I search with DuckDuckGo, I do not hide. For most searches, it works for me, and you can even find a lot of information about Linux better than on Google. Plus, it has !bangs, so to search on Google I just have to add the !g in front of the search, and that works for thousands of sites. Furthermore, it doesn't do the x-ray that Google does, which ends up knowing before me until when and how much I have to go to the bathroom. But what if they told you that DuckDuckGo has been caught doing what it says it doesn't do?
Unfortunately, but we cannot say that by complete surprise, that is what has happened. In Bleeping Computer We can read that a security researcher named Zach Edwards published on Twitter something that we did not expect, but, as we said, it is not too surprising either: DuckDuckGo blocks Google and Facebook trackers, but allows Microsoft.
DuckDuckGo Browser does let you "spy" Microsoft
The browser allows trackers related to Bing and LinkedIn, but blocks others. The researcher caught the attention of the CEO of Duck Finder, who said that this it is so because they have an agreement with the company that owns the most widely used desktop operating system in the world. As Gabriel Weinberg explains:
When you load our search results, you are completely anonymous, including ads. For ads, we've worked with Microsoft so that clicks on ads are protected. On our public ads page, "Microsoft Advertising does not associate your ad-click behavior with a user profile." For non-search tracker blocking (for example, in our browser), we block most third-party trackers. Unfortunately, our Microsoft search syndication agreement prevents us from doing more on Microsoft properties. However, we have been continuously pushing and hope to do more shortly.
Just the apps… right?
The worst thing is that the company has tried to clarify things, and I don't know if it has succeeded or if it has complicated it a little more. He says that have never promised anonymity when browsing, as it is impossible, that they talk about an extra layer of protection that browsers don't implement by default, and that using DuckDuckGo's browser is still more private than using Safari, Firefox or other browsers (I don't know why the word "Brave" right now…).
The good thing is that, at least for now and until no one says otherwise, or corrects me for what I know published, for now this "scandal", in quotes, it has been verified only using the browser of DuckDuckGo, that is, of the applications that exist for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS; nothing has been mentioned about the search from the web. If so, the deal that lets Microsoft see a little more than the rest only happens in applications, but this information does not benefit the duck.
In any case, and as they themselves say, anonymity on the Internet is almost impossible. Services that promise privacy can be used, but, as I was commenting this week with a colleague, our information will always be available to the company whose service we use. So that, it is best to have common sense, promise us what they promise us.
Almost at this rate it is better to use Startpage. As long as there isn't a federated and active search engine, we're in bad shape.