Latest from TechRadar SG in Duckduckgo

‘Google is not collaborative and not in the spirit of complying with this regulation’ – can the EU Commission strong-arm Google into levelling the playing field of the search engine market, and is this really in the interest of your privacy?

chiara.castro@futurenet.com (Chiara Castro) — Fri, 08 May 2026 11:12:46 +0000

Google and the European Union are at war over your search data — and the outcome will have major repercussions on browsing privacy.

The legal battlefield is the Digital Markets Act (DMA), an EU regulation enforced in 2024 with the goal of ending Big Tech's monopoly in favor of fairer competition.

The EU's intention is clear: to end Google's market dominance.

In January 2026, the EU Commission opened a proceeding under Article 6(11) of the DMA to "grant third-party providers of online search engines access to anonymised ranking, query, click and view data held by Google Search on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms".

On April 16, 2026, the Commission sent its preliminary findings to Google outlining the proposed measures to meet EU requests, while opening a two-week-long consultation to allow interested parties "to submit their views."

For Teresa Ribera, the EU Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, these measures are simply non-negotiable if the playing field on search is to be levelled. She said:

"Data is a key input for online search and for developing new services, including AI. Access to this data should not be restricted in ways that could harm competition."

Predictably, Google has a very different take on the matter. Talking with Reuters, Clare Kelly, Google's Senior Competition Counsel, argued that the proposal was a regulatory overreach that "would jeopardise users' privacy".

So, is this data sharing set to be the latest privacy nightmare, as Kelly warns, or are these the desperate throes of protectionism? It looks like the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Does a privacy-first search ecosystem really need Google’s data?

(Image credit: Shutterstock/Africa Studio)

Not to be confused with your web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, etc), a search engine (Google, Yahoo, Bing) is the system that responds to your questions by crawling billions of web pages, indexing their content, and ranking them via algorithms to return the most relevant results in milliseconds.

Google is the biggest and, arguably, the best out there. According to Lead Public Policy Manager at DuckDuckGo (a rival search engine), Aurélien Mähl, that's because of the company's scale — a market share of over 90%.

"We are building our own index step by step, and we face a huge barrier in catching up, given Google's scale,” he told TechRadar.

“It’s something that is simply not feasible given how the market is constructed, and intervention is necessary."

Mähl argues that liberating Google’s search data would not only generate market growth but also improve accuracy for rare queries, given the maturity and market share of the Google Search product.

We face a huge barrier in catching up, given Google's scale
Aurélien Mähl, DuckDuckGo

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, it’s a belief shared by Wolfgang Oels, Managing Director at Ecosia, a search engine which combines the results of Google, Bing, and Yahoo and uses its profits to fund environmental goals.

“We need to go from answering two-thirds of queries to 100%," he said, describing data sharing as "essential" for European digital sovereignty and democracy pluralism.

Together with French search engine, Qwant, the Germany-based Ecosia has even launched the European Search Perspective, which is a foundation with a mission to create a truly European search ranking algorithm, independent from US influences.

Both DuckDuckGo and Ecosia stressed the EU Commission’s demands to Google could finally offer privacy-first search engine alternatives a real chance in a genuinely competitive market. It would, they said, for the first time, offer on-par alternatives to Google Search to whomever wants to cut ties with Big Tech.

Surprisingly, though, not all rival search engines agree. Brave Search, a privacy-first alternative to Google, that could directly benefit from the EU’s anti-monopoly demands, thinks that legislators are looking in the wrong place.

Brave's Chief of Search, Dr. Josep M. Pujol, told TechRadar that Brave Search has already proved that it's possible to build a fully independent and competitive search engine that competes with Google in terms of quality and coverage. He said:

"Google's advantage lies in distribution and monetization to pay for it. None of those levers are touched by this proposed regulatory framework, and the Commission should look into this."

Is anonymization enough to protect shared user search data?

Despite working for the company in question, veteran Google scientist Sergei Vassilvitskii is perhaps the most authoritative countervoice to the proposed data sharing, considering his extensive knowledge in differential privacy — a field concerned with frameworks for sharing datasets.

Vassilvitskii has sent a warning to regulators, arguing that the proposed method of anonymising the data to be shared may not be strong enough to prevent powerful AI-powered tools from identifying the people behind those queries.

"Our Red Team ⁠managed to re-identify users in less than two hours," Vassilvitskii told Reuters. (Red Team is the company’s dedicated group that acts as ethical hackers by simulating real-world cyberattacks against Google’s products and systems.)

Vassilvitskii's alarm comes days after independent security researcher Lukasz Olejnik also raised similar concerns. In a lengthy blog post, Olejnik brutally slammed the EU plan as no less than "one of the biggest risks in Europe this year".

A European Commission proposal could create one of Europe’s largest privacy and national-security risks in decades. https://t.co/m8NdDC6ysaThrough DMA enforcement, it may compel Google to hand over sensitive search data about millions of Europeans to third parties, including… pic.twitter.com/4QuCZuU3pyApril 26, 2026

Talking to TechRadar, Brave’s Pujol also agreed that, as currently proposed, the anonymization framework does not protect EU end users from re-identification. He said:

"The data this proposal would put into circulation is not, in our view, provably anonymous, and its release would impose severe privacy risk on hundreds of millions of European citizens that we do not believe is justifiable. There should be no sharing of the Search dataset in its current form."

TechRadar contacted the European Commission about these allegations, but we are still waiting for a response at the time of publication.

DuckDuckGo and Ecosia are not blind to the potential hazards, however.

Both underlined the importance of anonymization, stating that data sharing "needs to be done right" by removing all potential identifiers.

That said they both see Google's rebuttals over security and privacy as a political tactic rather than a genuine concern. Mähl from DuckDuckGo said:

"The big gap here is that Google is not collaborative and not in the spirit of complying with this regulation. It's in the spirit of sabotaging it."

It’s a view also shared by Mozilla's Director of EU Public Policy, Tasos Stampelos, who argues that Google has repeatedly used this binary argument to try escaping its obligations under the DMA.

"But it's not a black and white situation where either you have competition, or you have privacy," he told TechRadar.

Google is not collaborative and not in the spirit of complying with this regulation. It's in the spirit of sabotaging it.
Aurélien Mähl, DuckDuckGo

Stampelos suggests that what's needed now is to find the right balance — something that he believes will be possible with the right cooperation.

"I'm not saying that we should trust the Commission because they say 'it's good for privacy and security," Stampeolos told TechRadar, "but at least they are open to feedback and changes."

It’s then a positive turn that, as reported by Reuters, Google's scientist Vassilvitskii may have met with EU officials on Wednesday (May 6) to talk about "a broader approach with better guardrails".

The decision deadline is set for July 27, 2026. That still leaves 11 weeks for all the parties involved to find a workable solution.

In the end, it’s Brussels that will have the final say and not the search or privacy experts. Whichever way it’s looked at, we hope that the privacy of European citizens' data is at the top of the agenda.

Sick of seeing AI images everywhere online? DuckDuckGo will let you filter out the slop from your search results

john-anthony.disotto@futurenet.com (John-Anthony Disotto) — Mon, 21 Jul 2025 10:49:27 +0000

Popular search engine DuckDuckGo has added a new AI image-filtering tool
Users can now remove AI-generated images from their search results
It's available for free at duckduckgo.com

Popular privacy-first search engine DuckDuckGo is rolling out a new feature that lets users remove AI-generated images from their search results.

On X, the company tweeted, "Our philosophy about AI features is "private, useful, and optional.” Our goal is to help you find what you’re looking for. You should decide for yourself how much AI you want in your life – or if you want any at all.

To that end, we’ve added a new setting to hide AI-generated images in your results when you’re searching for images on DuckDuckGo."

The new AI filter feature has already started rolling out, and you can access it simply by searching on DuckDuckGo and selecting "hide AI images" from a new drop-down.

Considering the rapid rise of image- and video-generation tools on the internet, this new feature could be a compelling reason to finally switch from Google to DuckDuckGo.

If you're sick of all the AI content hogging your image searches, DuckDuckGo might be the way to go. That said, the company says, "The filter relies on manually curated open-source blocklists, including the ‘nuclear’ list, provided by uBlockOrigin and uBlacklist Huge AI Blocklist."

This means it won't catch 100% of all AI-generated content, but DuckDuckGo says, "it will greatly reduce the number of AI-generated images you see.”

New setting: hide AI-generated images in DuckDuckGoOur philosophy about AI features is “private, useful, and optional.” Our goal is to help you find what you’re looking for. You should decide for yourself how much AI you want in your life – or if you want any at all. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/pTolmsEQlQJuly 14, 2025

Taking back control

DuckDuckGo is planning to add more filters in the future, which should improve the rate at which the company's algorithm is able to weed out AI-generated content.

I've started to notice more and more AI-generated images in Google search over the last few months, and with tools like the best AI image generator from ChatGPT and Google's Veo 3 video generation easily accessible, online platforms are becoming more and more littered with AI slop.

While DuckDuckGo won't solve all your issues with AI images overnight, this new feature is the first step in giving users the choice on how they want to experience AI. If you can't stand AI images, DuckDuckGo might be the solution you've been waiting for.

Forget Chrome and Edge - this challenger browser now offers greater protection from online scams

Ellen Jennings-Trace — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 17:02:00 +0000

DuckDuckGo is offering enhanced, in-browser scam protections
Online scams are on the rise, so it wants to keep users safe
It says Scam Blocker doesn't send tracking information to third-parties

Online scams are on the rise, AI is enabling cybercriminals to send out more frequent scams that are more sophisticated than ever, and financial losses are growing ever more common, with online fraud costing Americans $12.5bn in 2024.

DuckDuckGo is looking to change this, revealing a new edition of its browser with a built-in Scam Blocker tool which helps to guard users against phishing websites, malware, and other online scams.

This now includes fake crypto-currency exchanges sites, fraudulent shopping sites, and ‘scareware’ - a type of malicious software that tries to convince victims that their device has a virus to urge them to buy unnecessary antivirus software.

Save up to 68% on identity theft protection for TechRadar readers!

TechRadar editors praise Aura's upfront pricing and simplicity. Aura also includes a password manager, VPN, and antivirus to make its security solution an even more compelling deal.

Preferred partner (What does this mean?)View Deal

Devastating losses

The Scam Blocker is available for free on DuckDuckGo for mobile and for desktop, and Privacy Pro users can enjoy full-device coverage even when using other browsers, as long as they’re logged into the DuckDuckGo VPN.

The tool works by stopping scammy pages from loading if a user accidentally follows a malicious link. A warning message will then allow the user to safely navigate away from the page.

The Scam Blocker also blocks tracker-powered ads before they load, so users are safe from ‘malvertising’ ads that may compromise their systems.

Scam Blocker never tracks searches, and it stops other companies from harvesting data too, with browser protections designed to keep your information private. It protects your anonymity by keeping a ‘dangerous site list’ locally on your device, meaning your browsing data is not sent elsewhere.

“Most browsers use Google tools for phishing and malware blocking, sending browsing data to Google in real time" says Peter Dolanjski, Director of Product at DuckDuckGo.

”We don’t. We designed Scam Blocker ourselves, with data from independent cybersecurity company Netcraft. Our scam protections don’t require an account, and we don’t share your browsing data with third parties.”

Take a look at our picks for the best malware removal software around
Check out our choice for the best ransomware protection tools
Identity fraud attacks using AI are fooling biometric security systems

'There's no price Microsoft could pay': Apple says don't worry, Safari will never force you to use Bing for search

jacob.krol@futurenet.com (Jacob Krol) — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 20:54:25 +0000

In the world of search engines, Google is pretty dominant and, to a degree, rightfully so, as it’s very good at what it does. Whether you type in a basic query or one written in a conversational tone, it usually displays the result you’re after. It’s even good at fixing typos.

Still, too much dominance can be an issue. Earlier this week, a US Federal Judge declared Google a “monopolist,” and it has continued to behave in that same way to maintain its status.

One way it’s kept that is the simple fact that Google is the default search engine on countless devices, including Android phones or Chromebooks and the iPhone. For the latter, Google pays a hefty sum to Apple, and even with this ruling, it seems that the Cupertino-based tech giant doesn’t see another option.

Apple’s Senior Vice President of Services, Eddy Cue, says, “I don’t believe there’s a price in the world that Microsoft could offer us. They offered to give us Bing for free. They could give us the whole company.”

Apple users fear not

(Image credit: Future)

It’s a strong statement and one that essentially confirms there isn’t much to worry about in terms of Google departing since there isn’t really a strong alternative with enough smarts or even potential functionality.

Interestingly enough, any iPhone – or iPad, or Mac – owner can change the default search engine within Safari. You can even get an alternative browser like Google Chrome, Arc, Firefox, or countless others depending on the OS.

And now, you don’t need to Google how to do it. You can open Settings on iOS or iPadOS, navigate to Safari, and select ‘Search Engine.” You then select from the list of five options: Google, Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo, or Ecosia.

So you do have the power to change, but going back to 2023, Eddy Cue, while testifying, stated “there wasn’t a valid alternative” for customers, and Apple does give folks an easy way to change it if they do so.

Given the latest ruling, it seems that Cue’s opinion hasn’t changed and that there isn't much of a chance of the default search engine changing anytime soon. Still, though, if you’d rather ask Bing or ponder on DuckDuckGo, you can always switch from Google … chances are you might switch back.

Indonesia bans DuckDuckGo – free VPN apps are the next target

chiara.castro@futurenet.com (Chiara Castro) — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 15:27:03 +0000

Bad news for all privacy-conscious people living in or heading to Indonesia anytime soon. As authorities double down against online gambling and pornography – which are illegal in the country – online privacy becomes the collateral damage.

The private search engine DuckDuckGo is the first causality. On Friday, August 2, 2024, government officials confirmed to Reuters that the secure search engine had been blocked amid growing complaints of online gambling and pornography content in its search results.

Local reports also suggest that the government plans to cut off access to free VPN services as part of the national crackdown on online illegal activities.

Privacy at risk

As mentioned, DuckDuckGo is a privacy tool that millions of people worldwide use every day to browse anonymously and protect their privacy. Enforcing a ban on its usage means that people living or traveling to Indonesia are stripped of a valuable resource to protect their online privacy.

Access to the best VPN apps is also at risk – and that's a privacy nightmare waiting to happen. A virtual private network (VPN) is security software that encrypts your internet connections and spoofs your IP address location. While both functionalities boost your anonymity online, the latter also enables you to access otherwise geo-restricted content.

This means that you might not be able to use a streaming VPN to keep watching your favorite TV shows while traveling the country. Worse still, both citizens and travelers won't be able to bypass the internet restrictions currently in place.

Boasting the world's largest Muslim population, Indonesia has strict rules against the sharing of online content deemed illegal or obscene. This is why, alongside gambling and pornography websites, social media platforms like Reddit and Vimeo are also blocked.

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

How to bypass Indonesia internet restrictions

Considering the ban against free VPNs isn't in place at the time of writing, using a VPN remains the best way to bypass internet restrictions and keep using DuckDuckGo, Reddit, and any other services currently blocked.

After downloading your chosen app, all you need to do is connect to a server outside the country – I suggest picking one located in an area where the internet isn't hampered by restrictions. Doing so will trick your internet service provider (ISP) into thinking you're in the same place as the server and, as a result, grant you access.

Our favorite recommendation at the moment is NordVPN. If you're on a limited budget, however, I suggest looking into our best cheap VPN provider – Surfshark. It comes with super easy-to-use apps and great unblocking. Proton VPN also boasts some advanced anti-censorship technology, while offering one of the best freebies out there.

In case you're struggling to access a VPN, Tor Browser is another free-to-use circumvention tool. Likewise a virtual private network, Tor spoofs your IP, while protecting your connection inside at least three encryption layers for extra safety.

DuckDuckGo offers an all-in-one privacy package combining a VPN, identity theft protection and information removal

Sead Fadilpašić — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 10:00:20 +0000

DuckDuckGo, the company behind the privacy-first search engine of the same name, has launched a new subscription service to help users boost their online privacy and take more control over their data.

The Privacy Pro service bundles together three tools: an anonymous VPN, Personal Information Removal, and Identity Theft Restoration.

