential or particularly sensitive information into the search field.
Processing through Staan takes place within the European Union. For transfers to Mojeek in the United Kingdom, the European Commission’s adequacy decision applies.
Brave Search is operated in the United States. Because we do not transmit direct identifiers, a search request sent through GOOD Search cannot generally be linked to a specific person or a particular GOOD Search account. Where a search request itself contains personal data, a transfer to the United States may take place. Such transfers take place only subject to the legally required safeguards for international data transfers, including appropriate safeguards such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.
5. Free use and search limits
For free use without an account, we limit the number of search requests within a certain period. For this purpose, we use a pseudonymous technical identifier that changes daily and is created from a hashed combination of IP address and browser characteristics.
This identifier is used only to enforce the daily limit and prevent misuse. It is not linked to search requests, account data or usage behaviour and is automatically deleted daily at 00:00 UTC. The IP address is not stored in plain text in a user database for this purpose.
6. User account and subscription
User account
When you create a user account, we store your email address for registration, sign-in, and necessary account and contract-related communications. We also store your search settings, such as language, country and SafeSearch, the date your account was created, and your subscription status.
We need this information to provide your account, settings and selected plan. Even with a user account, we do not link search requests to your account or store a search history.
Subscription and invoices
When you purchase a paid subscription, we process the information we need to manage your subscription. This includes, in particular, your email address, selected plan, subscription term and status, as well as information relating to invoices and payment status.
If you voluntarily request an invoice, or where this is necessary for the invoice or required in the course of business, we also process the necessary invoicing information. This may include your name, billing address, company name and tax information that is required.
Payment through frisbii
Payment processing and invoicing are handled by frisbii Germany GmbH and, depending on the payment method, by further payment service providers integrated by frisbii.
You provide payment details, such as credit-card numbers, IBANs or similar payment-method details, directly to frisbii or the relevant payment service provider. GOOD Search does not have access to and does not receive these complete payment details.
We receive only the information needed to manage your subscription and invoice. This may include payment status, a transaction reference, invoice number, invoice amount and required invoicing details.
We store account data for the duration of your user account. After an account is deleted, we remove this data unless statutory retention obligations or legitimate reasons require longer storage. We retain invoices and tax-relevant records in accordance with statutory retention periods.
7. Location search
You may voluntarily share your location for local search. We use your location coordinates only for that specific search and do not store them. Alternatively, you can enter a location manually.
8. Privacy-friendly usage statistics
We operate analytics functions on our own infrastructure in order to improve GOOD Search, plan capacity and detect misuse.
For this purpose, we collect page views by URL path, anonymous counts of registrations and plan changes, and technical metadata relating to search API requests: search type, search provider used, country code based on a GeoIP assignment, language, SafeSearch setting and whether the user is signed in or not signed in.
We do not store search terms, IP addresses, user IDs or account IDs for these purposes, and we do not use cookies or cross-site tracking. Analytics logs are automatically deleted after 90 days.
9. Cookies and similar technologies
GOOD Search uses only technically necessary cookies or similar technologies, for example for secure sign-in and to provide your selected settings. We do not use cookies for advertising, profiling or cross-site tracking.
10. Recipients and processing locations
We do not disclose personal data for advertising, profiling or the sale of data.
Data are transferred only to parties that need them to provide GOOD Search:
- Hetzner Online GmbH for hosting and infrastructure within the EU
- frisbii Germany GmbH and integrated payment service providers for payments and invoicing
- Brave Search, Staan and Mojeek to perform your search request
Where possible, we choose European service providers and European processing locations. If data are processed outside the EU or the European Economic Area, this takes place only subject to the legally required safeguards.
11. Your rights
You have the right to request access to your personal data, correction, deletion, restriction of processing and data portability. You also have the right to object where processing is based on our legitimate interests.
You may withdraw consent you have given at any time with effect for the future.
For questions or to exercise your rights, contact Kevin Fuchs at kevin@good-search.org.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data-protection supervisory authority. The authority particularly responsible for us is the Baden-Württemberg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information.
12. Why we process data
We process personal data only where this is necessary for GOOD Search or otherwise permitted by law. This includes, in particular:
- Providing search, a user account or a subscription
- Providing GOOD Search securely and reliably from a technical perspective
- Protecting against misuse and analysing errors
- Meeting legal obligations, for example in relation to invoices
- Optional features such as location search when you activate them
We do not process data for advertising, personalised ads or the creation of user profiles.
13. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We update this Privacy Policy when our data processing, service providers or legal requirements change. The current version is available on this page.