We called it Rasputin, because it's corrupting the natural powerful order from the inside. Besides, it's a cool name.
The default script won't work with other search engines, but it would be easy enough to adapt it to any search engine you like.
Probably not, but if you're being careful it makes sense to do so. The most
obvious trait to differentiate real searches from Rasputin searches is the
referrer header. If Google don't log this it doesn't
matter, but to be on the safe side it's best to assume they do. So to make
your real searches have the same headers as your fake searches make sure you
search from the search box on Rasputin.
Google, and presumably most search engines, collect a lot of data about what you search for. They then "data mine" this to sell advertising, trend data and all sorts of things to other people. In gold rush, and other mine boom times, the practise of "salting" a mine was rife. Small amounts of the valued mineral were put in the mine to make it look valuable. So Rasputin salts Googles data mine, but as we don't know what's valuable we put in a bit of everything. They want data so we give it to them in spades.
Because the amount of profiling that can be done based on what you search on, when and where from is quite scary if you think about it. This combined with the ever increasing number of web tools that use Google services as back ends means that they're getting far more data than is perhaps comfortable.
I'm sure Google would like you to think so, however read their full policy (not the summary). The one that can be changed at any time, the one that states each service may have a different policy, that says they can share your data with "trusted third parties". Do you trust everyone that Google trusts? Even the "anonymous" "aggregated" data, may not be something you want shared as you don't know how diluted your data is. Is the "anonymous" data from a 4 machine subnet aggregated and anonymous enough for you? It would be within the privacy policy. All of that ignores the people they say they'll hand it over to if asked, whilst you may trust your local law enforcement agents, do you trust the law enforcement agents in whatever country Google are processing your data? Perhaps the best way to understand this point is to re-read that policy but imagine it's written not by Google but by an evil company. Read it in the worst possible way you can and that is what the policy allows. Also with Google providing so many hidden back end services, you may be agreeing to different policies without even knowing it.
Quite likely not, they may even be better than most. That doesn't make them less worrying, and they do seem to be slightly less escapable than many. If I start finding myself using other services as much as I do Google, then I'll turn Rasputin's attention that way. Meantime just because everyone else may be as bad doesn't make Google good.
Possibly. But if it isn't we won't know until it's too late. Really this is just an extension of a general concern about how much we are tracked and catalogued these days, I'm taking what steps I can where I can to preserve at least an illusion of privacy.
You don't. But you can download Rasputins code and run it for yourself thus avoiding my servers. In fact I'd strongly recommend you do so.