With the VPN, users will be able to secure their internet connection on up to five devices at the same time.

Commitment to privacy

DuckDuckGo promises it doesn’t keep logs of people’s VPN activity, and that it currently has servers in Europe, the US, and Canada. The second feature, Personal Information Removal, helps users remove their personal details from data broker sites.

These sites gather all kinds of personal user data, such as names, addresses, or purchasing habits. The large volumes of such data are then being sold to other organizations, which use it for targeted advertising, risk assessment, identity verification, and more. Most of this activity happens behind the scenes, with many consumers not even knowing their data is being gathered and sold like this.

Finally, Identity Theft Restoration aims to provide dedicated assistance to restore stolen identities, recover financial losses, and correct credit reports in case of identity theft.

Those interested in giving Privacy Pro a go can expect to pay $9.99 a month, or $99.99 a year. DuckDuckGo says its service is competitively priced compared to others who sell these services separately and can charge $30 or more.

Gabriel Weinberg, CEO of DuckDuckGo, emphasized the company's commitment to privacy, stating, "At DuckDuckGo, we don’t track you; that’s our privacy policy in a nutshell, and this new subscription service is no exception."

Although currently only available to United States residents, DuckDuckGo plans to expand Privacy Pro to other regions in the future.

DuckDuckGo drops a major update: sync your valuable information across devices without selling your soul

Kristina Terech — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 16:50:50 +0000

DuckDuckGo is best known for making a search engine that prioritizes user privacy, ditching fine-tuning and personalization of search results. You may not be aware, but it also released a browser back in 2021 and now the DuckDuckGo browser is getting a major upgrade.

DuckDuckGo browser users will now be able to sync information like bookmarks and saved passwords privately across devices with its new Sync & Backup feature. This is a feature you’ll already find in many popular browsers, and allows you to set up and get going more quickly and conveniently on a new device.

Alongside syncing saved passwords and bookmarks across your phone, PC, and tablet, you can also sync your DuckDuckGo’s Email Protection settings. DuckDuckGo’s Email Protection, a free email forwarding service, is another one of its privacy and security features that helps users stay protected by removing hidden email trackers and makes it easier to whip up private email addresses instantly. You don’t have to make new email accounts, however, as you can use this feature with your existing email address.

In addition to password and bookmark syncing, you can also back up this type of information that you consider valuable, in case the device you choose to save them for is lost or damaged.

According to DuckDuckGo, you don’t even need to sign in - or even make an account - to use Sync & Backup in its browser, as DuckDuckGo never accesses or sees your passwords or bookmarks. Users were previously already able to import their passwords and bookmarks from other browsers (a common feature found in most modern browsers), and now it’s extending that flexibility to sync across devices with an emphasis on privacy. Again, password and bookmark syncing across platforms is also found in many modern browsers, but it’s good to see a company that tries to reassure customers that their data and information are safe.

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

DuckDuckGo isn't mincing words

The DuckDuckGo browser pretty boldly declares itself as a “privacy-respecting alternative to Chrome and other browsers.” You can get it across many platforms - Windows, Mac, iPhone, and Android (sorry, Linux fans). It also declares that you can carry passwords and bookmarks across platforms “without compromising your privacy,” which sort of sounds like DuckDuckGo is strongly implying that the sync features of other browsers compromise your personal information.

These are pretty definitive and confident claims, but DuckDuckGo might have a pretty good case for it. As it outlines in its announcement post, it’s right about Chrome constantly trying to make sure you sign into your Google account to be able to use functions like syncing and backup features. This allows Google to collect your browsing activity data that it can package, use, and sell for targeted advertising.

In contrast, DuckDuckGo’s privacy policy is to not track users’ activity at all, and you can access features like importing and syncing data without an account. Its built-in password manager stores and encrypts password information locally on your device, rather than sending it to a remote (and potentially not secure) server. Even if you choose to sync data across devices, the encryption key to decrypt your data is also stored locally on your device and only on your device. This is to help ensure your device is the only device even capable of unlocking your password. By comparison, Google employs a range of encryption strategies including cloud encryption key storage, customer-managed encryption keys, and specialized storage mechanisms.

(Image credit: DuckDuckGo)

How to make use of the new DuckDuckGo feature

To be able to try this functionality of the DuckDuckGo browser, you’ll need to download it on two or more qualifying devices. If you’re already on the DuckDuckGo browser train and already have it, then you should make sure it’s up to date and update it if it’s not to get these new features. Once updated, you can do sync your details by following these steps:

1. Go to the DuckDuckGo browser’s Settings.

2. Go to Sync & Backup.

3. Click on Sync With Another Device.

4. Follow the instructions for the process detailed under the Begin Syncing heading.

If you’re doing this from a tablet or a mobile device, you can link devices by scanning a QR code.

If you’re following these instructions for a desktop device, you’ll need to manually enter an alphanumeric code.

If you’re working on one primary device, you can select go to the Single-Device Setup section in Settings and click Sync and Back Up This Device. After doing this, you’ll be presented with a list of all the devices you have synced together, be able to edit device nicknames, and further tailor your settings.

Once you’ve gone through the Sync & Backup process, you’ll be provided with a Recovery PDF by DuckDuckGo, which you’ll want to save in a secure place on your device or preferably also elsewhere (like on your email account, a private cloud storage account of your choice, or on external storage). This PDF will include important information that will allow you to access and recover your personal information, including your Recovery Code which contains your own unique encryption key. This is especially important information, as your recovery Code is the only way to get your backed-up information from a new device.

Overall this is a very solid move from DuckDuckGo, and I won’t lie - I’m intrigued and will try it on my personal device. It makes an effort to remove ads that track users, including ads often blocked by ad blockers, mitigating the need for a third-party ad blocker app or extension. It also tries to reduce the number of cookie notification pop-ups that users are confronted with and many more privacy-related measures that it claims aren’t offered by its competitors. DuckDuckGo seems like it’s really putting its weight behind making privacy one of its biggest selling points for users while making it as easy as possible to set up and configure. Of course, a lot of these features do already exist in other popular browsers - but DuckDuckGo actually looks like it’s intent on putting control back in users’ hands.

The most secure browser in the world is 15 years old - here's how it sees the future

lewis.maddison@futurenet.com (Lewis Maddison) — Sun, 01 Oct 2023 13:49:07 +0000

From its humble beginnings as a one-man project from a basement in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, DuckDuckGo has grown to become one of the most respected privacy focused browsers in the world.

Starting as a search engine, its aim from the outset was to challenge the dominance in the space by the likes of Google and, in the words of its founder and CEO, Gabriel Weinberg, "offer a user-centric alternative."

With the company now celebrating its 15th birthday, Weinberg has outlined DuckDuckGo's journey to becoming a popular browser choice for those concerned with their online privacy, as well as what he thinks the future has in store for the internet and its users.

Privacy first

DuckDuckGo was launched in 2008, before, as Weinberg puts it, "the world had started to realize the scary power and creepy surveillance of companies like Google and Facebook."

Although progress was slow, he notes that 2011 was the real breakout year for DuckDuckGo, expanding the team with new members who continue to work at the firm to this day. This was also when the "vision to raise the standard of trust online" was established.

Privacy-focused browsers, although gaining popularity, still appear to be struggling as compared to the likes of Google Chrome and Apple's Safari, which are pretty much the default choices for many. This is despite the privacy issues such browsers have, indicating that perhaps people are still willing to sacrifice some of their privacy for the sake of convenience.

(Image credit: DuckDuckGo)

However, Weinberg is bullish about his own company, saying that DuckDuckGo is a, "healthy, profitable company that protects user privacy, instead of exploiting it." Furthermore, he believes that people's concerns about their own privacy online is what "what fuels our growth." He cites a recent study from Forrester as evidence, which found that nearly 90% of US adults, “use at least one privacy- or security-protecting tool online.”

Weinberg claims that the DuckDuckGo browser and its extensions have been downloaded over a quarter of a billion times, and Cloudflare puts its search engine at number two for mobile users third overall in the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, India, Australia, Canada, and others.

And looking ahead, Weinberg only sees the desire to make the switch growing, as big tech companies like Google and others commit "ever-increasing exploitation of personal data." He also believes that DuckDuckGo offers a simple and easy way for users to protect their online privacy, with the company being, "laser-focused on our product vision of being the “easy button” for privacy."

However, things aren't so straightforward in the world of online privacy. Last year, a spat between DuckDuckGo and one of its main rivals, Brave, took place over the former's supposed allowance of Microsoft trackers.

The altercation involved some deeper technicalities, but ultimately a company spokesperson defended DuckDuckGo, saying that the issue referred to "ad clicks only, which is protected in our agreement with Microsoft as strictly non-profiling (private)... these ads are privacy protected."

Weinberg did concede, though, that, "unfortunately our Microsoft search syndication agreement prevents us from doing more to Microsoft-owned properties. However, we have been continually pushing and expect to be doing more soon."

Similar sentiments were echoed by Weinberg throughout the company's anniversary blog post, citing continual push to improve privacy protections for its users, and assuring them with, "the simple promise laid out in our Privacy Policy: we don’t track you."

DuckDuckGo Private Browser review

desire.athow@futurenet.com (Desire Athow) — Thu, 13 Jul 2023 06:20:48 +0000

DuckDuckGo is the third-largest browser in terms of user base. The biggest reason people prefer DuckDuckGo over other browsers in the market is its security and privacy protocols.

The best part is that you don't have to move your files to DuckDuckGo’s interface in order to use it — simply get DuckDuckGo as an extension to your existing browsers, such as Chrome or Edge.

Eager to know more about DuckDuckGo, including its features, pros, and cons? Read on to find if it's the best web browser for you.

DuckDuckGo Private Browser: Features

DuckDuckGo forces almost all websites (if not all) to convert to an HTTPS version so that you can have a secure browsing experience. The best part is that forcibly converting these websites does not tamper with their functions in any way.

It comes with a built-in web and app tracker blocker that protects you from third-party software designed to collect your data for marketing purposes or leave behind any malware.

While we don't recommend turning it off, DuckDuckGo still gives you the option to do so. However, you can choose which trackers you wish to block — lots of room for customization.

If you want to know how safe a site is, DuckDuckGo's site rating feature will be your friend. This tool assesses the site’s privacy protocols, activity trackers, and past records to formulate a score that’ll help you decide whether or not you should visit it.

Although the feature comes under “Site Privacy Protection,” site ratings will be available even if it's not enabled.

With DuckDuckGo, you’ll also have the option to whitelist some sites that you trust. Whitelisting implies that the trackers on such websites will be allowed to collect your data.

Use this feature if you want your data to be used to create a more personalized experience for you.

If you want to quickly remove your search history and delete every piece of evidence of your online activities, use DuckDuckGo’s “fire” button. One click and it'll immediately burn all your saved cookies, close the tabs and remove your bookmarks.

Say you want to exclude certain websites from this purge — use the “fireproof” option to protect your data.

Looking for a less severe way to clean your browsing history? Enable data-auto clear. This feature will wipe off your history, tabs, cookies, and other such assets after every session.

DuckDuckGo Private Browser: Privacy

DuckDuckGo is a lot more secure than all mainstream browsers. That’s because the browser’s configuration stops sites from stealing your data, especially without your consent. Even DuckDuckGo's team members don't have permission to collect user information.

The only issue with DuckDuckGo’s privacy is that it’s not equipped to ward off new trackers — it can only stop well-known trackers that it has previously interacted with.

However, since malicious entities these days are developing new trackers at a rapid pace, you might want to get a third-party tracker blocker.

A no-nonsense way to amp up your security is through one of the best VPNs.

(Image credit: DuckDuckGo)

DuckDuckGo Private Browser: Ease of use

DuckDuckGo’s interface is a lot like Google's. The search bar is in the center of the main page with the logo on top, so it's quite impossible to miss it.

The tabs are displayed horizontally on the top header, followed by the navigation controls that let you reload a page or move to the next.

The home page is where you'll find a report on how many trackers have been blocked in a given number of days. This will tell you how effectively DuckDuckGo is doing its job.

Just like Chrome, DuckDuckGo also allows you to add quick links to your favorite apps (the ones you visit most frequently) to get faster access. If you have already used Chrome, using DuckDuckGo will be a cakewalk for you.

DuckDuckGo Private Browser: Competitors

DuckDuckGo is nowhere close to beating Google in terms of popularity. The latter has the largest market share in the industry. However, with close to 0.75% market share, DuckDuckGo is growing at a tremendous rate and is now the third most used browser.

That said, DuckDuckGo's security and data privacy protocols are better than Chrome's. While Chrome is infamous for collecting user data and selling it to third parties, DuckDuckGo protects your data both from external parties as well as its own team members — no exceptions are made.

Speaking of usability, DuckDuckGo is surely easier to use than Opera or Firefox. It looks a lot like Chrome and can even be added as an extension to another browser in case you don't want to learn to use a new platform.

On the other hand, Opera, Firefox, and Avast, too, have too many options that can easily overwhelm a beginner.

However, Opera, Firefox, and Avast beat DuckDuckGo in terms of security, thanks to their in-built VPNs. Both Firefox and Opera offer free VPNs, whereas Avast is an industry leader for its antivirus and VPN, both of which come preloaded with the Avast browser.

While DuckDuckGo does its best to protect you by keeping away trackers, it surely does not make up for the lack of a VPN.

DuckDuckGo Private Browser: Final verdict

DuckDuckGo is a must-try, especially for those very particular about the security their browser tags along with. While DuckDuckGo is not as efficient as Firefox or Opera in terms of privacy, it does the job better than Edge and Chrome.

The browser is respectful of your right to confidentiality and even prevents its own employees from collecting your data.

Also, DuckDuckGo is available on other browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera as an add-on. This way, you won't have to change your default browser to reap the benefits of DuckDuckGo .

We've listed the best business VPN.

DuckDuckGo is bringing its browser to Windows

chiara.castro@futurenet.com (Chiara Castro) — Fri, 23 Jun 2023 09:10:09 +0000

Popular privacy-first search engine, DuckDuckGo, has finally launched its very own secure browser for Windows.

Available as a beta version at the time of writing, the browser promises to offer a smooth browsing experience matching the biggest names out there like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. Yet, users will enjoy "way fewer creepy ads, cookie pop-ups, or hidden trackers," claims the provider.

Many consumers nowadays opt for solutions to protect their data online like VPN services or secure mail apps - with its new release, DuckDuckGo hopes to make the switch to a privacy-first tool even easier.

Privacy-first browsing

"DuckDuckGo for Windows is already equipped with nearly all the privacy protections and everyday features that users know and trust from our iOS, Mac, and Android browsers—and it’s getting closer to parity with those browsers every day," wrote the provider in a blog post.

Enjoying privacy-first browsing on PCs has never been any easier, in fact. Users can enjoy a web tracker-free experience, for example, with options like its Tracker Blocking to prevent hidden trackers to load.

Its Cookie Pop-up Management system is also the perfect feature to fight back what's known as pop-up fatigue (when consumers click away their privacy to escape repetitive cookies) as it hides cookie consent pop-ups.

Other privacy protections include an Email Protection to hide user email when signing up for online services, its so-called Fire Button burning recent browsing data in one click, Smarter Encryption, and its very own Duck Player (YouTube without invasive ads).

The company also claims to collect 60% less data than Google Chrome. And, despite not having extension support just yet, DuckDuckGo browser boasts built-in ad-blocker and password management—the most popular browser extensions, perhaps.

Windows users, this one’s for you! 🙌Starting today, our desktop browser for Windows is officially in public beta – no invite codes, no waiting list, just a fast, lightweight browser that makes the Internet less creepy and less cluttered. https://t.co/3YgjJJZCKdJune 22, 2023

Early users seem to be satisfied with performances and features so far, DuckDuckGo reported. Yet, many users on Reddit are asking for browser extensions support (currently on its way) before switching completely. Others would like to see a Linux version soon, too.

The provider reassures, though, its Windows browser will only keep improving from now on.

"We’re hard at work right now on achieving full parity with the Mac browser, including improvements like faster startup performance, the ability to pin tabs, HTML bookmark import, more options for the Fire Button, and additional privacy features like Fingerprinting Protection, Link Tracking Protection, and Referrer Tracking Protection."

