Bonum Certa Men Certa

DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser Isn’t Private

Reprinted with permission from Ryan Farmer.

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about DuckDuckGo, the “branding condom” for Microsoft Bing.



The company is basically “fake”. It has a tiny little office, very few employees, almost all of the results are from Microsoft Bing, and it transmits the search parameters to Microsoft to get those results.



"About the only good thing about DuckDuckGo and Microsoft is, they did stop censoring my blog."About the only good thing about DuckDuckGo and Microsoft is, they did stop censoring my blog. I see traffic coming in from them now. I think Microsoft changed their search index and DuckDuckGo changed because Bing did.



The company has been caught exempting Microsoft trackers, then claimed that “Oh yeah, it turns out we had that deal with Microsoft to not block THEIR trackers in our ‘Privacy’ Browser.”



Later, Microsoft let them change the agreement, but the fact that they were dishonest with their users and allowed one of the biggest surveillance monsters through, quietly, shows how much you can trust DuckDuckGo [1] [2] and Gabriel Weinberg.



And it’s even hosted in Microsoft Azure, where Microsoft can take a look at everything that’s going on inside the “DuckDuckGo” server. So they have the technical capabilities to look at who is making the searches, and what the searches are.



DuckDuckGo processing



DuckDuckGo processing



As if this wasn’t enough, DuckDuckGo has tracking scripts and a tracking pixel of their own that follow you around on their site, if you don’t block this, called “Improving DuckDuckGo”.



"Also notice all the Social Media crap it got and something called “bing_market”."Adguard Tracking Protection, one of the ad blocking lists for trackers, includes the tracking pixel and the Improving DuckDuckGo script, so you get warnings from your ad blocker that DuckDuckGo is tracking you.



Also notice all the Social Media crap it got and something called “bing_market”. LOL



But lately, they have themselves a new “scam”. DuckDuckGo “Privacy Browser”.



"Plain old Mozilla Firefox browsing around with no privacy extensions at all is actually more private than DuckDuckGo on Android."One reason this is a “scam”, so to speak, is that it doesn’t actually block much tracking on Android.



Plain old Mozilla Firefox browsing around with no privacy extensions at all is actually more private than DuckDuckGo on Android.



On iOS, where all browsers inherit whatever Apple has done to WebKit, DuckDuckGo’s browser is better than Android, but still not great.



These are not platform limitations. DuckDuckGo actually just doesn’t block very much tracking.



On Privacy Tests, by far, Brave had the most green checkmarks for blocking Web tracking.



Another reason you know something is “not right” with DuckDuckGo’s “Privacy” Browser, is that the desktop version only supports the least private, least secure operating systems on the market. Windows, and Mac.



It has completely left out Linux distributions, where for the most part the OS is just an OS, and doesn’t send your keystrokes, application launches, crash data, or hard drive contents to anyone, whereas Windows and Mac do, automatically, behind-the-scenes, without asking the user.



Even if DuckDuckGo’s “Privacy Browser” wasn’t questionable, prima facie, they do encourage insecure and non-private operating systems, thus ensuring their users will be spied on by the OS vendors.



"DuckDuckGo actually just doesn’t block very much tracking."The reason why DuckDuckGo can “block Web trackers” and have that hardly matter at all, is because the threat landscape of the Web is constantly growing.



Many years ago, it was sufficient to just block certain ad and tracking servers, and browse with JavaScript turned off.



Today, led by Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla, the Web platform is becoming more menacing.



You can block specific “content”, but the threat actors are operating at a higher scale than ever, leveraging “questionable” Web technologies.



Unless your browser is doing something to partition, sandbox, and disable these technologies, and either most of them or all of them, to confuse these “higher level attacks” and fingerprinting attempts, you’re really not being protected by anything “just blacklisting some resources”.



"It has completely left out Linux distributions, where for the most part the OS is just an OS, and doesn’t send your keystrokes, application launches, crash data, or hard drive contents to anyone, whereas Windows and Mac do, automatically, behind-the-scenes, without asking the user."That’s certainly better than nothing, but it’s not enough.



