Since its inception, Google grew and grew to eat up the search engine market, but over time a stone appeared in its shoe. A stone with the name of DuckDuckGo that focused from the beginning on privacy and that transferred its philosophy to its apps, among which we find the Internet browser for mobile phones that swarms Google Play .
This browser, which is already private, has a functionality that will make our mobile even more private, if possible. It is an app tracker blocker . Just as you read it. The bad thing, although this is temporary, is that for now only those who join the waiting list and are chosen to take the first steps try it.
DuckDuckGo against embedded trackers in apps
In recent times, apps have gone from being just apps that perform certain tasks to incorporating monitoring systems, also known as trackers or trackers , which are responsible for analyzing how we use the app . This knowledge that they collect is mainly used to better segment the advertising they show us, in order to maximize their income.
We are talking about free apps, of course, those that are financed with ads. But these trackers pose a privacy problem for many users who are looking for solutions to avoid them. Sometimes they are solutions in the form of third-party applications, as in the case of Exodus Privacy and the like, sometimes with integrated services within other apps such as the one that DuckDuckGo will soon offer us.
DuckDuckGo: what it is and main differences with Google
Google itself has wanted to put a certain stop to this shifting ground of knowing what you do at all times, and has enabled different options to delete search histories in various apps. Even with Android 12, the new privacy panel came to the system , being able to more thoroughly control what the applications that we may not be aware of, or not be alert to, are doing.
DuckDuckGo thus goes one step further with its browser, starting with the Android version. The ‘DuckDuckGo App Tracking Protection’ is integrated into your browser and is responsible for blocking as many trackers as possible integrated in the system apps that we use every day. The browser blocks yours, the tracker protector blocks others’. Quite an interesting ‘combo’.
The problem with this feature is that it now works as a kind of ‘white list’ of users that the company approves. A beta program for a functionality that appears in the settings but that, for now, only allows us to ask for access, not activate it. The way to request access is as follows, by the way:
- We open the DuckDuckGo browser on our Android.
- Click on the three vertical dots at the top right of the app.
- We access ‘Settings’.
- Scroll down to locate ‘Application Tracking Protection’in the ‘More About DuckDuckGo’ section.
- We enter and click on ‘Join the Private Waitlist’.
- to wait
- Once we receive the invitation code, we will repeat the process to click on ‘I have an invite code’, enter it and be able to activate the function.
ZDNet has already been able to test the functionality and DuckDuckGo’s tracker protector has blocked up to 1,010 tracking attempts from 11 different apps in just 7 days . Undoubtedly, a great functionality for those who are concerned about their privacy on their mobile, whether browsing or using any other app. And while we’re at it, we recommend browsing on your mobile with DuckDuckGo. It is a first step.