DuckDuckGo's new DuckAssist may give Bing and ChatGPT a run for their money

cesartechradar@gmail.com (Cesar Cadenas) — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 21:16:10 +0000

DuckDuckGo is the latest search engine getting on the generative AI train. It recently launch the beta of its new summarization tool known as DuckAssist, which utilizes “natural language technology” from both OpenAI and AI research company Anthropic.

Though similar to Bing, DuckAssist is not quite like ChatGPT. Instead of utilizing multiple sources to create the summaries, the tool uses primarily just one: Wikipedia. DuckDuckGo specifically chose Wikipedia “because it’s a public resource with a transparent editorial process that cites all the sources used in an article”. The company also points out that since the platform is frequently updated, DuckAssist will always deliver up-to-date information – at most, a few weeks old. Occasionally, the tool will pull from other platforms like Encyclopedia Britannica. However, Wikipedia will be the main one.

Using a single source for information brings with it multiple benefits, according to DuckDuckGo, like being able to generate answers for a vast number of queries quickly. Additionally, only pulling from Wikipedia and its sources reduces the rate of hallucinations – a problem generative AIs have where the tech will just make something up unrelated to the search query.

Work in progress

The way DuckAssist works is pretty simple. All you have to do is ask DuckDuckGo a question, and it’ll immediately write up a summary, complete with the sourced Wikipedia article at the bottom. It’ll even point to the specific section of said article where the original information can be found.

The announcement post gives some suggestions on how to get the most out of DuckAssist. For example, “phrasing your search query as a question [or] adding the word ‘wiki’” increases the chances the summary will appear.

Since the tool is in beta, it’s not perfect. DuckDuckGo admits DuckAssist will not get it right 100 percent of the time. It may omit key information, give the wrong information, cite the wrong source, or all three at once – especially if it’s a particularly complex question. Also, not every query will be given an answer such as asking about recent global events.

Because of these issues, DuckDuckGo is asking users to provide suggestions on DuckAssist and how it can improve the tool. Next to the summaries will be an anonymous feedback link where you can send feedback.

Availability

The tool is currently available on DuckDuckGo’s mobile apps and browser extensions, although not everyone will get to try it out. For those who can, it’s free and totally private. None of the queries will be used to train any AI models nor will OpenAI, Anthropic, or any third-party have access to that information. DuckAssist will roll out to all users within the coming weeks assuming everything goes well with the beta.

It’s worth mentioning this is the first of a series of AI-assisted features that DuckDuckGo is working on. Not much else is known beyond that, but It'll be interesting to see what the developers come up with.

If any of this sounds familiar to you, that’s because Brave launched something very similar on its own web browser. Be sure to check out our coverage of Brave’s Summarizer feature.

DuckDuckGo is now blocking one of Google's most annoying pop ups

Craig Hale — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 10:06:40 +0000

DuckDuckGo - a search engine and browser that has long been associated with privacy and data protection - has announced a new feature that will block one of the most common pop ups web users are likely to see: Sign in with Google.

The company cites Reddit, Zillow, and Booking.com as some sites that often present this Google pop-up, usually upon first loading the web pages.

It says that, with its updated mobile apps or its Firefox, Chrome, Brave, and Edge extensions, users will be “spared from these disruptive and misleading pop-ups” in an effort to present a “cleaner experience and more privacy.”

It’s more than just the removal of annoying pop-ups, though, according to DuckDuckGo.

In a press release, the company explained that allowing Google to link your account to browsing history is yet “another way for Google to track users without them realizing”, to the point that a lawsuit against the collection of browsing history, cookies, and other site data has been created.

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DuckDuckGo reckons that Google could be pitching this to web developers as a ‘win-win’, allowing them to present more relevant, targeted ads, thus generating more revenue for the websites. In turn, Google is thought to be collecting vast amounts of data.

The update is available now on DuckDuckGo for Android, iOS and Mac, and our Firefox, Chrome, Brave, and Microsoft Edge extensions.

Google is yet to respond to TechRadar Pro about how this change will affect its operations.

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DuckDuckGo's new data protection for Android could stop the trackers cold

cesarcadenaswriting@gmail.com (Cesar Cadenas) — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 06:00:17 +0000

DuckDuckGo is expanding its App Tracking Protection tool by making it available to all Android users as part of a new update.

The feature originally launched in late 2021 as a limited beta on DuckDuckGo’s mobile browser and its core function remains the same.

When activated, App Tracking Protection can detect when a smartphone app is about to send data to a third-party tracker and blocks those requests – at least most of them. It even works in the background in case a tracker wants to sneakily collect data while you sleep.

Work in progress

The company states App Tracking Protection utilizes a “local VPN connection” to work and doesn’t send any data to DuckDuckGo itself or some remote server.

New to the public beta is a real-time viewer displaying everything being blocked. This includes who the offending third-party tracker is and what data they’re collecting from you. If you turn on notifications, you’ll get a quick summary telling you how many tracking attempts have been blocked on your phone. DuckDuckGo also made its massive company blocklist publicly available on GitHub as it can prevent companies like Google and Adobe from collecting data.

If all this sounds familiar, iPhones have something similar called App Tracking Transparency. However, it may not be the best. Kamyl Bazbaz, vice president of communications at DuckDuckGo, told The Verge last year that Apple’s tool only blocks a user’s Identifier for Advertisers and nothing else. Developers also aren’t obligated to respect a user’s choice to not be tracked.

Users can try out App Tracking Protection by updating your DuckDuckGo browser on your Android phone to the latest version or by downloading it from the Google Play Store. To activate the protection, users will need to go into the browser’s settings, then go through the onboarding process.

There’s still work to be done on the protection tool. A company representative told us there are still third-party trackers DuckDuckGo may not be aware of that they have to add to the blocklist. Users may also experience protections on other apps being disabled because of the beta. The company is asking users to give feedback so it can improve App Tracking Protection. You can do this by opening the Settings menu in the app and selecting Share Feedback.

When asked about a potential iOS beta, the same company representative told us DuckDuckGo is looking into it.

New findings

A large portion of the announcement was dedicated to showing how third-party trackers operate. Looking through the findings, it’s pretty insidious.

According to DuckDuckGo, the “average Android user has 35 apps on their phone.” A mobile device with that many apps may experience up to 2,000 tracking attempts a day. DuckDuckGo also discovered these trackers collect a lot of personal data including your email, phone number, exact location, and even device information. It's possible someone out there knows what type of phone you have, its screen resolution, and local internet providers.

These are the best privacy services for Android phones

DuckDuckGo browser for Mac beta has one trick YouTube won't like - but you will

cesarcadenaswriting@gmail.com (Cesar Cadenas) — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 04:00:09 +0000

DuckDuckGo’s privacy-focused web browser is now available for download via an open beta to all Mac users. It's still all about keeping your personal details private but does mix in some intriguing new features, as well.

For the past several months, the company has been steadily working on a desktop version of the DuckDuckGo browser. Originally, the desktop browser launched as a closed beta back in April, and from the looks of it, everything that was present back then is in this new version. This includes things like the “multiple layers of defense against third-party trackers”, according to the announcement. The new features are centered around enhancing the user experience by clearing out annoying ads on YouTube, specifically. The developers also added some basic browser features that were missing in the first beta like a bookmarks bar and pinned tabs.

You can install the browser on your Mac by going to DuckDuckGo’s website where the download should begin automatically. Upon installation, you can import your bookmarks and passwords from other browsers and password managers. An under-development Windows version is currently only available to DuckDuckGo “friends and family.” The company said to expect a private beta for PC within the coming months.

Old and new features

Before going into the new, let’s briefly go over the returning features.

The defense layers mentioned earlier protect users from online tracking software, stopping companies from placing a unique identifier on you (known as fingerprinting) as a way to follow you around on the internet. Cookies also get repelled to ensure total privacy. Making returns are the Smarter Encryption tool, which encrypts your internet connection, and the Fire Button. The latter is pretty cool as it completely wipes all traces of a browsing session from open tabs, caches, permissions, and back button history. But you also have the ability to “Fireproof” a website to save its data from mass deletion.

Among the new tools, one of our favorites is Duck Player which specifically stops ads and cookies that track users from YouTube videos. If an ad doesn’t track people, it will play as normal. But as it turns out, the vast majority of ads on YouTube videos do track people so most will be gone, according to DuckDuckGo. A company representative told us Duck Player only works on YouTube and “will not work with other services at this time.”

DuckDuckGo also tweaked its ad-blocker to erase any whitespace left behind by ads for a much cleaner look. And within the coming weeks, the browser is adding support for Bitwarden, allowing users to integrate the password manager for added protection.

The company is asking for feedback on how it can improve the browser. You can send the developers your thoughts by clicking the three dots below the Fire Button. There, you’ll find the Send Feedback tool.

Industry stifling

In the announcement, DuckDuckGo briefly mentions how other browsers have lackluster tracking protection. It also alludes to recent news concerning Incognito Mode on Google Chrome not being very private. Developers at Google even joke about poor it is and this raises an interesting question about the integrity of online privacy protection. Are browser developers really that interested in privacy?

DuckDuckGo isn’t the only browser that focuses on privacy. Mozilla Firefox and Opera have, in recent years, moved privacy closer to the center of their development efforts. But according to recent data, privacy-focused browsers are having a hard time gaining traction with users. Mozilla goes so far as to accuse tech giants like Apple and Microsoft of “abusing their privileged position” by making it hard for users to switch browsers.

Until DuckDuckGo launches on Mac, there are other ways to increase online privacy. Be sure to check out TechRadar’s best privacy tools list for 2022 to learn what they can do to protect you.

DuckDuckGo takes the fight to ProtonMail with new email privacy tool

joel.khalili@futurenet.com (Joel Khalili) — Thu, 25 Aug 2022 12:00:22 +0000

DuckDuckGo has announced a beta version of its new email privacy tool is now available for users to try.

Introduced in the summer of 2021, DuckDuckGo Email Protection is a free email forwarding utility that gives people a way to conceal their email address when signing up for online services, newsletters and the like.

The service also eliminates tracking artefacts commonly included in email messages and, with the move to public beta, DuckDuckGo has added the ability to shield against trackers embedded in web links too.

Private email with DuckDuckGo

The new service from DuckDuckGo can be seen as a hybrid between traditional email forwarding services, which route messages through to an inbox without exposing the address, and private email services like ProtonMail.

The ambition is to shield against user profiling by obscuring identity information and combat covert tracking techniques deployed by digital advertising firms, online retailers and other web players.

“Companies embed trackers in images and links within email messages, letting them collect information like when you’ve opened a message, where you were when you opened it, and what device you were using,” explained DuckDuckGo, in a blog post.

“And because your email addresses are connected to so much of what you do online – making purchases, using social media, and more – tracking companies can also effectively use your personal email address as a profiling identifier.”

(Image credit: DuckDuckGo)

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With the new tool, users can generate both a personal @duck address (say, joel@duck.com) and an unlimited number of randomized private addresses. Messages arriving to both of these alias types will be stripped of their trackers, but the latter can also be deactivated at any time to stem the flow of spam into the inbox.

The benefit of opting for Email Protection over a fully-fledged private email service, the company says, is that users can enjoy a comparable level of tracking protection without having to switch provider or juggle multiple accounts.

DuckDuckGo users can sign up for the Email Protection beta via the Settings menu in the mobile app, or by navigating to this address in their web browser, provided the company’s extension is installed.

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DuckDuckGo rolls out new Microsoft blockers after backlash

Sead Fadilpašić — Fri, 05 Aug 2022 15:29:17 +0000

DuckDuckGo is looking to douse the fire that started in late June, when researchers discovered its mobile browser permitted Microsoft’s trackers to operate, while blocking those of Google, and Facebook.

In a blog post published earlier today, the company CEO and founder, Gabriel Weinberg, sought to clarify the issue and set out a series of improvements.

As per the post, the third-party tracker scripts from Microsoft are now blocked from loading across DuckDuckGo's browsing apps (iOS and Android) and browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Opera).

“This expands our 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection, which blocks identified tracking scripts from Facebook, Google, and other companies from loading on third-party websites, to now include third-party Microsoft tracking scripts,” Weinberg said.

DuckDuckGo tracking protections

Weinberg further explained how the company was “limited” in applying its third-party tracker protection program on Microsoft’s tracking scripts, due to a policy requirement related to DuckDuckGo’s use of Bing as a source for search results.

The company seems to have ditched the requirement in the meantime: “We’re glad this is no longer the case,” the CEO said. “We have not had, and do not have, any similar limitation with any other company.”

In a separate note shared with TechRadar Pro, the company explained it believes the issues were blown out of proportion.

“To help clear up some other misconceptions floating around,” said the firm, “Microsoft scripts were never embedded in our search engine or apps, which do not track you. Websites insert these scripts for their own purposes, and so they never sent any information to DuckDuckGo.”

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DuckDuckGo also says that to suggest the company previously allowed "all or even most" Microsoft tracking attempts in its browser “would not be correct”.

“Prior to this update, we were already blocking most MSFT scripts from loading and further restricting Microsoft tracking through our other web tracking protections, like blocking Microsoft’s third-party cookies in our browsers," said the firm.

Websites use tag managers to load multiple other scripts, including those of Microsoft. Because of that, “those requests were already being blocked” by protections before this update, DuckDuckGo added.

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DuckDuckGo slammed by Brave CEO over supposed Microsoft deal

Sead Fadilpašić — Fri, 17 Jun 2022 17:30:11 +0000

The CEO of crypto-oriented browser Brave has slammed rival DuckDuckGo over its affiliation to Microsoft and the wider online tracker controversy.

For the uninitiated, DuckDuckGo’s mobile browser was recently discovered to have been permitting Microsoft’s trackers to operate, while blocking those of Google, and Facebook. Zach Edwards, the security researcher who first discovered the issue, later also found that trackers related to the bing.com and linkedin.com domains were also being allowed through the blocks.

"For non-search tracker blocking (e.g. in our browser), we block most third-party trackers," DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg said at the time. "Unfortunately our Microsoft search syndication agreement prevents us from doing more to Microsoft-owned properties. However, we have been continually pushing and expect to be doing more soon."

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Misleading statements

But now, Brave CEO Brendan Eich says Edwards wasn’t coming clean, as DuckDuckGo also allows Microsoft trackers to work around third-party cookie blocking, via appended URL parameters.

"Trackers try to get around cookie blocking by appending identifiers to URL query parameters, to ID you across sites," he said, further stating that DuckDuckGo knows all of this very well.

"DuckDuckGo removes Google’s 'gclid' and Facebook’s 'fbclid'," Eich said.

"Test it yourself by visiting https://example.org/?fbclid=sample in [DuckDuckGo]’s macOS browser. The 'fbclid' value is removed. However, DuckDuckGo does not apply this protection to Microsoft’s 'msclkid' query parameter. Microsoft's documentation specifies that 'msclkid' exists to circumvent third-party cookie protections in browsers (including in Safari’s browser engine used by DDG on Apple OSes)."

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DuckDuckGo vehemently disagrees with Eich’s conclusions, saying he’s misleading the readers.

"What Brendan seems to be referring to here is our ad clicks only, which is protected in our agreement with Microsoft as strictly non-profiling (private)," The Register cited a company spokesperson as saying.

"That is these ads are privacy protected and how he's framed it is ultimately misleading. Brendan, of course, kept the fact that our ads are private out and there is really nothing new here given everything has already been disclosed."

DuckDuckGo in hot water over hidden tracking agreement with Microsoft

Sead Fadilpašić — Wed, 25 May 2022 17:04:35 +0000

DuckDuckGo may face a user backlash after security researchers discovered a hidden tracking agreement with Microsoft.

The privacy-focused company offers a search engine that claims not to track people’s searches, or behavior, and also doesn't build user profiles that can be used to display personalized advertising.

Search engine aside, DuckDuckGo also offers a mobile browser of the same name, but this has raised concerns, as although this promises to block hidden third-party trackers, some from a certain tech giant are allowed to continue operating.

Search syndication agreement

Namely, while Google’s and Facebook’s trackers are being blocked, those of Microsoft are allowed to continue running. Zach Edwards, the security researcher who first discovered the issue, later also found that trackers related to the bing.com and linkedin.com domains were also being allowed through the blocks.