The most sophisticated thing about Chromium-based Web browsers is how many ways they give the Web site to attack and profile the user. Chrome and Edge are the worst, Brave is fixing a lot of it. At least they try to help the user.



Brave and LibreWolf are the only two desktop browsers left to recommend.



I firmly believe that the only purpose of DuckDuckGo’s Browser is to route traffic to DuckDuckGo (captive audience), and perhaps screw up everyone else’s ad network, but this is the same behavior that you see Microsoft Edge engaging in.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Doing My Share to Tackle Online Slop and SPAM
Trying my best to 'fix' the Web
Slopwatch: Fakes, FUD, Duplicates, and Charlatans Galore
The Web as we once know it is collapsing. Some opportunists try to replace it with low-quality slop.
The Register UK Seems to Have Become American and Management is Changing (Microsofter as Editor in Chief)
The Register 'UK' is now controlled by the Directions on Microsoft guy
Microsoft Windows Lost 400 Million Users in a Few Years, Why Does The Register Double Down on Windows With New US Editor?
days ago they hired a new US editor
Links 25/07/2025: NOAA Cuts Endanger Lives, "Europe's Self Inflicted Cloud Crisis"
Links for the day
 
Links 26/07/2025: 50 Percent Tariffs in Amazon, Dying Intel Offloads Network and Edge Group (NEX)
Links for the day
Blaming Programming Languages for Users' and Developers' Bad Practices
That's like blaming cars for drivers who crash into things
Many People Still Read Techrights Because It Says the Truth, Produces Evidence, and Does Not Self-Censor
Unlike so many other sites
The Register is Desperate for Money, According to The Register
I decided to check how they're doing as a business
Microsoft Finally Finds a Use Case for Slop?
Create low-quality chaff to shift the media's attention?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 25, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, July 25, 2025
For Libel Reform One Must First Bring (or Raise) Awareness to the Issues and Their Magnitude
I myself know, from personal experience
Links 26/07/2025: Rationed Meals in the US and TikTok Repels Investments (Too Toxic)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/07/2025: "Bloody Google" and New People in Geminispace
Links for the day
Response to Solderpunk (Father of Gemini Protocol) About the Gemini Community
Solderpunk responds to non-sequitur
HTML and the Web Used to be Something a Child Could Learn, "Modern" Web is a Puzzle of Frameworks, Bloat, and Worse
When the Web was more like Gemini Protocol
New US Editor in The Register is 84% Microsoft/Windows Booster
It'll be worrying if it carries on like this
Links 25/07/2025: Slop Blunders and China Has Code of Conduct for Lawmakers in HK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/07/2025: Some Books and Babies and Capital
Links for the day
They Try to Lecture Us on Ethics
They even removed "master" from Microsoft GitHub
The Future of the Web is One Rendering Engine or 'Flavours' of Chrome
The future of the Web does not look bright at all
Best Sites Are Not Optimised for Any Browser, They Work Equally Well With All of Them
Red Hat (IBM) is making rubbish sites
YouTube is a Spamfarm, Slopfarm, and Clickfarm (a Lot of Numbers There Are Fake)
Those who don't fake look unpopular and unimportant
We Don't Do JavaScript and Pages Are Small
Thankfully Gemini Protocol has nothing like JavaScript
'Tech' is Not Technology
Some people use terms like 'Old Tech'
IBM's Debt Rose by Almost 10 Billion Dollars in the Past 6 Months Alone
The "hey hi" circus is coming to an end
Yes, Master
Gaslighting by actual racists
Microsoft Bribes and Buys Politicians to Tell Europe What to Do About Free Software (Which It's Attacking)
Microsoft: we speak for the thing that we are attacking! Follow the money...
Making Backups Quickly and Reliably
Backups are imperative, more so in an age of uncertainty, unpredictable weather, and worsening standards (quality of products going down while prices go up)
