• Vexz@kbin.social
      2·
      3 months ago

      They allegedly don’t know their user’s search queries. That’s how it’s allegedly private.

  • noodlejetski@lemm.ee
    36·
    3 months ago

    the CEO sealioning after the author asked them not to contact them anymore is a bit icky, too.

  • macattack@lemmy.world
    29·
    3 months ago

    I enjoyed reading the article. To me, the perspective of the owner reminds me of the owners of Brave in that they are Libertarian in ways that seem aligned with mainstream views at a glance but the Venn diagram also overlaps with a disdain for regulation, while portraying a (potential) facade of being eternally infallible and trustworthy while also being a for-profit company.

    Elon Musk also comes to mind in that his intelligence leaves him vulnerable to overlooking the nuances of conversations and alternative point of views. I think there’s a general over reliance on artificial intelligence as a savior that will be fully embraced that will lead to large issues in the short/long term for Kagi.

    Personally, it always felt a little bit like astroturfing hearing all of the kagi fanboys in every privacy thread, but for what it’s worth, seeing them show up live In the flesh in this thread as well makes me feel a bit less like I’m talking to bots lol

    Personally, I self-host my own version of searXng that only uses search engines that don’t track my IP address. I’d say that those results are good enough 90% of the time, and when I need something more granular, I use a publicly hosted version of searXng that uses Google in its results

  • solrize@lemmy.world
    24·
    3 months ago

    How can anyone worry about IP addresses when the search engine also knows your real world payment credentials? That and privacy don’t really mix.

    • Vexz@kbin.social
      10·
      3 months ago

      They know the names of their customers but they don’t know their search queries. There’s the privacy. At least that’s what they said. Since Kagi isn’t Open Source it always comes down to trust.

    • AVengefulAxolotl@lemmy.world
      7·
      3 months ago

      So, this means Proton is not private either? Any product you pay for cannot be private?

      There is a difference between anonimity and privacy.

      • solrize@lemmy.world
        10·
        3 months ago

        Email is inherently not private. Even if your own provider zealously protects your privacy, if the person you’re emailing uses Gmail, that’s all she wrote.

    • AVengefulAxolotl@lemmy.world
      5·
      3 months ago

      Yeah kind of, but the CEO needs to learn that not everyone will like their products, you cant convince everyone.

      The person said that they dont want to engage with the discussion, then the CEO should have just let it be.

  • Affidavit@aussie.zone
    2515·
    3 months ago

    TBH, OP sounds like a bit of an entitled douche, edit: not the most appropriate descriptor, but I do think OP should try and look at the situation from another perspective.

    In their blog post they complained about lack of transparency and noted numerous issues with Kagi that caused them to lose faith in the company. The CEO personally responds to explain themselves (i.e. make things more transparent) and OP sticks their fingers in their ears and acts liked they’re a victim because the CEO attempts service recovery.

    I’ve made public complaints about companies before. I wish I received such tailored and personalised responses.

    • macattack@lemmy.world
      212·
      3 months ago

      Did we read the same article? His responses to GDPR were very concerning, and I say that as an American.

      • tjhart85@kbin.social
        14·
        3 months ago

        Right?! Super easy to be “privacy focused” when you just flat out refuse to acknowledge anything as personally identifiable information!

      • Affidavit@aussie.zone
        42·
        3 months ago

        I agree with you. I wasn’t referring to the actual contents so much as OP’s attitude about the e-mails from the CEO. I think Kagi could benefit from hiring, or at least consulting, with specialists in the field to better define their position. It’s clear that OP has legitimate concerns.

    • Dirk Darkly@sh.itjust.works
      189·
      3 months ago

      I haven’t seen many public diatribes against Kagi, but the ones I have seem to be like this person. They complain very publicly based on their perception of Vlad, spend their days in Discord fomenting drama (which seems like something only children should be doing) and are so fragile that they think getting measured emails from someone they went after publicly is a form of harrassment. It’s absurd.