The news quickly drew in crowds of dissatisfied users, with DuckDuckGo founder and CEO Gabriel Weinberg, soon chiming in to confirm the authenticity of the findings.

Apparently, DuckDuckGo has a search syndication agreement with the software giant from Redmond, with Weinberg adding that the restrictions are only found in the browser, and are not related to the search engine.

What remains unknown is why the company who is known for its transparency decided to keep this agreement a secret for as long as it could.

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In a statement sent to BleepingComputer, Weinberg said that DuckDuckGo offers “above-and-beyond protection” other browsers don’t even think of doing, but that the company “never promised” full anonymity when browsing.

"We have always been extremely careful to never promise anonymity when browsing, because that frankly isn’t possible given how quickly trackers change how they work to evade protections and the tools we currently offer," he added.

"When most other browsers on the market talk about tracking protection, they are usually referring to 3rd-party cookie protection and fingerprinting protection, and our browsers for iOS, Android, and our new Mac beta, impose these restrictions on third-party tracking scripts, including those from Microsoft. What we're talking about here is an above-and-beyond protection that most browsers don't even attempt to do — that is, blocking third-party tracking scripts before they load on 3rd party websites."

"Because we're doing this where we can, users are still getting significantly more privacy protection with DuckDuckGo than they would using other browsers.”

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DuckDuckGo slams Google's new tracking systems

anthony.spadafora@futurenet.com (Anthony Spadafora) — Wed, 11 May 2022 17:30:31 +0000

DuckDuckGo has once again taken issue with Google’s plan to replace third-party cookies in Chrome by calling out the search giant’s new Topics and FLEDGE tracking and ad targeting methods.

While Topics uses your browsing history in Chrome to automatically collect information about your interests to share with tracking companies and other businesses, FLEDGE enables Google’s browser to target users with ads based on their browsing history.

Although Google’s intentions behind replacing third-party cookies with Topics and FLEDGE may be good, DuckDuckGo points out in a new blog post that tracking, targeting and profiling will still occur once Privacy Sandbox is rolled out in Chrome.

The company also notes that targeting in this way enables manipulation by exploiting personal vulnerabilities, discrimination since users may not see certain job posts based on their personal profiles and filter bubbles or echo chambers that can further divide people online. Additionally, Topics will be made available to third-party trackers and not just websites themselves.

At the same time, Topics can be combined with an IP address or other fingerprinting attributes so that it is easier for users to be tracked individually by third-party trackers. Although Google has promised to address this issue at some point through a so-called “privacy budget”, experts have already called the company’s approach into question.

How to opt out of Topics and FLEDGE

The easiest and simplest way for privacy-conscious users to opt out of both Topics and FLEDGE is to simply stop using Chrome by switching to another modern browser instead. While DuckDuckGo recommends using its mobile browser on iOS and Android or its recently launched Desktop browser for Mac, Brave, Vivaldi and Microsoft Edge are good Chrome alternatives as well.

However, what if you can’t switch to another browser? In that case, DuckDuckGo suggests using its updated Privacy Essentials Chrome extension (version 2022.4.18) which can now block Topics and FLEDGE interactions on websites.

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Alternatively, you can also change your Chrome and Google settings to opt out of Topics and Fledge at least for now. To do so, click on Chrome’s three dots menu and head to Settings. From here in the “Privacy and security” tab navigate to “Privacy Sandbox” and disable the Privacy Sandbox trial. You will then need to sign out of Chrome, turn off Chrome sign-in and choose not to sync your history data with Chrome. Meanwhile, in Google Activity Controls you need to disable “Web & App Activity” as well as “Ad Personalization” in Google Ad Settings.

Topics and FLEDGE are coming to Chrome whether you like it or not but at least DuckDuckGo has provided users of Google’s browser with a Chrome extension to block the company’s new tracking and ad targeting methods.

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Google claps back at Brave, DuckDuckGo over latest privacy debate

joel.khalili@futurenet.com (Joel Khalili) — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 17:28:48 +0000

Google has hit out at Brave and DuckDuckGo over recent service updates designed to undermine the divisive AMP initiative.

Earlier this week, the two privacy software vendors announced new browser functionality that allows users to bypass AMP, which they say is harmful to privacy and the economics of the web. However, Google has now moved to dismiss these criticisms.

“These allegations are misleading, conflate a number of different web projects and standards, and repeat a number of false claims,” said a Google spokesperson, in an email exchange with TechRadar Pro.

Google AMP

Rolled out in 2015, AMP (short for accelerated mobile pages) is a system whereby stripped-back versions of trending web pages are preloaded and served up via Google servers.

When AMP was first announced, Google said it believed the system would help ensure rich web content such as video and animation would load rapidly and behave consistently across all platforms, thereby improving the web experience.

However, the scheme has come under criticism from publishers and privacy advocates alike, who say AMP gives Google yet more signals to gobble up in support of its digital advertising business, creates confusion as to the source of information and forces publishers to build their websites to Google’s desired spec.

This week, Brave also called into question the benefits of AMP from a user experience perspective, going so far as to say that “AMP is bad for performance and usability”, an accusation that appears to have caused particular irritation at Google.

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“AMP is an open source framework that was collaboratively developed with publishers, tech companies, and Google as a way to help web content load faster– at the time it was created, it took 19 seconds on average to load a mobile webpage on a 3G connection,” the Google spokesperson told us.

“Today, AMP continues to be a helpful way for websites and publishers – especially those without large development teams – to easily create great web experiences.”

The debate over AMP is unlikely to be settled any time soon, however, with a second-generation system now in the works, informally known as AMP 2.0.

In the opinion of Brave, this new system has the potential to be “even worse”, allowing “more of the web to be served from Google’s servers, and in ways that give users less control over how they interact with that content”.

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Brave, DuckDuckGo just gave you another way to flip Google the middle finger

joel.khalili@futurenet.com (Joel Khalili) — Wed, 20 Apr 2022 16:41:46 +0000

Brave has announced that its web browser will now allow users to bypass AMP pages hosted by Google, which it claims are harmful to both privacy and the state of the web.

The new De-AMP feature will instead funnel web users to content hosted directly on the publisher’s website, minimizing the opportunity for additional tracking and meddling to take place.

Not to be outdone, rival privacy software company DuckDuckGo rushed to Twitter to reveal that its apps and extensions now offer similar functionality, but the specifics of the implementation are not yet clear.

Google’s AMP troubles

Rolled out in 2015, AMP (short for accelerated mobile pages) is a system whereby stripped-back versions of trending web pages are preloaded and served up via Google servers.

When AMP was first announced, Google said it beleived the system would help ensure rich web content such as video and animation would load rapidly and behave consistently across all platforms, thereby improving the web experience.

“AMP harms users’ privacy, security and internet experience, and just as bad, AMP helps Google further monopolize and control the direction of the web,” wrote Brave, in a blog post.

And in a Twitter thread, DuckDuckGo presented a similar justification for its decision to move against the initiative.

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> Meet the challenger search engine trying to break the monopoly

> The story of the fight to archive the internet

“AMP technology is bad for privacy because it enables Google to track users even more,” said the firm. “And Google uses AMP to further entrench its monopoly, forcing the technology on publishers by prioritizing AMP links in search and favoring Google ads on AMP pages.”

Since the launch of AMP, a number of publishers (including Future plc., parent to TechRadar Pro) have abandoned the system. And now, browser vendors like Brave and DuckDuckGo are coming out with their own tools to help web users bypass AMP altogether.

“Where possible, De-AMP will rewrite links and URLs to prevent users from visiting AMP pages altogether,” explained Brave. “And in cases where that is not possible, Brave will watch as pages are being fetched and redirect users away from AMP pages before the page is even rendered, preventing AMP/Google code from being loaded and executed.”

Brave’s De-AMP feature is now available in both Nightly and Beta versions of its browser and will be enabled by default in the next full public release. TechRadar Pro is awaiting further specifics about DuckDuckGo’s efforts.

Shield your browsing activity from prying eyes with the best VPN services around

DuckDuckGo pushes back on suggestions that it removed pirate websites

Max Slater-Robins — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 16:31:28 +0000

Anyone searching for piracy websites on DuckDuckGo recently might have struggled to find them – but it wasn't because of an active choice by the company.

Recent reports suggested that DuckDuckGo, a privacy-focused search engine and browser that frequently criticises Google, had removed results related to piracy sites such as YouTube-dl and The Pirate Bay.

However company CEO Gabriel Weinberg has hit back, blaming the problem on an issue with its site:operator search commands (such as site:thepiratebay), which he says few customers actually use.

Similarly, we are not "purging" YouTube-dl or The Pirate Bay and they both have actually been continuously available in our results if you search for them by name (which most people do). Our site: operator (which hardly anyone uses) is having issues which we are looking into.April 17, 2022

In TechRadar Pro's testing today – using a clean Opera window with a VPN – finding pirate websites was pretty straightforward, suggesting there was no issue.

In a statement to The Verge, DuckDuckGo said: "After looking into this, our records indicate that YouTube-dl and The Pirate Bay were never removed from our search results when you searched for them directly by name or URL, which the vast majority of people do (it’s rare for people to use site operators or query operators in general)."

"We are having issues with our site: operator, and not just for these sites," said DuckDuckGo's Allison Goodman. "Some of the other sites routinely change domain names and have spotty availability, and so naturally come in and out of the index but should be available as of now."

A better way to search?

DuckDuckGo was also recently embroiled in a controversy over its decision to down-rank certain pro-Russia results after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, something that sits awkwardly with its "unbiased" marketing.

> Search engine listings littered with dangerous malware

> Here's another excellent reason not to pirate your software

> DuckDuckGo founder says privacy needs to be as simple as a single button press

The company has also repeatedly gone after Google for its search practices, arguing that the dominant search giant spies on users and delivers poor quality results.

First launched in 2008, DuckDuckGo says it aims to better cater to the needs of privacy-conscious internet users that don’t want their search data ending up in the hands of Google or other large tech giants. The company has since expanded its operations and it now offers its own browser in addition to a search engine.

Given that Google maintains a 91% share of the search engine market – compared to 3.1% for Bing, 1.5% for Baidu, and 0.69% for DuckDuckGo – search consumers seemingly seem not to mind about Google's foibles.

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This recent DuckDuckGo update was terrible news for pirates

anthony.spadafora@futurenet.com (Anthony Spadafora) — Mon, 18 Apr 2022 19:30:25 +0000

DuckDuckGo users were recently unable to find links to The Pirate Bay and other popular torrenting sites in the company’s search engine.

While initially it seemed that the company deindexed a number of domains used for illegally downloading movies, TV shows and even YouTube videos, it turns out that technical issues led to the glitch instead.

First launched in 2008, DuckDuckGo is an alternative search engine that aims to better cater to the needs of privacy-conscious internet users that don’t want their search data ending up in the hands of Google or other large tech giants. The company has since expanded its operations and it now offers its own browser in addition to a search engine.

This isn’t the first time that DuckDuckGo has dealt with the issue of pirating as back in 2018, the company removed around 2,000 search shortcuts for pirate sites called “bangs” for The Pirate Bay, 1337x and RARBG. Although these bangs were removed, DuckDuckGo stressed that the sites themselves still showed up in its search results.

Not a DuckDuckGo issue

After TorrentFreak published its initial report on the matter, a DuckDuckGo spokesperson reached out to the news outlet to inform them that no pirate domains were removed from its search engine according to the company’s records.

This appears to be true as you can now search for The Pirate Bay, 1337x, RARBG and other popular torrenting sites and they show up in DuckDuckGo’s search results.

> This Google Chrome challenger could be the best browser for private surfing

> DuckDuckGo founder says privacy needs to be as simple as a single button press

> Here's another excellent reason not to pirate your software

In a tweet, DuckDuckGo founder and CEO Gabriel Weinberg explained that the issue was caused by the company’s site operator and not be it delisting pirate domains in its search results, saying:

“We are not "purging" YouTube-dl or The Pirate Bay and they both have actually been continuously available in our results if you search for them by name (which most people do). Our site: operator (which hardly anyone uses) is having issues which we are looking into.”

While DuckDuckGo is a privacy-focused search engine, it actually uses data from Bing for its search results. A DuckDuckGo spokesperson confirmed to TorrentFreak that the issues its search engine recently experienced were related to Bing data.

Although you can now once again search for popular torrenting sites on DuckDuckGo, downloading movies, TV shows, games and other software isn’t just illegal but you also run the risk of having your system infected with malware and other viruses.

Protect your privacy online on any search engine with one of the best VPN services

Via TorrentFreak

This Google Chrome challenger could be the best browser for private surfing

anthony.spadafora@futurenet.com (Anthony Spadafora) — Wed, 13 Apr 2022 01:00:52 +0000

In addition to its search engine and mobile browser, DuckDuckGo has announced the beta launch of DuckDuckGo for Mac with DuckDuckGo for Windows coming soon.

Just like its mobile app, DuckDuckGo for Mac is an all-one-privacy solution for everyday web browsing that doesn’t require complicated settings to protect your online privacy and data.

Alongside its built-in private search engine, the company’s new browser for desktop also features a number of useful security features including a powerful tracker blocker, new cookie pop-up protection, a Fire Button for one-click data clearing, email protection and more, all free of charge.

DuckDuckGo for Mac also ensures you navigate to the HTTPS version of websites more often with its built-in Smarter Encryption. Meanwhile, the company’s tracker blocker prevents users from being exposed to third-party scripts that could try to access their data.

(Image credit: DuckDuckGo)

A browser designed to protect your privacy

Unlike Incognito mode in Google Chrome which isn’t actually private, DuckDuckGo for Mac is intended to be used as an everyday browser that truly protects user privacy though it also includes other features you’d expect from a modern browser such as password management, tab management, bookmarks and more.

At the same time, DuckDuckGo for Mac is already faster than Chrome using the Motion Mark 1.2 benchmark and since it blocks trackers, the browser uses around 60 percent less data. DuckDuckGo for Mac is able to achieve these high speeds by using Apple’s WebKit rendering engine which is the same one used by Safari.

> DuckDuckGo founder says privacy needs to be as simple as a single button press

> DuckDuckGo now wants to help protect your Android phone

> Taking on Google: Meet the challenger search engine trying to break the monopoly

CEO and founder of DuckDuckGo, Gabriel Weinberg provided further insight on the built-in privacy protection in the company’s new browser for Mac in a statement to TechRadar Pro, saying:

"At DuckDuckGo, we make privacy simple. For too long people have been made to believe that privacy online means significant tradeoffs, but that doesn't need to be the case. Like our popular mobile app, DuckDuckGo for Mac is an all-in-one privacy solution for everyday browsing with no complicated settings, just a clean, seamless private experience, plus some other cool features we think people will love."

To join the DuckDuckGo for Mac beta, interested users can join the private waitlist by downloading the DuckDuckGo mobile app, heading to settings and opening DuckDuckGo for Desktop from the “More from DuckDuckGo” section.

Safeguard your online privacy with one of the best VPNs

Taking on Google: Meet the challenger search engine trying to break the monopoly

joel.khalili@futurenet.com (Joel Khalili) — Sat, 12 Feb 2022 18:01:28 +0000

Google benefits from almost every advantage any company could ever hope for; it has the most advanced technology, broadest talent pool, greatest lobbying power and some of the deepest pockets. Most importantly, it has a vice-like grip on many of the markets in which it operates, particularly browsers and search.

Some might think it impossible to overthrow a company in this position, especially in its core areas of business. But not Gabriel Weinberg, who is patiently twirling his sling in anticipation of an opportunity to bring down the internet’s Goliath.

Weinberg is the founder of DuckDuckGo, which is best known for its private search engine, but now provides a suite of privacy-centric services. The company’s ambition is to help people defend against the predatory tracking technologies that underpin the advertising models of Google, Facebook and other web titans.

Safeguarding data privacy on the web was not the original raison d'être for DuckDuckGo, Weinberg told us, it was more about building something user-centric. But when the perils of surveillance capitalism became apparent, his vision was clarified.

