According to its creators, DuckDuckGo is a more private alternative to Google Search. This is how it operates:
Internet monitoring is often intrusive and annoying. If you spend five minutes looking for shoes online, you’ll see adverts for those shoes for the next several weeks. Online anonymity is a welcome luxury on occasion. Here comes DuckDuckGo, a search engine that claims to protect your privacy and not record your web browsing history or any of your search terms.
Other private browsers, such as Brave, prevent your web browsing from being monitored by trackers and third-party cookies. DuckDuckGo, on the other hand, has been heavily advertising itself as a viable alternative to Google Search, and it now offers a mobile app and plugins for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and other browsers.
People are becoming more conscious of the amount of personal data available to tech companies and advertisers after high-profile incidents like the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and are taking steps to limit this data collection whenever possible. One such example is Apple’s iOS 14.5, which includes an option to disable all tracking. Despite the fact that it doesn’t keep tabs on its users, DuckDuckGo’s software has been downloaded more than 50 million times in the past year.
Here’s how DuckDuckGo works to make your searches more private.
What is DuckDuckGo?
You may search the web privately and securely using DuckDuckGo, a search engine that provides a mobile browser app and a desktop application. It claims to protect your privacy and anonymity online by eliminating trackers automatically and making it harder for websites to learn your browsing habits.
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How does DuckDuckGo work?
To begin with, DuckDuckGo does not keep track of your search history when you use their add-on or mobile app. The default windows of other browsers, including Chrome, record your search history unless you use a private or incognito window. This is the punchline to every joke about someone’s “embarrassing search history.” DuckDuckGo doesn’t keep track of your search history, and it doesn’t force you to switch to a new version of its program.
DuckDuckGo searches also automatically redirect you to encrypted versions of web pages whenever available, making it more difficult for other parties to monitor your online activity. This is yet another case where both encrypted and unencrypted choices are available on various search engines, but the latter isn’t necessarily the default. Thanks to DuckDuckGo, you won’t have to go through the trouble of finding secure websites yourself.
In May, researchers found several Microsoft tracking scripts while using DuckDuckGo’s browsers, leading to criticism of DuckDuckGo. In response to concerns that the search engine was betraying users’ privacy by hosting Microsoft trackers, DuckDuckGo’s CEO explained on clarified on Reddit that his firm was “currently contractually forbidden by Microsoft” from blocking all Microsoft scripts. This is because Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, powers the company’s results. However, in August, the firm announced it will impose even stricter limitations on Microsoft trackers within its browsers.
Still, DuckDuckGo blocks more tracking data than any other popular privacy alternative, and the business has updated its app store descriptions to make clearer the scope of its privacy protections. As for DuckDuckGo’s connection with Microsoft, the firm has already come clean about it, and the CEO indicated in the Reddit post that they are actively trying to have that policy altered.
When you use DuckDuckGo, you won’t have to worry about third-party trackers following your online activities. Check out DuckDuckGo’s blog for an in-depth look at the search engine’s private searching options.
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How is DuckDuckGo different from Google Search? What about Incognito mode and private browsing?
When compared to other digital giants like Google and Facebook, which have made their money by tailoring advertisements to your specific interests and habits, DuckDuckGo basically takes the opposite strategy. Even while using incognito mode, Google still tracks your location and search history, despite its claims that it will stop doing so.
When you switch to incognito mode, all traces of your browser session, including your history, cookies, and form data, are removed from your computer. It’s important to note that this doesn’t happen until you close all tabs at the conclusion of your session. This means that even if you use incognito mode, information might be gathered about you if you browse for long periods of time. Even if you switch to incognito mode, Google will still keep a record of your search history, and your online movements can be monitored by ISPs, businesses, and governments.
In contrast to other search engines, DuckDuckGo does not record your search history and prevents tracking throughout your sessions.
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How can I use DuckDuckGo?
Search for “DuckDuckGo” in your mobile app store. The DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser app is available for download, and once installed can be used in place of Chrome or Safari. All your open tabs and saved information will be deleted when you touch the fire icon located in the app’s bottom center.
DuckDuckGo can be added to your desktop browser by visiting duckduckgo.com. Chrome users will be taken to the Chrome Web Store, where they may get the add-on at no cost. You will be shown the steps to make DuckDuckGo your default search engine on Safari, or to manually start a DuckDuckGo search.
How to prevent iPhone applications from following you and the greatest password managers of 2021 are just a few of the resources I recommend to anyone concerned about their online privacy.
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