      I can only hope this was written by a teenager, otherwise it’s a pretty rough way to live as an adult.

      • Affidavit@aussie.zone
        8·
        3 months ago

        After reading your comment, my calling the OP an ‘entitled douche’ was not the best response. I remember the fragility of being a teenager, and even being a young adult… While unlikely, if the blog’s author does come across these comments, I would rather they take a moment to consider things from Vlad’s/Kagi’s perspective rather than just take my comment as a personal attack.

    • SexyVetra@lemmy.world
      107·
      3 months ago

      You wish the CEO of a company would harass you?

      You wish a CEO would give general denials and the same non-answers you see in a comment thread while pretending to engage with you in good faith?

      Fuck off, the CEO gave no new info or perspectives and just showed himself to be the asshole that recent emerging evidence had been showing he was.

          • Affidavit@aussie.zone
            7·
            3 months ago

            Sure, why not? Though please don’t spread it around, I’m currently under deep cover pretending to be an Australian who frequently comments on Australian news and is registered with an Australian-themed instance.

            It’s all part of my evil plan to have the first multinational company with their global headquarters in Antarctica.

      • capital@lemmy.world
        83·
        3 months ago

        Jesus. How do you function if an email constitutes harassment?

        I get “harassed” daily by hundreds of spammers. I just don’t reply or give it another thought. Things OP could have done.

  • BentiGorlich@gehirneimer.de
    122·
    3 months ago

    Well that sucks… that vlad dude is ehm… weird. I am happy with the service I am getting from Kagi, but such behaviour is not acceptable…

    • Vexz@kbin.social
      43·
      3 months ago

      To me it’s understandable. Imagine you start a project like this that grows over the years and you even have some employees after a while. Now someone writes an article about your project with accusations that are wrong (at least in your mind). Wouldn’t you be pissed either? At least I can’t imagine anyone who could just ignore that.

  • beefbot@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    81·
    3 months ago

    Conflicted! Cory Doctorow just endorsed it & I’m way less smart than that person so i usually do what they say :\

  • grrgyle@slrpnk.net
    41·
    3 months ago

    I enjoy kagi as a service that I’ve paid for, but yeah… stuff like this makes it hard to enjoy with a clear conscience.

    I think the op already said this, but at least this shows that a product like this (with a little more focus, transparency, and integrity) could be sustainable.

  • wolfruff@pawb.social
    1413·
    3 months ago

    Im with Kagi on this. Wtf is wrong with someone sending you emails to an email you decided to make public. This person is projecting how fragile their argument is by reacting this way.

    Vlad was doing the right thing discussing it in private first before they probably address this stupid attempt at causing drama. I read all of the shit they posted and it sounds to me like they are nitpicking/strawmanning AI features which are very VERY optional.

    • noodlejetski@lemm.ee
      18·
      3 months ago

      Wtf is wrong with someone sending you emails to an email you decided to make public

      there’s nothing wrong with that. continuously messaging someone after being told more than once that the recipient doesn’t want to continue the conversation, though? that’s not okay.

      • Vexz@kbin.social
        38·
        3 months ago

        I get that but it’s a dick move by the author of that article to publicly speak bad about a product and then don’t even wanna listen to what that person who made that product has to say to defend it. Especially if there’s some false information that get’s spread by that article. I’m not saying anything written in that article is true or false - just explaining the situation from Vlad’s view.

        • noodlejetski@lemm.ee
          101·
          3 months ago

          that article

          it’s a post on a personal blog of a person on the internet. a blog post. not an article.

          • Vexz@kbin.social
            32·
            3 months ago

            Blog post or article - whatever. The effect is the same: It’s on the internet, people read it and get influenced. Just because I picked the wrong word doesn’t kill my point. I’m sure you get what I meant.

          • corgi@lemmy.world
            44·
            3 months ago

            Personal blog on a public Internet is kind of an oxymoron.

            The blog post is close enough to an article.