“Many people don’t understand how much they are tracked and manipulated online,” he said. “They don’t appreciate the size of the profiles created by technology companies, and how they are being used not just to place ads all around them, but to determine the content they see online.”

“There’s a lot more polarization on the web due to filter bubbles and there’s also a lot of manipulative advertising that can lead to discrimination, propaganda and commercial exploitation. But now, we’re beginning to see some pushback.”

Gabriel Weinberg, founder and CEO of DuckDuckGo. (Image credit: DuckDuckGo)

An entrepreneurial streak

In most contexts, “college dropout” is deployed as a pejorative term, but not so in the world of technology. The likes of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey and others have made a noble tradition of dropping out of prestigious universities.

Weinberg also left his college early, but only because he finished his four-year degree a year ahead of schedule. He was in a hurry because he was eager to launch his first business, an education technology platform that sought to involve parents more closely in the schooling process.

Weinberg says he has had an entrepreneurial streak from an early age. In middle school, he coded his own bulletin board system, and in high school he had a side job helping businesses connect to the web and solve other IT issues. The culture at MIT, where he spent a lot of time around students starting their own companies, only reinforced this natural resolve.

Although his first venture was not a success, Weinberg says he learned a few valuable lessons that set the tone for what was to come. After returning to MIT for a graduate degree, he launched a series of new projects, taking a scattergun approach. One of them was an early social network called NamesDatabase, which provided a way for people to find old friends with whom they had lost contact.

Weinberg launched a social network called NamesDatabase in 2003, around the same time MySpace and Friendster were created. (Image credit: Wikipedia)

“It actually came out of an analysis of search engine traffic, finding that many people were searching for names of other people and not finding great results. So I tried to make a platform to help them find old friends and classmates. This was in 2003, right when Friendster was coming out, and MySpace shortly after,” he explained.

The idea caught on quickly and the company was snapped up by classmates.com for $10 million in 2006. Weinberg had exited at the right time; the rise of Facebook quickly consigned NamesDatabase to the scrapheap.

Somewhat aimless in the aftermath of this success, Weinberg found himself hunting for a new “North Star”. He knew he wanted to do something that would have a “unique positive impact”, but not necessarily what that might look like.

“I was interested in search, purely from an intellectual point of view,” he told us. “And I had a lot of admiration for what Mozilla was doing in the web browser market, trying to build a user-centric product.”

Following his nose, Weinberg set about building what later became DuckDuckGo, a search engine he himself would want to use.

DuckDuckGo takes flight

DuckDuckGo took shape over a number of years, from 2008 onwards. Weinberg worked on the project here and there, making tweaks and improvements whenever his newborn son gave him a moment’s peace.

Until 2011, the project was funded entirely using Weinberg’s own cash, and he was also the sole developer. But recognizing DuckDuckGo was beginning to gain traction, he decided it was time to take on investment and hone in on the privacy-preserving aspect of his product.

The idea that the economics of the web had begun to work against the individual did not come to Weinberg in the form of some great epiphany, but dawned on him slowly during his first few years developing DuckDuckGo, he told us.

“It was a gradual realisation that came from simply watching what was happening. It became clear Google was changing from a search company to an advertising company. And that meant profiling people using not only their search data, but the other properties Google had acquired,” said Weinberg.

“It also became obvious that the market was undergoing a shift from contextual to behavioural advertising, which was getting creepier and creepier, and that searches were going to be used to power this new system.”

The DuckDuckGo homepage. (Image credit: DuckDuckGo)

DuckDuckGo says it differs from Google in a number of crucial ways. The latter serves up different search results to different people depending on their age, gender, location, previous searches and a multitude of other factors, even if the search query is identical. DuckDuckGo, meanwhile, will generate the same results irrespective of who is making the search.

The advertising that appears in Google search results is also personalized on a per-user basis using the data the company collects across its various properties (Search, Gmail, Maps, Drive, YouTube, Android, Play Store etc.). Whereas under the DuckDuckGo model, the ads that appear in search results depend solely on the keywords that feature in the query. In simpler terms, a search about cars will throw up ads relating to cars.

The Google system and others like it create a variety of problems. The increase in the amount of content served up by algorithm-based search, news and social feeds is thought by some to have had a severe polarizing effect, making rational debate across political and social divides near impossible.

Second, there’s the problem of sensationalism and misinformation. A system in which publishers are beholden to the algorithms of Google, YouTube and Facebook for content distribution naturally incentivises embellishment and overstatement, increasing the likelihood that reporting spills over into mistruth in an effort to garner clicks.

Lastly, many privacy advocates take issue with the quantities of sensitive, user-level data collected by Google in support of its lucrative advertising business (which makes up more than 80% of its revenue). This data contributes towards creating highly detailed profiles of web users, who are served targeted ads for products they may not want or need. Worse, the individuals are not fairly compensated for providing the valuable raw material on which the system functions: their personal data.

By eliminating user profiles from the equation, DuckDuckGo hopes to address each of these negative effects. The company neither stores nor collects personal data on its users and neither does it take record of the searches specific people perform. And although a large proportion of its search results are populated via Microsoft Bing, which means Microsoft has access to anonymized and aggregated search data from DuckDuckGo, Weinberg says there is no way someone could be profiled as a result.

The search engine was the first piece of the puzzle, but DuckDuckGo also has a mobile browser and extension, which block tracking cookies, force websites to use encrypted connections where possible and assign sites with an overall privacy grade.

The company has been profitable since 2014, almost wholly thanks to its keyword-based advertising efforts, and estimates suggest the search engine now services roughly three billion search queries per month.

However, Weinberg says the success of the campaign to establish a more private web will depend upon the ability to create a new path of least resistance for users; privacy-preserving products will only reach a critical mass once it becomes simpler for people to make the switch.

“Most people currently say they care about privacy, but only half actually take action. We think this figure will continue to grow as consumers understand more and more about privacy harms,” he told us.

“However, bringing web users from one group to the other will also be about helping people appreciate there’s something they can do about these problems. We’re trying to be the easy button for privacy.”

(Image credit: DuckDuckGo)

Default is king

Irrespective of the quality of products on offer from challengers like DuckDuckGo, however, the opportunity to close the gap on Google and others is limited by the financial firepower of the incumbents, as well as their dominance across multiple sectors. The problem is that default is king, because many users will never bother to change their settings.

In the search market, Google is estimated to pay many billions of dollars every year to guarantee its spot as the default search engine across web browsers such as Safari and Firefox.

Meanwhile, Google Chrome is itself far and away the largest web browser on the market and the company’s stewardship of Android means it can build itself into the heart of most smartphones and tablets too. All of this means that the majority of internet users will make searches via Google by default.

To offset the power of the default and the dangers of the platform effect, Weinberg says it needs to be much simpler for users to make a wholesale switch to different service providers across a number categories, including browsers and search.

The popularity of Google Chrome and Android devices means that most web users make their searches via Google by default. (Image credit: Google Chrome)

“On Android right now, it takes fifteen-plus clicks to change the default search engine, but we really think that should be one click,” he told us. “If this kind of system were in place, we could be five or ten times bigger today.”

“It’s very important to open up these kinds of industries. The answer to this problem is a regulatory one, so we’re working with bodies across the world to make this happen.”

Over the last few years, Weinberg has spoken to lawyers at the US Justice Department and testified at antitrust hearings on multiple occasions, mostly in relation to the auction process that now determines which search engines appear as alternative options during the Android setup process.

The system was implemented in compliance with an EU ruling from 2018 that determined Google had abused its monopoly in the mobile operating system space. However, the new pay-to-play auction system prices DuckDuckGo and other “purpose-driven” alternatives out of contention, and has therefore failed to recalibrate the balance of power in search.

Although progress is slow, Weinberg suggested he has faith that the necessary gears are now turning and that more effective regulation is on the horizon.

Branching out

Like other companies in the space, DuckDuckGo is in the process of branching out into new areas under the umbrella of privacy technology.

Beyond the search engine, mobile app and browser extension, Weinberg has now set his sights on the desktop browser space too, and it’s not difficult to work out why.

The power of the default means that whoever controls the browser market has significant influence over the search industry. If DuckDuckGo is able to attract a significant audience to its browser, it stands to gain an almost equally large number of search users too.

Although there are a number of privacy-centric browsers on the market already (perhaps most notably, Brave), Weinberg says his company’s service will stand apart for its unrivalled usability.

“Like we’ve done on mobile, DuckDuckGo for desktop will redefine user expectations of everyday online privacy. No complicated settings, no misleading warnings, no ‘levels’ of privacy protection – just robust protection that works by default, across search, browsing, email, and more,” he explained.

“It's not a privacy browser; it's an everyday browsing app that respects users' privacy because there's never a bad time to stop companies from spying on searches and browsing history.”

DuckDuckGo has also recently released email-tracking protection and anti-app tracking features in beta, which will eventually be integrated fully into its products. And although Weinberg refused to be drawn into revealing any further projects, we imagine the company has a few additional tricks up its sleeve.

If regulators come up short, this expansion strategy will give DuckDuckGo an alternate route to expanding both its footprint and revenue.

Weinberg also says there is natural momentum behind projects like his own as a result of growing awareness of the importance of data privacy among the general public. Landmark events like the Snowden leaks and Cambridge Analytica scandal catalyzed this process, but the ready availability of services that help people take action will bring us to the tipping point, he says.

“If you feel that privacy is unattainable or comes at too great an expense, of course you’ll feel powerless to act,” said Weinberg. “We’re trying to let people know there really is a solution, an easy button for privacy that doesn’t involve a lot of sacrifice.”

Update: February 16, 2022
Since publication, Google has been in touch to contest the notion that its search results are personalized on a per-user basis; the differences are a product of the dynamic and distributed nature of its system, it contends. The company claims that DuckDuckGo search results differ for the same reason.

In support of its claims, Google gestured to recent research that suggests its search engine "is not pushing strong partisans into filter bubbles".

Separately, Google asserted that the quality of its own search results means that other providers, including DuckDuckGo, suffer a far more acute misinformation problem.

Also check out our list of the best VPN services around

DuckDuckGo founder says privacy needs to be as simple as a single button press

joel.khalili@futurenet.com (Joel Khalili) — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 14:02:15 +0000

The success of the quest to establish a more private web will depend upon the ability to create a new path of least resistance for users, the founder of search engine DuckDuckGo has said.

In an exclusive interview with TechRadar Pro, Gabriel Weinberg said that the audience for privacy-preserving products will only reach a critical mass once it becomes simpler for people to make the switch.

Building a more private web

Since the early 2010s, a new breed of organization has emerged that aims to equip people with the tools to defend against the predatory tracking technologies that underpin the advertising models of companies like Google and Facebook. DuckDuckGo is one such company, and so are Proton, Brave and many others.

However, the opportunity for companies like these to make up ground on Google and others is limited by the financial firepower of the incumbents, as well as their dominance across multiple sectors. The problem is that default is king, because many users will never bother to mess with their settings.

In the search market, Google is estimated to pay many billions of dollars every year to guarantee its spot as the default search engine across web browsers such as Safari and Firefox.

> Google attacked over latest plan to replace tracking cookies

> The inside story of the browser wars, told by a veteran

> ProtonMail wants to stop you being tracked online via email

Meanwhile, Google’s own browser is far and away the largest on the market, which means the majority of internet users will make searches via Google by default. And Google’s ownership of Android means it can build its products into the heart of most of the world’s smartphones and tablets too.

To offset the power of the default, Weinberg says it needs to be much simpler for users to make a wholesale switch to different service providers across a number categories, including browser and search.

“It’s very important to open up these kinds of industries. The answer to this problem is a regulatory one, so we’re working with bodies across the world to make this happen.”

Our full interview with Gabriel Weinberg will be published in the coming days.

Also check out our list of the best VPN services

DuckDuckGo wants to be more than a search engine

anthony.spadafora@futurenet.com (Anthony Spadafora) — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 20:30:34 +0000

DuckDuckGo may be best known for its privacy-focused search engine but following the success of its all-in-one privacy apps and extensions, the company is now developing its own browser.

Since making the decision to move beyond private search in 2018, the company's privacy apps and extensions have been downloaded over 150m times. In addition to providing users with a search engine, DuckDuckGo's mobile app also allows you to browse the web privately.

Now in a new blog post, DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg has revealed that the company is working on a desktop browser that will redefine user expectations of everyday online privacy. Unlike with other browsers, DuckDuckGo for desktop won't have any complicated settings, misleading warnings or “levels” of privacy protection. Instead, the company's browser will feature robust privacy protection that works by default across search, browsing, email and more.

While browsers like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Vivaldi, Brave and others use Chromium, DuckDuckGo is building its desktop app around OS-provided rendering engines just like the company does on mobile. This will allow it to strip away the clutter that has accumulated over the years in most major browsers.

DuckDuckGo year-in-review

While we'll likely hear more about DuckDuckGo's desktop browser next year, the company spent 2021 strengthening its all-in-one privacy solution with new improvements and features designed to help users take back their privacy.

The company announced the beta release of its free email forwarding service Email Protection this year which removes trackers in your email and protects the privacy of your personal email address without asking users to switch to another email service.

Just last month, DuckDuckGo released its App Tracking Protection feature into beta in its Android app to block third-party trackers from companies like Google and Facebook that often lurk in other apps. Interested users can join the waitlist through the company's DuckDuckGo Android app to test App Tracking Protection out for themselves.

Finally, DuckDuckGo made a lot of improvements to its search results this year including giving its search results page a more simple and modern design while it continued to refine and improve its local, maps and directions results. However, other improvements made by the company include a new translations instant answer, revamped definitions and weather answers, custom data range filtering, more filters on images and upgrades to advanced search.

With 2022 just around the corner, you may be trying to come up with a New Year's Resolution and if you're struggling to think of one, why not improve your privacy and security by giving DuckDuckGo a try, installing an antivirus, using a VPN and storing your credentials securely with a password manager?

We've also highlighted the best browser, best VPN and best SEO tools

Best privacy app for Android of 2026

Brian Turner — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 09:57:04 +0000

We list the best privacy apps for Android, to make it simple and easy to better manage and protect your privacy online when using an Android phone or tablet.

User privacy has become a big issue over recent years, as government regulations have tried to push back against the big increase in cookie tracking for data collection purposes. On top of this, Android phone users have the additional concern of rogue apps that might try to tap into your data directly.

In order to protect your privacy there are, of course, basic settings that can help mitigate some of these issues. However, if you're serious about privacy, anonymity, and security, then you'll probably need to go a step further.

There are dedicated Android antivirus apps out there, as well as encrypted messaging apps for Android to help keep communications secure.

However, one of the best ways to protect your privacy is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service, some of which are available specifically as a VPN for Android.

Additional options include authentication software, password management, browser addons, and keychains.

Below we list what we think are the best privacy apps and software tools for Android users currently available.

We've also featured the best Android emulators.

The best privacy apps for Android of 2026 in full:

Best privacy app for Android overall

(Image credit: ExpressVPN)

1. ExpressVPN

Best VPN

Best protection

Safe and secure

Full privacy

A VPN (virtual private network) app is the biggest no-brainer privacy boost you can give to your Android device. VPNs not only hide your IP address from the sites and apps that you use, they hide the sites and apps you use from your internet service provider.

A VPN will also let you pretend to be in a different location, which is key for unblocking geo-restricted content.

ExpressVPN consistently ranks at the top of our list of Android VPNs. It’s reliably fast, has 160 server locations in 94 countries, and its 24/7 customer support is second to none.

The service already used industry-standard encryption and a choice of various other protocols (including IKEv2, OpenVPN and L2TP/IPsec) to keep your data safe. But perhaps most exciting is that it has now begun rolling out its very own Lightway protocol that seeks to increase speed and reliability even further.

But away from the numbers and specifications, it’s in our real-life testing where ExpressVPN really shines. For starters, it’s fast. Really fast, with fantastic connection speeds across servers in multiple countries. And that was using OpenVPN in our tests - the aforementioned Lightway option should increase that further still.

We also love just how easy to use this service is. That might seem obvious, but not every VPN provider out there has worked out how to make its tools intuitive, regardless of what device you're using it on. From desktop and mobile, to TV streamers and browser extensions, ExpressVPN is very easy to set up and operate for both pros and inexperienced users.