Techrights Investigation: Estimating the Point in Time LinuxIac Turned Into LLM Slop (Part of the Time)
Bobby Borisov got lazy
10th Month, Ten Weeks From Now, at Ten AM
In Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 24, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 24, 2025
A Nadella Memo Distracts From Microsoft's Cheapening Of the Workforce
Right now the "MSM" (mainstream media) is flooded/overwhelmed by garbage pieces that relay lies for Nadella
Vanishing Faces of GNU/Linux
Free software projects do not depend on any one person or company to still exist
Microsoft Says It Lost 400 Million Windows Users, Now It's Waiting for GNU/Linux to Stop Booting on 'Old' PCs
When it comes to Windows, Microsoft is fully aware of the issue and statements it made earlier this summer suggest it lost 400 million Windows users
Slopwatch: LinuxTechLab, linuxsecurity.com, LinuxIac, and More
Also: The Register's Microsoft agenda (new editor)
Gemini Links 25/07/2025: Gemtext Aware Titan Editor and Gemini Protocol Comeback
Links for the day
Links 24/07/2025: Convicted Felon Quits UNESCO, "Vibe Coding Goes Wrong", and Signalgate Gets Worse
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/07/2025: Forgejo Woes and Smolnet Directory Week
Links for the day
Misinformation is Not Intelligence
It's low-grade plagiarism and it fails to show any signs of intelligence
Links 24/07/2025: Storage Tapes Still Kicking, Windows TCO 'on Steroids' (Microsoft-Induced Catastrophes)
Links for the day
Bobby Borisov (LinuxIac) Has Apparently Begun Experimenting With LLM Slop, So We Cannot Trust LinuxIac Anymore
So did LinuxIac become a slopfarm? Maybe not yet, but it's getting there
Informa TechTarget's ITProToday is Becoming a Slopfarm Generated by Microsoft Chatbots
Busted.
'Tech' Gimmicks Are for Advertising, Not for Usability
In the case of Microsoft, they latched onto slop
BetaNews Sacked Brian Fagioli and Deleted His Comments, But He Still Tries to Use the "BetaNews" Brand for Self-Affirmation
Fagioli takes the work of other people
[Meme] Hard to Be a Better Person?
Sooner or later they'll realise that for each pound I spend they need to spend about 1,000 times more
The LLM Con Artists Are Highly Destructive
Who will ever be held accountable for this scam?
Too Bribed by Microsoft to Move to Free Software?
Microsoft lies and Microsoft bribery (in politics)
New US Editor for The Register is a Microsoft Booster
"Avram Piltch has served as US editor for The Register since July 2025."
Microsoft Hiring European Politicians is Another Form of Bribery; There Should be a European Investigation
When Microsoft bribed people in Europe for OOXML (there's no denying this!) a European government delegate said that Microsoft operated like a cult
Reda Demanded That FSF Removes Its Founder, Now Reda Works Directly for Microsoft
A sellout and a traitor, first working for GAFAM, now Microsoft
PCLinuxOS is Raising Money to Support Development After Fire Incident at the Host
PCLinuxOS has not had announcements lately
Speed of the Site Should be Better Now
The "bot attacks" impact the speed of the sister site too
Getting More From AnalogNowhere
Recently we used many images from AnalogNowhere
Microsoft, Microsofters and 'Secure' Boot Shills Already Storming the LWN Report About Expiring Certificate, Shooting the Messenger
LWN has clearly stuck a nerve
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 23, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Disable "Secure" Boot Today (the Only Better Time to Do So Was Yesterday)
Don't trust anything Red Hat tells you about security
Links 23/07/2025: Windows Killed Company After 150+ Years, US Government Mimics Russia's Attacks on the Media
Links for the day
Freedom Generally Wins at the End, History Shows (But It's Constantly Attacked, Too)
At the moment people realise "Linux" (e.g. Android) isn't enough to guarantee any freedoms
Over 3 Months Later Brett Wilson LLP Still Unable to Recruit a Media Lawyer?
"Immediate start", but not found... still unfilled