Quick Answer:
If you’re like most people on the Internet, you use Google to search the web and Google Chrome to browse the web. That means by default Google can keep track of every single search you make and website you visit. On those websites, other companies may also track you.
DuckDuckGo is an independent Google alternative that also lets you search and browse the web, but we don’t track your searches or browsing history, and our browsers and extensions help you block other companies from trying to track you as well, all by default. Our free browser comes with seamless privacy protection built-in, including tracker blocking, increased encryption, email protection, and more, making it the most comprehensive privacy protection you can get with one download. Plus, subscribers to our Privacy Pro subscription service get three additional protections: a fast and simple VPN, a Personal Information Removal service, and an Identity Theft Restoration service. That’s how DuckDuckGo protects your privacy in a nutshell.
Detailed Answer:
Our product vision is to be the “easy button” for online privacy.
Our free web browser for Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android allows you to search and browse the internet just like Google search and Chrome, but comes packed with unique privacy protections working behind the scenes to protect and secure your personal data. These overlapping protections work together seamlessly to give you more peace of mind about privacy harms like companies getting your personal information without your consent, creepy ads following you around, and unsettling content targeting.
DuckDuckGo protects your privacy through a uniquely comprehensive set of privacy protections:
- Our private search engine doesn’t track you. That means unlike Google Search, we don’t save or share your search history, such that we have no way tie your searches or website visits to you personally and we don’t keep profiles of our users.
- Tracker blocking that goes above and beyond what’s available by default from other browsers like Chrome. For example, our 3rd-party Tracker Loading Protection blocks hidden trackers from companies like Google and Facebook lurking on other websites before they even get a chance to load. This works with our other tracking-preventing features like Cookie Protection, Link Tracking Protection, Referrer Tracking Protection, Fingerprinting Protection, CNAME Cloaking Protection, and Embedded Social Content Tracking Protection to help stop companies from watching what you do online and capturing personal data.
- Smarter Encryption to ensure that more of the websites you visit and links you click are securely encrypted, relative to other browsers.
- Cookie Pop-up Protection, which automatically selects the most private option from the cookie consent pop-ups it finds, and then hides them.
- The Fire Button, which allows you to easily burn recent on device browsing data in one click.
- Email Protection, which can hide your email address with unique @duck.com addresses when signing up for things online that forward to your existing email address, after removing email trackers.
- Duck Player, a YouTube player that limits invasive ads and keeps video views from impacting your YouTube recommendations.
- App Tracking Protection, currently available in our Android browser, that helps block 3rd-party trackers in your other apps, even when you’re not using them.
- Global Privacy Control (GPC) to help you express your opt-out rights automatically by telling websites (through a header and/or JavaScript-based signal) not to sell or share your personal information.
To be effective, our privacy protections need to continually evolve to mitigate how trackers attempt to evade specific protections. That’s why we offer multiple types of web tracking protections, continually improve them, and work to introduce new and innovative protections.
Note that our private search engine is also independently accessible at duckduckgo.com and as a built-in option in other popular browsers. However, if you just use the search engine, we cannot offer any privacy protection when you visit other web sites. To get that protection, you need our browser or browser extensions. Our help page on web tracking protections details which protections are available on which platforms.
In addition, our Privacy Pro subscription service includes three more protections:
- VPN: Secure your connection anytime, anywhere. Get full-device protection with the VPN built for speed, simplicity, and security. Available on Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android.
- Personal Information Removal: Find and remove your personal details – like your name and address – from sites that store and sell it, helping to combat identity theft and spam.
- Identity Theft Restoration: If your identity is stolen, a dedicated advisor will help you restore stolen accounts, recover financial losses, and correct your credit report. Brought to you by Iris (Iris Powered by Generali) — a world leader in identity theft restoration.
Prior versions on GitHub.