ExpressVPN costs around $13 per month, but if you pay for a yearly subscription there is a substantial saving at around $8 per month for the first year.

Read our full ExpressVPN review.

^ Back to the top

Best privacy app for ad and tracker blocking

(Image credit: Google)

2. Firefox

Privacy and security options

Increased privacy

Black tracking

Block ads

The Firefox browser app aims to make your internet surfing experience more private than most other browsers, with additional built in privacy and security settings.

Additionally, you can use Firefox add-ons to further increase your privacy. Once you’ve installed Firefox from the Play store, open the menu and go to Tools > Add Ons > Browse all Firefox Add Ons.

Look under the Privacy & Security section and you can find add-ons such as Ghostery, which prevents websites leaving ‘tracking cookies’ on your device to monitor your browsing habits, and the likes of script blockers and ad blockers amongst many other security-related bits and pieces.

^ Back to the top

Best privacy app for private browsing

(Image credit: Google)

3. DuckDuckGo

Private browsing

No leakage

No data recording

Ad free

Major search engines like Google and Bing sometimes engage in leakage whereby your search term may be shared with third-parties like the sites you visit.

They also often save your search history with a timestamp and details of your device, meaning searches can be traced back to you. Sometimes they place virtual cookies on your device to record your search habits.

DuckDuckGo works as a drop-in replacement for your default search engine. Searches do not leak to other websites and this engine records no information about what you look for. It’s also ad-free. DuckDuckGo is compatible with Orbot (above), so you can hide your location from the sites you visit, too.

Read our full DuckDuckGo review.

^ Back to the top

Best privacy app for security

(Image credit: Google)

4. Keepass2Android

Secured passwords

Password manager

Secure storage

Remote access

Keepass2Android is an Android version of the excellent password manager Keepass. Version 2 supports using key files as well as passwords, which is more secure. The password database can be stored on a remote folder (for example, in your Dropbox account) so you can access it both from your Android device and desktop computer.

If you prefer to keep your password database on the Android device only, there’s also an offline version of this app – click on the second of the download links below.

You can use Android’s copy/paste feature to enter passwords for any number of websites if you wish, or make use of Keepass2Android’s built-in keyboard to enter passwords, which is safer.

^ Back to the top

Best privacy app for open source

(Image credit: Google)

5. Syncthing

Encrypted syncing

Sync files

Encrypted connection

Open source

As the name suggests, Syncthing is used to synchronize (or ‘sync’) files between two devices, for instance you can use it to back up photos on your Android device to your home computer.

After installing the Android app and setting up Syncthing on a computer, any files or folders you select will be copied between devices via an encrypted connection.

As connections are peer-to-peer, you don’t have to store your data with a third-party cloud service like Dropbox. Plus you can add as many devices as you like to share files between.

Syncthing is open source, so its code can be checked for vulnerabilities by security boffins, and any problems should hopefully get fixed pronto.

^ Back to the top

Best privacy app for encryption

(Image credit: Google)

6. OpenKeychain

Private communications

Encrypt your messages

Strong controls

Requires technical knowledge

OpenKeychain is an implementation of OpenPGP (sometimes referred to as GPG). It allows you to generate a ‘public’ key which you give to others to allow them to encrypt and send messages to you, and a ‘private’ key which remains on your Android device and is used to decrypt incoming messages. Your private key can also digitally sign messages so people know they’re really from you.

If you’ve never used PGP/GPG before, a good non-geeky explanation of how it works is available here. This app is designed to integrate into the K-9 Mail app to allow for easy signing and encryption of all your emails.

^ Back to the top

Best privacy app for dark web access

(Image credit: Google)

7. Orbot

Tor network access

Tor network

Dark web access

Slower connection

Orbot has been developed by the Guardian Project as a way for your Android device to access the Tor network. When used along with its companion app, the Orfox browser, this lets you browse the web safely without worrying about sites tracking your location, as your connection is encrypted and routed through several different computers.

For extra security, use Tor hidden services. These are websites with the domain extension .onion which reside only in the ‘dark web’. For instance Facebook’s address is http://facebookcorewwwi.onion.

Do note, though, that as your data is being shunted through a number of computers, you may find your connection speed is much slower than usual. Such is the trade-off for tight privacy.

^ Back to the top

We've featured the best Linux distro for privacy and security.

Best privacy app for Android FAQs

Which privacy app for Android is best for you?

When deciding which privacy app for Android to use, first consider what your actual needs are, as budget software may only provide basic options, so if you need to use advanced tools you may find a more expensive platform is much more worthwhile. Additionally, higher-end software can usually cater for every need, so do ensure you have a good idea of which features you think you may require from your privacy app.

How we test

To test for the best privacy apps for Android we first set up an account with the relevant software platform, then we tested the service to see how the software performed when accessed by different devices, as well as testing any additional tools that were provided. The aim was to push each privacy app to see how useful its basic tools were and also how easy it was to get to grips with any more advanced tools.

Get in touch

Want to find out about commercial or marketing opportunities? Click here
Out of date info, errors, complaints or broken links? Give us a nudge
Got a suggestion for a product or service provider? Message us directly

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DuckDuckGo now wants to help protect your Android phone

anthony.spadafora@futurenet.com (Anthony Spadafora) — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 19:30:40 +0000

Whether you know it or not the apps on your Android smartphone are tracking your activity and sending data about you to third parties which is why DuckDuckGo is launching its new App Tracking Protection feature.

The trackers currently used in many popular apps are designed in such a way that they can record your activity such as where you are, what you're doing, where you've been and even how many hours you sleep at night in real time without your knowledge.

In fact, 96 percent of the popular free Android apps tested by DuckDuckGo using rankings from AndroidRank.org contained hidden third-party trackers. Of these apps, 87 percent sent data to Google and 68 percent sent data to Facebook with a report from AppCensus finding similar results.

While Apple recently released its App Tracking Transparency feature to protect iPhone and iPad users from unwanted tracking by the apps on their devices, no similar feature exists for Android which is why DuckDuckGo has launched its App Tracking Protection feature in beta in its existing app.

DuckDuckGo App Tracking Protection

DuckDuckGo's App Tracking Protection for Android is free and blocks trackers it identifies in other apps from third-party companies and is now built right into the DuckDuckGo Android app.

Once the feature is enabled, the app will detect when your other Android apps are about to send data to third-party tracking companies found in its app tracker dataset and block those requests. End users can continue using their apps as they normally would with the added peace of mind that they're not being tracked.

App Tracking Protection runs in the background and will continue to block detected trackers throughout all of your apps even while you're sleeping. DuckDuckGo also plans to continue working to identify and protect against new trackers going forward.

While its App Tracking Protection is not a VPN, your Android smartphone will recognize it as one since the feature uses a local VPN connection. This means that its tracking protection takes place right on your device and your app data is never routed through an external server.

TechRadar Pro reached out to DuckDuckGo and a company spokesperson explained that you'll need to turn off App Tracking Protection when using a VPN service. However, there will be a reminder to make sure you reenable it after disconnecting from your VPN.

Users interested in preventing their apps from tracking them can download the DuckDuckGo app for Android and head to its settings menu to join the private waitlist for the company's new App Tracking Protection feature.

We've also rounded up the best privacy apps, best VPN services and best identity theft protection to help you secure your digital life even further

DuckDuckGo search engine review

Lindsay Pietroluongo — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 06:05:20 +0000

Some people love the idea that everything you do online is cataloged because it means you get 100% tailored offers when you’re watching YouTube, scrolling through Facebook or searching online. On the other hand, there are plenty of people who definitely don’t like all of that personalization. Being watched by a so-called digital Big Brother, to the point where every ad and offer you see is exactly related to something you were just looking for, can give people the creeps. And on top of feeling over-watched, it can also make users feel like their security is at risk.

Enter tracker-free browsing from DuckDuckGo, a barebones search engine with one main goal: To keep you as anonymous as possible when you’re online.

Also check out our roundup of the best anonymous browsers

DuckDuckGo prefers to keep things simple when compared to other search engines (Image credit: DuckDuckGo)

Features

DuckDuckGo is a pretty minimalist search engine (which is the point), but it has a handful of features and settings that can help you customize it. Basically, the settings let you adjust how the pages appear, like whether or not you want to see page numbers, for example. You can also tailor settings for the following:

Auto-complete
Language
Opening links
Region-specific searching
Safe search to omit adult material
Scrolling

There are also a lot of appearance settings to tweak, like alignment, colors, font, font size, page width, etc. If you do a lot of online searching, being able to decide exactly how you want your search engine results to look is a nice option.

Plus, you can save your settings to the cloud to easily apply them in the future. This is helpful if you want to use DuckDuckGo on multiple computers and browsers or if you want to use different themes for different purposes. For example, maybe you like working with a light theme but browsing articles with a dark theme, or you have different settings based on whether kids or adults are using the browser.

Bangs

Bangs are DuckDuckGo’s shortcuts that deliver search results from other sites, like Amazon or Wikipedia. For example, if you wanted to search for records on Amazon, you’d input “a! vinyl” – the a! tells DuckDuckGo that you want to search on Amazon. Know this, though – DuckDuckGo can’t protect your privacy if you’re searching on those other sites; your info will be subject to that search engine’s policies.

You can change a few privacy settings from DuckDuckGo's menu along with the search engine's theme and appearance (Image credit: DuckDuckGo)

Privacy

DuckDuckGo’s whole pitch is that it’s an extremely safe-to-use search engine and that you can search online without worrying about being tracked. They don’t store personal info or follow you with ads. According to the website, “We don’t track you. Ever.”

DuckDuckGo’s products also offer site encryption. Plus, the Privacy Grade tells you if a site can be trusted before and after DuckDuckGo applies its Privacy Protection.

You don’t have to do anything to get these privacy features working. They’re all built-in and ready for you to take advantage of as soon as you start using DuckDuckGo. The privacy settings you can alter are minimal.

You can set DuckDuckGo as your default search engine in most browsers including Safari and Google Chrome (Image credit: Apple)

In use

Since I was using the Safari browser, I had customized “Add DuckDuckGo to Safari” buttons on pretty much every page of their website (and then tailored for Chrome when I checked out the site using that browser). This completely took the guesswork out of how to find and download the right version for my computer.

After clicking the button to add it, I got a pop-up with the steps to set DuckDuckGo as my default search engine. It’s super easy – on Safari, you just click the magnifying glass in the search bar and then choose DuckDuckGo from the drop-down.

When you download the app for Mac, you have to enable the features within your browser. The app will walk you through how to do that. You don’t even have to find the menus in your browser preferences – DuckDuckGo opens them for you.

Other than that, searching with DuckDuckGo is the same as with any other search engine – you enter a word or phrase, hit Search and it does its thing. The mobile app is especially nice to use, though. It has the duck mascot pop up with chat bubbles to show you around the app, and everything is fast and smooth.

While DuckDuckGo works on Android and iOS in any browser, you can also download the DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser for additional privacy and security features (Image credit: Google)

Platforms

DuckDuckGo has two options for using it:

Browser Extension - If your only concern is enabling private search, then you just need to enable DuckDuckGo as your default search engine in your browser.

App - If you want extra privacy, then you’ll want to download and install the app. This blocks hidden trackers and connects you to a website’s encrypted version (if it’s available).

If you want to use DuckDuckGo on your mobile device, there’s an app for that, too.

The competition

DuckDuckGo’s search results don’t look nearly as nice as Google’s. Compare the two below:

Search results with DuckDuckGo (Image credit: DuckDuckGo)

Search results with Google (Image credit: Google)

Yahoo has nicer-looking search results as well (Image credit: Yahoo)

That shouldn’t be too much of a turn-off, though. When I played around with searching for similar keywords (like “Beach Boys albums,” I had richer results from DuckDuckGo, similar to what I saw on Google and Yahoo the first time around.

Final verdict

We love what DuckDuckGo strives for – worry-free anonymity and safety online. And the fact that the search engine has limited options isn’t a bother; instead, it’s a nice change to be able to download, personalize and start using software in under 30 minutes. While search results may not always look as busy and vibrant as on other search engines, the information you’re returned is often just as thorough and reliable. Plus, we can’t help but be wooed by the mobile app, which, on top of being safe, feels ultra-light and quick.

You may also want to check out our article on how to keep your email inbox safe from trackers using DuckDuckGo.

We've also featured the best people search finder services and engines

DuckDuckGo wants to kill off email spying for good

Mike Moore — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 17:35:45 +0000

Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo has launched a new security service aimed at keeping users safe from third-party trackers and email watchers in their inbox.

The company says its new Email Protection offering can offer comprehensive privacy without the need to switch email services.

Instead, the new service offers users a free and personal @duck.com email address, where any emails sent will be stripped of email trackers before being forwarded on to your usual inbox.

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Email protection

Unveiling the feature, DuckDuckGo cited recent research that claims 70% of emails contain trackers that can detect when you’ve opened a message, where you were when you opened it, and what device you were using.

The company says this information can then be used to profile individual users, meaning they can be bombarded with ads as well as influencing what content you see online.

"Most existing email privacy solutions come with significant tradeoffs," a company blog post announcing the service said.

"You either have to switch email services or apps entirely, or degrade your email experience by hiding all images. We believe protecting your personal information from leaking to third parties should be simple and seamless, like the rest of DuckDuckGo’s privacy protection bundle."

DuckDuckGo says it doesn't save any emails, or the content within, and users won't need to share any personal information to sign up to the service.

The feature is available in beta testing now, with top email services like Gmail and Yahoo included. Users can join a private waitlist now by downloading the DuckDuckGo app for iOS or Android.

The release is the latest attempt by DuckDuckGo to improve user privacy as more and more people become aware of the risks posed by sharing too much information online.

The company revealed back in April that it will block Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), Google's alternative to third-party browser cookies, which for years have allowed advertisers to track the activity of web users.

FLoC is currently undergoing a trial period, exclusively on Chrome. Although Google hopes to expand the technology beyond the confines of its own web browser, DuckDuckGo and other opponents look set to stand in its way.

Here's our list of the best VPN services right now

DuckDuckGo will block Google's next-gen cookie replacement

joel.khalili@futurenet.com (Joel Khalili) — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 10:31:09 +0000

Privacy-centric search engine DuckDuckGo has denounced Google’s plans to implement an alternative to third-party browser cookies, which for years have allowed advertisers to track the activity of web users.

The company has revealed it will block Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), the proposed replacement, via both its search engine and Chrome browser extension.

The DuckDuckGo search engine will disable FLoC functionality with immediate effect, while an update to the browser extension will give users the chance to opt out manually. However, the extension update is currently under review by Google, which vets all new additions to the Chrome Web Store.

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Google FLoC opposition

According to Google, the introduction of FLoC will allow people to benefit from greater levels of online privacy, but without destroying the underlying economics of the web.

The FLoC system is said to achieve this goal by grouping together thousands of users with similar browsing habits, thereby preserving both the anonymity of individuals and the ability for advertisers to execute targeted campaigns.

However, a number of different privacy advocates have voiced concerns about the new technology. Some have questioned the purity of Google’s motives, in the context of the many billions of dollars the company makes on online advertising each year. Others believe the improvement in privacy standards will be minimal and that FLoC simply provides advertisers with a different set of tools to play with.

As per a recent blog post, DuckDuckGo’s opposition is founded in large part on Google’s failure to request the permission of Chrome users before deploying the new technology.

“We’re disappointed that, despite the many publicly voiced concerns with FLoC that have not yet been addressed, Google is already forcing FLoC upon users without explicitly asking them to opt in,” said DuckDuckGo in a statement.

“We’re nevertheless committed and will continue to do our part to deliver on our vision of raising the standard of trust online.”

Here's our list of the best VPN services right now

DuckDuckGo reaches a major milestone in its fight to topple Google

Barclay Ballard — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 11:12:47 +0000

The privacy-centric search engine DuckDuckGo has announced that it has reached a major milestone, confirming that it handled more than 100 million user search queries in a single day for the first time ever. The landmark figure represents a significant moment for the search engine, which was founded back in 2008.

