DuckDuckGo Browser Found to Allow Microsoft Trackers on Third Party Sites Despite Privacy First Statements

The DuckDuckGo browser, which is said to prioritize privacy, was found to be using partial tracking protections and not restricting Microsoft’s trackers from loading on third-party websites. The issue was discovered by a researcher on the DuckDuckGo browser available for both Android and iOS devices. However, the security hole is said to be absent for the DuckDuckGo search engine, which is competing with Google and Microsoft’s Bing by offering a completely private option.

Researcher Zach Edwards shared his finding on Twitter through which it was revealed that DuckDuckGo mobile browsers do not block do Microsoft on non-Microsoft websites. The researcher demonstrated this problem by visiting Facebook’s Workplace.com page in a browser. While it notices about blocking Google and Facebook trackers, the browser doesn’t mention any details about blocking trackers from Microsoft.

The researcher has shown that both Android and iOS versions of the DuckDuckGo browser that do not restrict data transfers to Microsoft LinkedIn and Bing Advertisement.

Interesting, DuckDuckGo speak on the app store listing whose mobile browser provides “seamless protection from third-party trackers while you search and browse”. However, this does not seem to be the case.

DuckDuckGo Founder and CEO Gabe Weinberg answered follow Edwards’ thread on Twitter to confirm that the browser allows Microsoft’s trackers to load on third-party sites. He said it happened because of a “search provisioning agreement” between Microsoft and DuckDuckGo that prevents the latter from restricting Microsoft scripts on non-Microsoft websites.

However, the executive added that the company was “continuously pushing and hopefully can do more soon” on the matter.

Further clarification on the issue has led to strong criticism between DuckDuckGo user and privacy advocate, Weinberg speak on Reddit that the company has worked with Microsoft to reduce or eliminate the limit.

“I understand this is confusing because the search contract is preventing us from doing something unrelated to search. That’s because our product is a bundle of protections. privacy and this is a distribution requirement imposed on us as part of a search distribution agreement that allows us to use some Bing results privately to provide you with private search results. better overall,” he explains.

Basically, the big concern about not restricting Microsoft from loading their trackers on third-party websites is because DuckDuckGo claims to be a privacy-focused browser. Weinberg says that the company is working on updating its app store descriptions to make things clear to users.

It is important to note that while the DuckDuckGo browser allows Microsoft to track on third-party websites, Weinberg claims that this is not the case with its search engine.

“Just to be clear, when you load our search results, you are completely anonymous, including advertising. We also block third-party cookies in our browsers, including cookies from products products owned by Microsoft,” he said on Twitter.

However, it’s worth noting here that since DuckDuckGo uses Microsoft’s Advertising platform on its search engine, Microsoft has access to the user’s IP address and user-agent string at the time. they click on any ad available on the search results. It has been defined in the search engine of Privacy Policy.

Weinberg acknowledges this limitation and points out that there are many limitations that are preventing DuckDuckGo from providing formal protection to users.

Anyhow, the way the browser does not provide any clarity to the user until privacy concerns are brought to the spotlight by the researcher questioning DuckDuckGo’s fairness to the public. its users. Microsoft has also – as one might expect – has kept quiet on the matter.