Myprivacykeeper.com Search Redirects - How to remove

Myprivacykeeper.com is a search hijacker that takes over the browser and mostly redirects searches to Yahoo.com. It is part of the Web Protection for Chrome™ browser extension. It is supposed to block explicit content but search engines already offer that option. For now, Myprivacykeeper.com is considered a potentially unwanted program (PUP) by some anti-malware vendors because of its search redirects and shady installation tactics.

About Myprivacykeeper.com:

Type of threat	PUP.
Problems with Myprivacykeeper.com	Redundant functionality (or, sometimes, it doesn’t work at all), ads injected into the search results, changed default search engine settings.
Installation	Advertised by unexpected redirects from unrelated sites.
How to remove Myprivacykeeper.com	Uninstall Web Protection for Chrome™, check your computer for malware (with Spyhunter for PC, Combo Cleaner for Mac, and others).

Does Myprivacykeeper.com work?

What is Web Protection for Chrome™

Myprivacykeeper.com is a website associated with the browser extension Web Protection for Chrome™. It can be found advertised on Privacykeeper.net. It appears briefly in the address bar as it redirects searches. If you noticed Myprivacykeeper.com in your address bar, then you probably have Web Protection for Chrome™ installed.

Web Protection for Chrome™ claims that it warns about adult search queries that might lead to explicit material in search results. It also removes certain autocomplete suggestions. In theory, the Myprivacykeeper.com search redirects are for stopping children from searching for adult material and for avoiding NSFW material in general.

Despite Myprivacykeeper.com’s name, it doesn’t do anything for privacy.

Not a very functional extension

Doesn’t always work

Unfortunately, Web Protection for Chrome™ doesn’t really work, at least not consistently.

Sometimes, it does remove images from search results (to the point that looking up anatomy is made difficult). This only works for Yahoo and Bing, not for Google.

But also, Myprivacykeeper.com doesn’t stop users from looking up porn and finding links in search results that lead to adult video sites. This goes for all of the search engines that it supports.

The setting for selecting a search engine that is different from Yahoo reverts when you close Chrome. Myprivacykeeper.com constantly forces Yahoo with each new session.

A related annoying side effect of Web Protection for Chrome™ is that it interferes with Incognito browsing. Because it changes your default search engine to Myprivacykeeper.com, it redirects to Yahoo every time, even though the extension does not work in Incognito mode.

SafeSearch

Here’s what it looks like is happening: Myprivacykeeper.com is using the SafeSearch settings of the Yahoo, Bing, and Google browsers (though it’s failing with Google for some reason).

The SafeSearch setting is meant for blocking explicit search results. It works without Web Protection for Chrome™ and is accessible at any time – for example, here are the instructions for Google.com. It is enabled by default for children who are signed in to their account – about Chrome and child accounts. For properly managed accounts, parents can control their children’s SafeSearch setting.

For some reason, Myprivacykeeper.com doesn’t support other search engines that have the SafeSearch option, like DuckDuckGo.

On the other hand, Web Protection for Chrome™ can be turned off or disabled in the browser, so it’s not a challenge for children to get around (unless you use policies, which would be unnecessarily complicated).

Advertising

Despite all of its problems, Web Protection for Chrome™ is a product with effort put into it. So, it has to be monetized somehow.

Myprivacykeeper.com is monetized by partnering with search engines. So, users of Myprivacykeeper.com have their search engine options restricted. By default, Myprivacykeeper.com redirects to Yahoo.com, which is telling (most browser hijackers use Yahoo).

If I’m reading Myprivacykeeper.com’s privacy policy right, Yahoo.com is the only search partner that helps Myprivacykeeper.com make money, which explains why it’s the default. And indeed, in my experience, some result pages definitely showed more ads when seen through Myprivacykeeper.com.

That might seem like a reasonable price to pay for results free of explicit material – if search engines didn’t already offer tools to filter such material from search results. As it is, Myprivacykeeper.com is a little useless. However, since it makes money from search partners, it exists. In other words, it is a potentially unwanted program. Not dangerous but potentially bad for your privacy and security.

Installation

Looking at web analytics, it seems that some traffic to Privacykeeper.net (the site that advertises Web Protection for Chrome™) comes through malicious redirects from hijacked websites (sites that randomly redirect visitors to promoted sites – usually these are either old sites that got infected or illegal movie streaming sites that show those kinds of ads regularly). Here’s why that’s problematic:

• Some people might mistake the ad for a requirement to install Web Protection for Chrome™.
• This can result in unintentional installations. The fact that Web Protection for Chrome™ doesn’t have a single review despite having tens of thousands of users implies that users don’t know or don’t care about the extension that’s installed.
• It’s common for malware to spread this way.

Browse Safe, Browse Privately, Browse Incognito, Safe Browsing, Safe Search, and similar extensions are being advertised in the same way and share a lot of similarities to Web Protection for Chrome™. Another concerning detail is that Myprivacykeeper.com doesn’t advertise who the developer is at all.

How to remove Myprivacykeeper.com

To stop Myprivacykeeper.com’s search redirects, you need to disable or remove Web Protection for Chrome™. You can do it in browser settings, the instructions can be found below.

I recommend checking for other malware with an antivirus program (Spyhunter for Windows, Combo Cleaner for macOS, or others) because of how Myprivacykeeper.com is advertised and the danger that you might have been exposed to some more serious malware.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Remove unwanted browser extensions

TopRemoving Myprivacykeeper.com Search Redirects from Chrome

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Google Chrome window. Select “Settings”.
  
• Click “Extensions” on the left menu bar.
• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to Myprivacykeeper.com Search Redirects. Click on the trash bin icon next to Myprivacykeeper.com Search Redirects or other add-ons you want to remove.
  
• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.
  
• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.
  
• Restart Chrome.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Myprivacykeeper.com Search Redirects, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
  
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on the Reset settings button.
  
• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How to remove Myprivacykeeper.com Search Redirects from Microsoft Edge:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Microsoft Edge window. Select “Extensions”.

• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to Myprivacykeeper.com Search Redirects. Click on the "Remove" icon next to Myprivacykeeper.com Search Redirects or other add-ons you want to remove.

• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.

• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.

• Restart Microsoft Edge.