Since the company’s founding, it has experienced sustained growth, even if its traffic continues to lag some way behind that of industry leader Google. Nevertheless, since August 2020, DuckDuckGo has been regularly managing more than 2 billion search queries a month, which is pretty impressive considering it is not the default search platform for any devices unlike Google’s own search engine or Bing.

In fact, in spite of its recent growth, DuckDuckGo has not stopped making the case for fairer competitive practices in the search engine space. In a blog post written late last year, the company argued that the fact that a 15-step process is required to set DuckDuckGo as an individual’s default browser is bad for consumer choice.

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Privacy policies

It would seem that more and more tech firms are starting to take privacy more seriously, however, no doubt aware that many customers are becoming concerned by the huge quantities of data that they hand over on a daily basis.

In addition to DuckDuckGo’s growing popularity, the privacy-focused apps Telegram and Signal have both also recorded surges in their user figures, and even tech’s biggest players are starting to take privacy more seriously. Google is currently working on its own Privacy Sandbox initiative, while Apple recently required all developers to add privacy labels to their App Store offerings.

Given that privacy is becoming more and more important for online users, it would be no surprise to see DuckDuckGo continue its upward growth trajectory.

Also check out our roundup of the best WordPress SEO plugins

Via ZDNet

DuckDuckGo search engine blocked by Indian ISPs

srivatsa.ramesh@trivone.com (Srivatsa Ramesh) — Fri, 03 Jul 2020 09:35:05 +0000

Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo is being blocked across India.

Users began reporting they could not access the site earlier today, with multiple ISPs appearing to block access to DuckDuckGo. Many users claimed that the site URL appears to be blocked via a DNS server, with some still able to gain access via third party DNS.

DuckDuckGo is a US-based search engine which emphasizes user data protection and privacy, as it does not profile its users.

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DuckDuckGo not working

DuckDuckGo has responded to the situation online, stating that the issue is not occurring from their end. The company added that they are in touch with local Internet providers to get to the bottom of the issue and resolve it as early as possible.

The company also advised a temporary solution of using a third party DNS such as 1.1.1.1 to resolve the issue.

To our users in India: We’ve received many reports our search engine is unreachable by much of India right now and have confirmed it is not due to us. We're actively talking to Internet providers to get to the bottom of it ASAP. Thank you for your patience.July 1, 2020

Some Indian ISPs do appear to be lifting restrictions, with TechRadar Pro able to access the site using the Jio and Aitel networks.

Some users claim that DuckDuckGo has been blocked on the instruction of the Indian government, with the outage coming days after it banned 59 apps including TikTok.

DuckDuckGo has grown in popularity due to its stance on user privacy and online safety. The company recently revealed a new tool aimed at unveiling which companies and domains track users online.

Named Tracker Radar, the tool consists of over 5,326 domains used by 1,727 companies, with the full data set used to create it available now on GitHub.

DuckDuckGo hopes that the release will help researchers get a better understanding of online tracking as a whole, but also allow developers to create tools to stop users from being tracked.

Keep your online browsing safe with the best VPN software around

Via Techworm

Vivaldi web browser blocks trackers, launches in full on Android

anthony.spadafora@futurenet.com (Anthony Spadafora) — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 18:20:15 +0000

In an effort to protect its users against unwanted tracking and data collection, Vivaldi has released version 3.0 of its desktop browser for Windows, Mac and Linux which now includes a built-in tracker and ad blocker.

At the same time the company, founded by former Opera co-founder and CEO Jon von Tetzchner and Tatsuki Tomita, has also announced that its Android browser is now out of beta.

Vivaldi 3.0 includes a built-in tracker blocker that was developed in partnership with DuckDuckGo. The blocker protects users from the trackers that follow them around the web gathering their personal information and just like Vivaldi itself, it is highly customizable.

DuckDuckGo wants to stop you from being tracked online
Mozilla boosts anti-tracking protection in Firefox update
Also check out our roundup of the best browsers

Users will be able to enable different blocking levels for individual websites and make exceptions for the sites they want to allow trackers on. They can choose to block trackers, block trackers and ads or disable blocking all together.

Tracker blocker

To block trackers, Vivaldi relies on a list of well-known tracker URLs and stops requests to those URL before they are sent. Through its partnership with DuckDuckGo, the company is now using the search engine's Tracker Radar to protect its users online.

DuckDuckGo's Tracker Radar continually crawls the web looking for trackers on major websites so that users can browse the web without third-party trackers operating in the background. Other browsers also block trackers but they utilize a different approach where they stop trackers from setting cookies and limiting their access to browser resources after connecting to them. However, this leaves the users open to many different types of tracking and Vivaldi believes that trackers should be blocked outright to really protect users.

In addition to blocking trackers, Vivaldi users can also now block almost all ads without having to download any extensions. This feature is disabled by default as the company doesn't want users to block ads on the sites they regularly visit as this could prevent them from generating revenue.

Vivaldi's ad and tracker blocker feature is also available in its new Android browser which is available on Android 5 or higher as well as compatible with Chromebooks.

We've also highlighted the best VPN services

Via Engadget

DuckDuckGo wants to stop you from being tracked online

soni.jd@gmail.com (Jitendra Soni) — Fri, 06 Mar 2020 14:47:54 +0000

Privacy-focused web browser DuckDuckGo has revealed a new tool aimed at unveiling which companies and domains track users online.

Named Tracker Radar, the tool consists of over 5,326 domains used by 1,727 companies, with the full data set used to create it available now on GitHub.

DuckDuckGo hopes that the release will help researchers get a better understanding of online tracking as a whole, but also allow developers to create tools to stop users from being tracked.

Data privacy

Most common web crawlers are deployed to track users’ locations, search history and browsing history, with this data typically sold to advertising or ecommerce firms.

However, with awareness about data privacy growing in recent times, users are looking for ways to avoid being tracked online.

The developers behind the Vivaldi browser have already started using this data to make browsing a bit more private affair for their users, and DuckDuckGo hopes others will follow.

Companies like Google and Facebook, who have advertisement as their primary source of revenue, also feel that privacy is a priority now. Google Chrome already lets users block cross-site tracking and also hopes to be able to block third-party trackers soon.

Other prominent browsers like Firefox and Edge are also working out ways to improve data protection and block cookies that impact user data privacy.

Keep your online browsing habits safe from snooping with the best VPN servic of 2020

Via: CNET

Google adds DuckDuckGo as search option

anthony.spadafora@futurenet.com (Anthony Spadafora) — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 18:06:38 +0000

Google has expanded the list of default search engines in a recent update to the chromium engine, which powers its popular Chrome browser, to give users more choice when deciding how they wish to search.

The search giant has expanded its search engine lists to include more privacy-focused search engines such as DuckDuckGo in over 60 global markets.

The changes are part of the Chromium 73 stable release and could help Google counter backlash over rising privacy and antitrust scrutiny from government agencies.

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A number of governments have begun to question how the company and other tech giants make it difficult for smaller businesses to compete and by adding rival search products to its browser, Google is showing its willingness to foster competition in the space.

Privacy-focused search engines

While Google has added support for a number of new search engines, DuckDuckGo is likely the most popular new addition as the privacy-focused search engine has gained a great deal of traction in recent months as users have begun to value their privacy more.

Additionally, the French search engine Qwant has been added as a new option but only in its home country.

According to a note about the changes to chromium's default search engine lists on GitHub, Google software engineer Orin Jaworksi explained that the list was updated as a result of “recently collected data” and “new usage statistics”.

By giving users more choices over which search engine they use, Google is protecting itself from increased regulation while simultaneously helping to advocate for improved privacy.

Via TechCrunch

Also check out the best VPN to help protect your privacy further

Google search results are personalized even when incognito, study finds

sharmishta.sarkar@futurenet.com (Sharmishta Sarkar) — Wed, 05 Dec 2018 00:14:06 +0000

It’s a well-known fact that Google has a heck of a lot of user data stockpiled in its servers, and it admits to using info like user location, browsing habits and search history to personalize some of its search results. However, a new study conducted by competitor DuckDuckGo has found that these targeted results are practically impossible to escape.

As part of the study – entitled Measuring the Filter Bubble: How Google Is Influencing What You Click – 87 participants did a search for the political terms "gun control", "vaccines" and "immigration" only to find each individual had markedly different results despite the identical search terms.

The study suggests that this "filter bubble" remains active for each individual user, even when using private browsing (Google’s Incognito window) or when logged out of a Google account.

Read more: Google has made it easier to delete your search history and adjust privacy controls

No such thing as online anonymity

The study was conducted in June this year, when the political scenario in the United States was heating up with campaigns prior to the midterm elections.

The timing of the study was significant as well. Citing an independent study conducted by the Wall Street Journal in 2012 – which found Google search results significantly influenced the 2012 Presidential elections – DuckDuckGo wanted to confirm whether personalized search results tightened the effects of the "bubble" and influenced people’s decisions.

Is the proof in the pudding?

The study found that "most participants saw results unique to them". First page results varied between participants as well, with some links included for a few individuals, and not available to others.

Even private browsing and being logged out of a Google account "offered very little filter bubble protection".

"These tactics simply do not provide the anonymity most people expect," claims DuckDuckGo. "In fact, it's simply not possible to use Google search and avoid its filter bubble."

While browsing incognito or when logged out, according to the results of the study, 68% of participants saw unique results for "gun control", while "immigration" produced personalized results for 57% of individuals. That number jumped to 92% seeing unique results for "vaccinations" in private browsing mode or when logged out.

When browsing on a normal search window, the results were similar – 59% saw unique results for "gun control", 63% for "immigration" and 92% of participants had personalized results for "vaccinations".

Not (rocket) science

While the study is far from scientific and the results potentially biased, it does provide some interesting insight.

In a comment to The Verge, Google explained that "search results can change by the minute and sometimes even by the second", and that "personalization is done on a small fraction of total number of queries entered into search".

However, no explanation has been provided on why search results still get the personal touch when logged out or during private browsing, although the tech giant did clarify that it "does not personalize results for incognito searches using signed-in search history".

Google followed it up with a statement to 9to5Google, saying the study was flawed. "This study’s methodology and conclusions are flawed since they are based on the assumption that any difference in search results are based on personalization. That is simply not true. In fact, there are a number of factors that can lead to slight differences, including time and location, which this study doesn’t appear to have controlled for effectively."

The best free privacy software 2018: top tools for anonymous browsing

Looking to the future after 10 years of Firefox

desire.athow@futurenet.com (Desire Athow) — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 15:20:00 +0000

As you might have noticed, this week saw the tenth anniversary of the Firefox web browser. Given that, we spoke to Johnathan Nightingale, VP Firefox, to discover more about what's new in Firefox as of this week, and his thoughts on what the web and the browsers of the future will look like.

TechRadar Pro: What's new in Firefox?

Johnathan Nightingale: Let me start by saying that the consistent theme you are seeing from Mozilla is that we're trying to solve actual problems for you and offer you choices that are meaningful, that matter to you and that you understand in terms of value. This started with launching Firefox 10 years ago and continues today.

We always look for the simplest thing you can tell us about your online preferences. Then we think about how we can present that back to you in a meaningful way so you can start to see how your information flows on the web. We then think about presenting that back to the industry in a way that allows us to advocate for the change we feel needs to happen. We did that with Do Not Track and now every browser supports it. We did it with WebGL and now every browser supports it.

You continue to see that work with the Forget button, which is one of the new things in the special anniversary edition of Firefox released this week. Forget is based on a really simple idea. If you fall down a link path and realise that you are not where you wanted to be, or click on a link or are on a research mission that you should have done in Private Browsing mode but forgot to, now you can just erase that. With Forget, there is a way to undo that action after the fact.

Firefox works to remember things to help you, but it also helps you forget things when that is the right choice. We've made that into a really simple transaction so you can ask Firefox to forget the last five minutes, the last two hours or the last 24 hours. In one click you can delete your recent history, cookies, close all tabs and windows and open a new window to start again.

We also included DuckDuckGo as one of our search options because search without tracking is an interesting proposition. It feels like a choice we wanted to make available to our users. We understand that even users who don't spend their lives in the technology space still worry about how their information is being tracked and traded, and do not like it being done without their consent.

We're also introducing the Privacy Coach, a new kind of add-on for Firefox for Android, which puts key privacy features within easy reach on one dedicated home screen page. You can add it to your Firefox today to have information at your fingertips about the privacy features that Firefox has to offer, including Do Not Track, Private Browsing, Guest Browsing, Cookie Blocking and Clear History. You'll see easy-to-digest explanations about these features to help you figure out what settings are right for you.

And we're excited to launch Firefox Developer Edition built from the ground up for developers and those who have a curiosity about how the web is made. Now they have a place they can call home instead of having to force a consumer-oriented browser into their particular workflow.

We are also working on a privacy initiative to partner with others to improve privacy protection options and tools online. We will conduct research, experiment with and create advances in privacy technology for the web.

TRP: What is your favourite Firefox moment from the last 10 years?

JN: Right now. Firefox initiated choice, innovation and opportunity online. We've come a long way and we created this vibrant competition for the web where our users have totally co-opted our platform around standardisation and openness, and we believe that openness and interoperability are essential.

Today is exciting because we are talking about technological innovation everywhere in Mozilla – new features for users focused on privacy, partnerships with other organisations who are all working to make the web a better place, all our developer tools in one bespoke browser.

Every release since Firefox 1 shipped a decade ago is something that we are immensely proud of. Each release represents the huge amount of work we have put together in order to try to make the web better. The effects of that work shine particularly brightly this week.

While it is great to be able to stand where we are and look back over the last 10 years to see how far we have come, what is more inspiring is the energy we have to fight today's fights and do the things we know we have yet to do. There hasn't been a better time.

TechRadar Pro: How and why did you create Firefox Developer Edition?

Johnathan Nightingale: Mozilla exists because we see the power of the web. We really believe in it. Our mission is to take care of the web and our users.

The web itself is open and interoperable and that is great, but it can be messy. There are numerous proprietary development platforms that often don't mesh with each other, meaning developers end up switching between different tools, platforms and browsers which can slow them down and make them less productive.

If they do end up using one over the other they can be left high and dry if an app store then tells them their app is not good enough to be submitted. Proprietary development platforms make it easy to build apps for certain stores and that is obviously attractive, but developers want to build beautiful things that everyone can use, on any platform.

Firefox Developer Edition is the first browser out there designed specifically for developers. It's a stable Firefox browser that consolidates all the developer tools you're used to and some new features that simplify the process of building for the web.

Firefox Developer Edition is for designers and developers who want to build compelling web content and apps. For developers creating web apps, there's no need to download additional plugins or applications to debug mobile devices.

TRP: Why is privacy important to you?

JN: Data flows are inscrutable. Some companies take advantage of the fact that you don't understand what's going on. You have a right to be able to change that, you should demand better of us and everyone else in terms of giving you the tools to better mediate and understand that.

This isn't the same as not looking under the bonnet of your car because you're not a car person and you don't want to know what's under the hood even though you have a car and that knowledge might help you.

You can't avoid caring about privacy. We try to help you be that person by giving you ways to see who knows what about you and how you are being tracked online. It is a difficult thing to get to grips with and it shouldn't be as hard as it is, but at the same time, you can't leave it up to your tech-savvy friends to advise you. It's your life and you should be the custodian of it online – just as much as you are in the physical world.

There are lots of interactions in your offline life where you are perfectly capable of giving consent despite the fact that there are complicated forces at work. When you walk down the cereal aisle, you are faced with marketing that is trying very hard to get your attention, but no-one disputes the fact that you get to choose what you're buying. When you're online, you don't get to choose who gets to see the last 10 things you buy. That's weird and broken and we should fix it.

TechRadar Pro: What will the web look like in ten years' time?

Johnathan Nightingale: There are four dominant trends that I see happening over the next ten years…

1. The rest of the world will come online: half of the world's population has come online and those who have yet to do so are coming online quickly. That pace is just going to accelerate. Initiatives like our own Firefox OS and others make it easier and easier to reach the web without having to buy a £600 smartphone. Ten years ago, the web was a product of affluence. In ten years' time we will be thinking about a web that is truly global in ways that were not possible ten years ago when Firefox started out.

