PrivateSearch (Private-searching.net) - How to remove

PrivateSearch (Private-searching.net) by Safely (Safely-tools.net) is a potentially unwanted browser extension that changes the default search engine to Yahoo.com. PrivateSearch claims that it can help users avoid being tracked online. But all it does is link privacy and tracking management tools that already exist in web browsers. Because it restricts user choice while failing to offer original features and being potentially dangerous to user privacy, PrivateSearch should be avoided. If you find PrivateSearch installed on your browser, consider carefully whether you trust it and whether you need it.

About PrivateSearch by Safely:

Type of threat	Browser hijacker.
Problems with PrivateSearch	Lack of features, search hijacking, intrusive permissions, unwanted installation.
Installation	Deceptive ads, bundling.
Removal of PrivateSearch	Uninstall PrivateSearch, check your device for malware with anti-malware tools, such as Spyhunter for Windows, Combo Cleaner for macOS, and others, block notifications from unwanted sites.

How PrivateSearch works

Hijacks internet search

PrivateSearch is a browser extension. It can be installed on the browser and change its features or add to them. So, once installed, PrivateSearch changes the browser’s search engine to Private-Searching.net, which opens Yahoo.com. Supposedly, this is to provide you with a private search engine. But Yahoo is no more private than the other mainstream engines, so this seems fishy.

Next, PrivateSearch uses its extension pop-up to present some of its privacy features: Incognito mode, clearing cookies, and clearing history. All three features exist in the web browser independently of PrivateSearch. PrivateSearch’s pop-up also can take users to Safely-tools.net which doesn’t really have anything useful on it, either.

Lacks useful features

Search engine privacy

One of the items that PrivateSearch allows you to access is Yahoo search history manager. Yahoo, just like Google and Bing, allows you to manage aspects of what data is used for advertisements and to delete the history of your activities. This function isn’t really being provided by PrivateSearch and I don’t see a justification for only using Yahoo.

Other search engines have privacy tools, too. Some people might prefer those other search engines. Why would PrivateSearch by Safely limit the users’ choices this way?

Browser privacy tools

PrivateSearch by Safely also has links to browser settings for managing your browsing history and cookies. Actually, the cookies link given by PrivateSearch doesn’t work; you need to go to Settings, Advanced, Privacy and security, and then Content settings to manage tracking permissions and Clear browsing data to delete cookies and other data. These settings are accessible without PrivateSearch.

So, PrivateSearch by Safely doesn’t do much besides hijacking the default search engine. On top of that, browser extensions present a privacy risk of their own. For example, PrivateSearch gets access to all the sites that you visit. This can be necessary for some security add-ons, but PrivateSearch doesn’t claim to stop malicious scripts, dangerous ads, or bad pop-ups. And considering that PrivateSearch seems to rely on the browser’s built-in privacy settings, it is confusing why its description claims that it requires permission to access all your data on all the sites you visit.

How is it installed?

Low-quality ads

Despite having some ten thousand users on the Chrome Web Store, PrivateSearch has no reviews. So, it likely does not find its users like a normal browser extension would – through word of mouth and regular advertisements.

To get a clue for how people end up with PrivateSearch, Private-Searching.net, and Safely-tools.net, I checked some web analytics sites.

One obvious type of website that was a potential source of the traffic to Safely-tools.net was found under a misspelled URL – “Youtube.com” being misspelled as “Yotube.com”. Yotube.com is a malicious site that redirects visitors to various low-quality sites and pop-ups. Preying on spelling mistakes like this is called typosquatting. It leads to all sorts of scams, from fake celebrity endorsements of crypto investment sites to notification spammers. Unfortunately, Yotube.com also seems to funnel visitors to sites like “get.safely-tools.net”. Other related typosquatters that I saw were Postmate.com and Gmaiil.com.

A similar danger is posed by redirects from infected sites and low-quality search engines. Web browsers that are already hijacked by adware are at a greater risk of leading to potentially unwanted apps.

So, PrivateSearch benefits from low-quality, potentially dangerous advertisements. That’s not encouraging.

Bundling

Another very common method in which search hijackers like PrivateSearch spread is by being bundled with various free programs as optional offers. Installers for some free programs carry a few items that are installed at the same time as the program.

On the site that PrivateSearch leads to, Safely-tools.net, a few other related extensions are offered, as well. One Private Browsing by Safely, which is extremely similar to PrivateSearch except for having far more users and quite a few negative reviews complaining about the extension installing without people’s consent. I wonder if PrivateSearch exists as a replacement for Private Browsing that doesn’t yet have a bad reputation.

PrivateSearch’s name is also very close to  Search Private/eShield, however, these apps/websites don’t seem to be active anymore.

One site that’s close in its name to PrivateSearch and is still active is MyPrivateSearch.com. It looks different because it’s actually a search engine on its own.

How to remove PrivateSearch

Uninstall PrivateSearch by Safely on your own, either by right-clicking on its icon and pressing “Remove”, or from the settings as described in the section below.

Use Spyhunter for PC, Combo Cleaner for Mac, or other anti-malware tools to find and remove malicious and potentially unwanted programs. In case you ever installed a bundler, there might be a couple of other pieces of junkware on your device.

Check the notification settings in your browser and block notifications from any suspicious or unfamiliar sites, such as Private-searching.net.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Remove browser extensions

TopRemoving PrivateSearch (Private-searching.net) 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 PrivateSearch. Click on the trash bin icon next to PrivateSearch (Private-searching.net) 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 PrivateSearch, 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 PrivateSearch (Private-searching.net) 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 PrivateSearch (Private-searching.net). Click on the "Remove" icon next to PrivateSearch 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.

TopRemoving PrivateSearch (Private-searching.net) 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 PrivateSearch 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 PrivateSearch (Private-searching.net), 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.