DuckDuckGo browser allows Microsoft trackers due to search agreement

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Argh! It’s those ducks again:

“The privacy-focused DuckDuckGo browser purposely allows Microsoft trackers on third-party sites due to an agreement in their syndicated search content contract between the two companies.

“Further tests showed that DuckDuckGo allowed trackers related to the bing.com and linkedin.com domains while blocking all other trackers.”

“DuckDuckGo is a search engine that prides itself on its privacy by not tracking your searches or your behavior while performing searches. Furthermore, instead of building user profiles to display interest-based advertisements, DuckDuckGo will use contextual advertisements from partners, like Ads by Microsoft.”

More at:

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/duckduckgo-browser-allows-microsoft-trackers-due-to-search-agreement/

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OK, that’s it for me. I was willing to give them a go, but…<sfx: flushing>…Back to Vivaldi and Firefox.

Personal Obs:

What causes this kind of corporate behavior?

Anyone remember the movie, “Key Largo”?

(Bogart) “I know what he wants.”

(Gangster/Robinson) “Yeah, what do I want?”

(Bogart) “More. He wants more.”

(Gangster/Robinson): “Yeah, that’s right, I want MORE!”

Sad. So sad.

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Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit, Dell Latitude E6330, Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", 12GB RAM, Group "0Patch", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations. Linux Mint Greenhorn
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joltar, JohnS1606, JohnW, jburk07, SueW, Kirsty, Cybertooth, Mr. Austin, windbg, Alex5723

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Didn’t you know DuckDuckGo Search uses Bing?

QED

5 users thanked author for this post.

jburk07, SueW, Kirsty, Mr. Austin, Alex5723

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You may also know that clicking a Microsoft-provided ad in DuckDuckGo will reveal your IP address to the Microsoft Advertising service—this is explicitly stated on DuckDuckGo’s website and in the company’s search engine.

From: DuckDuckGo Isn’t as Private as You Thought
By: Andrew Heinzman | May 24, 2022

He goes on to discuss “that the mobile DuckDuckGo browser does not block Microsoft trackers on third-party websites, such as the Facebook-owned Workplace.com.
… that Microsoft cannot see what you search in DuckDuckGo, and the DuckDuckGo browser blocks all Microsoft cookies.”

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OscarCP, Sky, jburk07

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Does the Firefox brower with the DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials extension enabled and with DuckDuckGo set as the search engine allow Microsoft trackers on third-party sites? If so, what good is the DDG Privacy essentials extension?

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Fred, JohnS1606

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? says:

“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”

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I don’t use the DDG browser and never had. Now that I know this, I am even less likely to use it in the future (i.e. with 0% probability)

Question: Is this problem also present when using the DDG search engine?

Thanks.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
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See #2448912.

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#2448997 is what is relevant if you’re using the DDG search engine. No, I’m not going to use the DDG browser, but the DDG search engine seems fine since it’s all anonymised.

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OscarCP

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OscarCP wrote:

Is this problem also present when using the DDG search engine?

DDG uses Bing as search engine.

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Alex: We have discussed this earlier, in another thread.

My view of this still is the same: things are not that clear-cut, as Kirsty has posted here #2448997  for example, and from these articles:

https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/07/alternative_search_providers_protest/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuckDuckGo

As to what is a content farm:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_farm

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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..that the mobile DuckDuckGo browser..

We are talking desktop not mobile…

The bottom line is that DDG is private as it claims to be and no way around it unless you block ads, 3rd party cookies,…

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Alex5723 wrote:

We are talking desktop not mobile…

Don’t you mean to say “We are talking mobile not desktop”, i.e., the desktop DDG browser DOES block Microsoft trackers on third-party websites?

Still, what about the DDG Privacy Essentials extension in the Firefox browser with DuckDuckGo set as the search engine? Does it block Microsoft trackers on third-party websites?

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WCHS wrote:

what about the DDG Privacy Essentials extension in the Firefox browser with DuckDuckGo set as the search engine? Does it block Microsoft trackers on third-party websites?

I don’t believe it does or can block…Once using Bing DDG doesn’t have any power over what Microsoft does with the data.

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Alex5723 wrote:

I don’t believe it does or can block…Once using Bing DDG doesn’t have any power over what Microsoft does with the data.

Do you see any ads?  I scrolled to the bottom of the page there were none.

How about here?  See any ads?  I put “bing” in the DuckDuckGo search and clicked on Bing when it popped up.  No ads there, either, just msn.com content.

Here is one of the reasons there were no ads on Bing.com:

Am I worried about using DuckDuckGo as my search engine on Firefox?  Nope, not in the least.  The extensions and addons I use are taking care of my privacy and trackers.  I simply do not see ads on any web page I visit.

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We were all once "Average Users".

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4 users thanked author for this post.

joltar, Fred, OscarCP, WCHS

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