That shift is going to be massive and transformative. Those who are coming online now will have different needs to those who are already here. That will create pressure for software to change and opportunity for new products and features to emerge that serve those new needs. We're excited to see it – it is a big part of why we are investing in Firefox on all platforms; we believe deeply in the value of having everyone connected to web.

2. More of life will happen online: When Firefox started, I had two connections to the web – one at work and one at home. Now I have dozens of things that are connected to the internet – phones and tablets with Wi-Fi, my Kindle has 3G, I have multiple computers and I'm just getting started. I don't have an internet-connected thermostat or fridge or vacuum cleaner but some people do already.

In ten years, everything is going to be connected and people will ask 'how do we organise our digital lives, how do we situate ourselves in the middle of this web of things and control it and understand it?' For Mozilla, it is a very real imperative to build tools and make it easier to manage our users' digital lives.

3. Data will get more complex: As these layers of connectivity emerge and more devices are connected, the way data is managed will get more complex. There will continue to be tension around whether that data is something that we can control or something we are victims of.

This is another place that we have an opinion. At Mozilla we think that you should be in control and we're going to keep building tools that make those data flows more visible, that give you the ability to turn them off or add a notion of consent and indicate what you are not OK with. We're going to continue with our policy advocacy and continue to build technological proof that it is possible to make things in a way that respects the humans they serve.

4. The web as we understand it might go away: I don't mean that in the sense that cars will be replaced with better cars or fridges with better fridges. I mean that there are corporate interests in making sure that everything about how you get online and all of the apps you use to do so are controlled by gatekeepers. They have colourful logos and lovely design conferences but their business model, make no mistake, is to mediate between you and everyone.

These gatekeepers are going to try and create the most attractive, integrated stack of products that they can because that is how they make money. I don't fault them for making money but I don't want my life controlled by a company's profit model. I may be accused of catastrophising but I don't think that's a naïve way of describing it. It really is a threat.

People talk about apps versus the web, but the issue at hand is so much more than a sterile technological debate about whose stack will do a better job. The future isn't about apps versus the browser. It is so much more than that. It's a question of whether we will save the web as we know it, this global marketplace of ideas, where if you have a cool idea and if it is provocative you can change the world. This is going to keep being a problem unless users win.

TRP: What will the browser of the future look like?

JN: People have taken for granted a basic browser that can render the web faithfully and interoperate with other browsers and give them the things they are trying to get to – and that is good news. That's a big step.

When we launched Firefox 10 years ago, there was no guarantee that we would be where we are today.

Now, everyone is exploring the app space, but I want us to evolve the conversation in a different way. I think there is a real need for browsers to provide users with a deeper level of support. Think of it as a piece of software that is working for you, instead of just being a window onto the web content that is out there.

So, there's room for the browser to grow into more of a helper or trusted friend on the web that gives you choices in a way you can understand, and that anticipates what you might need while still doing all of that with the same rock solid performance you're used to.

There are many differences between browsing the web in 2014 and in 2004. This is obviously a big deal and that is how apps have entered into the conversation, but the bigger deal is the interconnectivity of devices and making sure that you can have a consistent web experience as you move between work and home or between a desktop machine and a smartphone.

TRP: What makes Firefox different to other browsers today?

JN: By every objective measure I can come up with – and I appreciate that I am not objective – I believe that Firefox is the best browser today. It is fast, beautifully designed and highly customisable.

Users are responding well to the changes we make on Firefox on desktop and we are also seeing massive increases in adoption of Firefox for Android. We are past 80 million downloads on Android.

Firefox is now the fastest on every benchmark, but I actually look for more from the products I love than their benchmark scores. Some other browser could come along with a surprising JavaScript speed or they could copy our design and be just as customisable, but none of them will ever be able to imitate us on our independence. We are running an independent game here and we are firing on all cylinders. People care that we have a mission, we have values – and no other browser can compete on that score.

If you look at our competitors, they are Google, Apple and Microsoft. These are all giant organisations with business models that are about driving you into their platform and keeping you there. Instead, what we are trying to steer you towards is the web – a grand, interoperable, globally accessible gatekeeper-free printing press of the modern age.

TechRadar Pro: Will you release a 64-bit version of Firefox on Windows?

Johnathan Nightingale: We've been working on 64-bit builds and at Mozilla we put everything we do through very robust quality testing, which includes automated testing as well as human QA testing.

While 64-bit Firefox on Windows seems like a relatively small thing to some people we want to make sure that everything works perfectly. We have a high quality bar and focus a lot on things like performance and stability; things our users have told us are important. We're not going to push out to a new platform without being really very confident that we're delivering something that is worthy of the Firefox name.

64-bit Firefox on Windows has moved out of the initial calibration and qualification phase, and since Monday you will see it in our Nightly release channel. We expect that to run through the trains probably on Firefox 36 unless we find any problems.

Released versions of Firefox are already fully 64-bit on Mac OS X and Linux. 64-bit Firefox on Windows is coming quickly.

TRP: What features would you like to see next from Firefox?

JN: Firefox is at its best when it is helping me out. A decade ago this meant giving me tabbed browsing so I didn't have hundreds of windows open at once because that was hard to manage. Other browsers used the tab concept too, but Firefox really popularised that idea and brought it to the mainstream. In the process, my life online got easier because I had a new tool.

10 years ago, Firefox helped me by blocking pop-up ads. This was controversial because as a browser, there's an argument to say that we should be objective and shouldn't mess with what a web page is trying to do. I disagree with that, I think we should have an opinion. Back then, our opinion was that pop-up ads were a nuisance so we shipped a blocker to take away that pain.

Let's look at solving the problems that I'm having today.

Today, it's about having too many machines. I would love to see features on Firefox to make it easier for me to move between my devices and give me the ability to synchronise them all and live on several at once. I would like to be able to start doing something on my desktop, and pick it back up later on my phone or tablet exactly where I left off.

Today, there are a lot of people following me around and I don't understand that. I don't know how many people there are, I don't know what they are doing with my information and I don't know how to control it.

I have privacy concerns that are about the web at large and also about my devices. I want to be able to give my phone to a friend when we are in a restaurant so they can quickly look something up without them being able to sift through my personal data. How do I do that? I want to be able to share my laptop with a roommate in college but still have secrets. How do I do that?

I'm curious to see more of that.

TechRadar Pro: How many devices do you have Firefox installed on?

Johnathan Nightingale: I have my work laptop, my home PC and I've always got some phones and tablets on the go; I am relatively digital. But I've actually installed Firefox on hundreds of devices.

Even before I started working for Mozilla, I was a big fan of Firefox and what it represents so I was one of those people who go into a computer store and install Firefox on all the laptops on display. I don't know if that's welcome or not but I do it! We hear from our fans all the time that they do it too because they want people to have a choice, they believe in what we are doing and they understand it.

TRP: Why is customisation important to you?

JN: Firefox is fast and safe and fun. It is all of those things out-of-the-box. You don't need to do a thing to it. But when we talk to our users, they tell us that our individuality and our independence is something they value. We value our users' individuality in return.

So, customisation is important because we want to make it as easy as possible for you to get your browser working the way you want. It's about giving you the ability to express that choice, whether you want to customise by applying a theme or deeply changing the functionality of your browser by applying a number of add-ons or configuring your preferences.

You spend more time in your browser than any other piece of software or any other interface in your life. So to us, it makes sense that yes, you should be able to grab that and move it around.

Earlier this year we released a version of Firefox that made customisation even easier because we wanted to invite more people to do it. The customise button is the only part of the menu that you can't cut out of your browser! We believe that it should always be possible to alter your browser. That is a central value of ours.

TRP: How have you customised your Firefox?

JN: My browser is where I live – and it shows! I thoroughly customised it with add-ons and my own personal preferences and I also change it up a fair bit depending on what I am working on.

When I am engaged in a planning process, I'll reconfigure things and find an add-on that puts my tabs on the side so I can manage them more easily, or I'll move to multiple windows and start using tab spaces. When I am ready to work on something else, I will reconfigure it again.

I'm one of those people who hoard tabs – I have hundreds of tabs, so every once in a while, I'll reorganise those.

TRP: What is your favourite Firefox add-on?

JN: I'm really excited about things that give people extra visibility into their web experience. People are smart and they want to understand the way the internet works and the fact is, it's complicated.

Our job is to make that easier for you to understand and control, which is why I use add-ons like Lightbeam, which we built at Mozilla. It shows you how the websites you visit track you and interact with your data, and it sheds some light on which third-party sites can access your data based on the first website you visited.

We are not the only ones who are exploring how to make the state of the web more visible to you and I get really excited by that. There are other add-ons including Privacy Badger and Ghostery that are working on relaying the same set of concepts.

These are also the add-ons I recommend anytime someone asks me about online data and online privacy. It is always interesting to see people's reactions when they run with one of those add-ons for a while – they start to get a clearer sense of how they are being tracked. It causes new questions to come up and invariably makes people feel different about some of the sites they visit and the tools those sites use to keep track of them.

TRP: When you are not working, do you use Firefox for web gaming?

JN: Yes. I've been using the web for gaming in different ways over the years. The games I am playing this year are better than the games I was playing a couple of years ago and the games I will play next year are going to be incredible.

What I'm excited about is what has become possible when it comes to gaming on the web. Games used to be seen as one of the last bastions of downloaded software – a game would only work if you install it on your machine or console and run it locally. In October, Mozilla released a package of eight web games with Humble Bundle. What you see there is the ability to play big, rich, interactive, plugin-free games on the web, without downloading or installing anything.

This is becoming more possible because of the work we are doing to make JavaScript perform really well and to make it really easy for game developers to port their existing code over to JavaScript and the web. That work ties to what we're doing in the graphics acceleration space with WebGL, which makes it possible to make beautiful things online.

We unlocked the web so game developers could take advantage of it in the same way most other kinds of apps have for the last 10 years. Because of this, we are seeing major game engines look more closely at the web as a platform for gaming.

The web is an exciting place for game developers to be, because on the web, distribution is trivial and you don't have to convince people to install things. Game developers are starting to realise that the time has come for them to say: 'I want this game to be available on the PC, on Xbox and the web'.

TRP: How important has the work of the volunteer community been over the past 10 years?

JN: Our global community of volunteers is very much the lifeblood of a lot of our engineering work. Approximately 500 people worked on Firefox 33, and more than half of those contributors were volunteers.

On top of that, Firefox is available in 90 languages thanks to the work of hundreds of localisation volunteers. It is a humbling and incredibly powerful experience to be in a room of people who are not paid, who spend their time looking at everything we have built in Firefox, taking all of the text that goes along with that, looking at all of the assumptions about how you write numbers and how you express different concepts, making it work in their own language and delivering that. Our community of volunteers is the heart of what we do.

DuckDuckGo: the private search engine that's got Apple's seal of approval

Max Slater-Robins — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 11:01:00 +0000

Search engines are curious things. Before Google, getting around the web was a complex and difficult process. Discovering services and websites was tricky, as was finding out information. An internet user now would certainly struggle to find their way around the web if search engines were gone and emphasis was placed on URLs instead. Google has become so ingrained in the psyche of internet users that "Google" has become a verb, dropping into everyday dialect and reinforcing the entrenchment of the company.

Everyday Google gets three quarters of a billion people visiting its pages making it the number one website in the U.S and, in the process, giving it near unlimited wealth and power. Last year Google made $57 billion in revenue of which $14 billion is profit. With all this power comes great responsibility; everyday nearly a billion people visit Google and rely on the algorithms that Google provides to give them fair, balanced results.

Something as simple as becoming 'unlisted' from Google results can annihilate traffic and sink a business. Whole businesses have grown out of 'gaming' Google search results with 'experts' charging clients for knowledge on how to rank higher on the page. It is hard to overstate the power that Google has over the modern internet.

Do not track

Google isn't without its detractors and sceptics, however, and Gabriel Weinberg is one of them. In 2006, Weinberg sold The Names Database—an early social network—to Classmates.com for $10 million and decided to start a new venture. Instead of creating another social network, Weinberg took a look at the search space and decided that something was missing.

That something took the form of DuckDuckGo, "the search engine that doesn't track you." Amongst many of Google's practices, Weinberg takes the highest offence at something he calls the "filter bubble", a process by which search engines—specifically Google—'filter' search results based on past searches, location and other information gained through a myriad of means.

DuckDuckGo wants you to be able to search the web without handing over your right to privacy

In an interview I conducted with Weinberg last year, he described a "natural conflict" between Google's results and business model. How can Google display fair, unbiased results when advertisers are clamouring to raise their rankings? The answer, according to Weinberg, is that they cannot.

"If you look at the logs of people's search sessions, they're the most personal thing on the internet," Weinberg told Fast Company. "[People are] not thinking about the privacy implications of [their] search history," he concludes. In short, people simply search in blissful ignorance of the danger they could face. While someone at the faceless corporation that is Google doesn't specifically trawl every search, whatever you type into the search box is used to promote adverts to you and, in the event of a hack, could be used against you. Weinberg wants to avoid this and takes a "no holds barred" approach to not tracking users and he means it.

Tales from the encrypt

All DuckDuckGo searches are encrypted using the most up-to-date encryption standards, a fact Weinberg is immensely proud of. This enables DuckDuckGo to categorically state that it does not track the searches of users and mean it.

DuckDuckGo searches will only target ads based on your current search, rather than that one time you were looking at holidays to New Zealand, ten searches ago

The Snowden revelations have put privacy back into the public's collective mind and have, according to Weinberg, been great for the company's expansion. "DuckDuckGo received over a billion searches last year and we've tripled our searches since last summer when the NSA revelations began," Weinberg told me. This kind of explosive growth, usually reserved for social networks and the like, shows that there is a market for über-privacy conscious services.

"[The focus] was extreme at the time," Weinberg told Fast Company. "And it still may be considered extreme by some people, but I think it's becoming less extreme nowadays. In the last year, it's become obvious why people don't want to be tracked."

The clientele of DuckDuckGo is still mainly reserved for those who know the difference between HTTP and HTTPS, however. The mainstream media reporting Snowden's NSA leaks has certainly boosted the profile of privacy conscious services but there is still a long way to go. When asked what Weinberg tells people who are sceptical of the need for privacy, he replied that he tells them to "make sure [they] completely understand the implications on how [their] data is being used." One example Weinberg gives is Google showing ads to a user when they visit different sites based on passed search history and inflating the price of something because the user is richer or more affluent, a practice that DuckDuckGo would never follow.

DuckDuckGo hopes to provide the most accurate search results, rather than tailoring to suit your search history

DuckDuckGo a business, not a charity and it must make money somehow; the way Weinberg has chosen is advertising. Since the search engine does not track users it is impossible to create advertising on the scale or specificity of Google but DuckDuckGo takes a different path. The adverts are based on the search term typed rather than previous searches, so if 'car' is typed an advert for a car appears.

The largely technically savvy user base that DuckDuckGo has are naturally adverse to adverts but revenue was estimated at around $115,000 in 2011, $350,000 in 2013 and $840,000 in the first five months of 2014. If growth continues at its current rate (266% y/o/y with the majority of that growth happening directly after the Snowden revelations) DuckDuckGo will be on track to make tens of millions of dollars per year, all without violating a single user's privacy or targeting a single ad.

Search relevant

DuckDuckGo is constantly moving forward, updating its design in May 2014 to include new search-relevant information right from the search results. DuckDuckGo calls this 'Instant Answers,' and they cover a range of topics from meanings to recipes to maps. According to Weinberg, his "grand vision" is to get Instant Answers into "80% of queries, even for very niche things."

The beauty of these additions is that, while they improve the search experience, the main reason a user will visit DuckDuckGo is privacy and so if Google attempts to mimic Instant Answers users will not feel compelled to leave the service.

Gabriel hopes that even if Google mimic aspects of DuckDuckGo users will stay for the privacy provided by the search engine

At Apple's recent WWDC event, the search engine was given a massive boost with the announcement that it will become part of Safari. When the latest editions of Mac OSX Yosemite and iOS 8 are released, this will become an option that users can choose.

Post-Snowden the internet is in a difficult place in terms of privacy and DuckDuckGo provides a valuable service where users can guarantee that no one is tracking, or can track, their searches and glean information from them. Gabriel Weinberg and his team are taking Google head on and appear to be succeeding.

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