Privacysearching.com - How to remove

Privacysearching.com is a website that replaces your search engine after a certain browser extension is installed. Ads for Privacysearching.com can be found on file download sites and free movie sites. The ads imply that Privacysearching.com performs a security check.

Privacysearching.com is not dangerous, but it is also completely unhelpful and potentially bad for your privacy. Not to mention, it’s completely lacking in any useful features and it only makes your browser harder to use.

Privacysearching.com in short:

Classification	Browser hijacker.
How Privacysearching.com works	Comes with a browser add-on, quietly replaces the default search engine, logs data about each user, can manipulate their web search results.
Problems and issues	Dishonest advertising may lead to people installing Safe Search without wanting to, Privacysearching.com replaces the default search engine in the browser, restricting it for no good reason.
How to remove Privacysearching.com	Uninstall all suspicious browser extensions, find and delete malware and potentially unwanted programs (with Spyhunter for PC, Combo Cleaner for Mac, and others).

What is Privacysearching.com

Search hijacker

Privacysearching.com is a sort of internet search site that “improves search results” (whatever that means). Privacysearching.com appears in web browsers with the installation of the Safe Search (or Safely Search, Search Helper, Search Assistant – it’s inconsistent) extension. Browser extensions are little add-ons that change and add to the features of a browser. In the case of Safe Search, it changes the setting for your default search engine to Privacysearching.com.

If you install Safe Search, your browser might not look different at all. All that changes is that Privacysearching.com gets your search queries if you use the address bar to search.

For example, if you used to use Google.com as your default search engine, then your queries used to be sent straight to Google, which would then display your search results. After Safe Search is installed, your search queries are sent to Privacysearching.com, which can read them and decide where to send them.

By the way, this Safe Search is not related to Safe Search, Simplysafesearch.com, Trustnav SafeSearch, or many other malicious browser add-ons that pretend to improve your safety and security.

Spyware and adware

Privacysearching.com’s main purpose is probably logging user data and advertising. Its privacy policy claims that personally identifiable information is not collected, but it also says that people’s IPs, search terms, ads and results clicked, preferred settings, and other aggregated data is used to improve the ads served and may be sold to third parties.

This doesn’t make Privacysearching.com dangerous. Your computer doesn’t get infected from just going on Privacysearching.com. But it has nothing good to offer.

The problems with Privacysearching.com are these:

• It does almost nothing useful. Changing your search engine? You can do that in the settings.
• Privacysearching.com gets access to your search terms and your browsing history. It can see what you search for on the internet and which sites you visit. It may use this data to help advertisers show you targeted ads.
• It’s unclear what company is behind Privacysearching.com and who should be held responsible in case anything goes wrong.

Safe Search claims it helps you perform private searches, so Privacysearching.com’s behavior is contradictory to the stated purpose of the extension. This might be enough of a violation of Google Chrome’s extension policies to remove this add-on from the store.

But that doesn’t matter. While searching for who might be behind Privacysearching.com, I found dozens and dozens of websites using the same template as Privacysearching.com. New clones are easy to make and flood the Chrome Web Store with, but difficult for moderators of the Store to review. So, even if Privacysearching.com goes away, this type of scam will remain active. You can have to be careful about what you install and download to try and avoid getting your browser hijacked.

How Privacysearching.com spreads

Privacysearching.com is advertised online, on free browser gaming sites and video streaming sites. Privacysearching.com might pop up even if you did not click on an advertisement. Some sites trigger ads when you click on their Download buttons, try to watch a video, or just click on a random spot.

Privacysearching.com shows a page saying (in a tiny font) that you need to go through a standard security check. And, if you go past the first sentence (I didn’t, who has time to read all that?), that you will be given the option to install an extension. Below this text, there’s a button that says “Accept” that leads to Safe Search’s installation page.

It looks like Privacysearching.com uses fake warnings about security checks to confuse and pressure people into installing a browser extension. Another possible violation of Chrome’s rules – Deceptive Installation Tactics.

How to remove Privacysearching.com

Uninstall Safe Search in your browser settings or by going into your extensions space (the upper right corner of your browser window) and removing Safe Search and other unwanted extensions by opening the drop-down menu and choosing Remove.

You can also scan your computer with an anti-malware scanner, such as Spyhunter for Windows, Combo Cleaner for macOS, or other apps that you are comfortable using. If the anti-malware scanner flags an application on your system as malicious, you might want to remove it.

As Privacysearching.com is a website, you can block it by using an anti-malware program or an ad blocker. But it shouldn’t reappear after you removing Safe Search.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Remove unwanted extensions

TopRemoving Privacysearching.com 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 Privacysearching.com. Click on the trash bin icon next to Privacysearching.com 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 Privacysearching.com, 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.

TopRemoving Privacysearching.com from Firefox

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (or press Ctrl+Shift+A on your keyboard).
  
• Go through Extensions and Addons list, remove everything Privacysearching.com related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Privacysearching.com, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
  
• Choose Troubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

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

How to remove Privacysearching.com 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 Privacysearching.com. Click on the "Remove" icon next to Privacysearching.com 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.