The DuckDuckGo browser allows Microsoft crawlers to run on third-party websites, according to a report.
As Bleeping Computer initially reported, DuckDuckGo allows Microsoft to track user data in the browser (not to be confused with the DuckDuckGo search engine), due to a syndication agreement between the two companies.
DuckDuckGo has always found pride and a gap in the internet search market by not collecting data from its users. It provides contextual partner ads instead of cookie-based and tracking-based ads, based on user data and user profiles (used by Google), but the above agreement changes things, giving users data to Microsoft.
This was discovered by security researcher Zach Edwards, who posted his findings on Twitter.
You can capture data within the so-called private browser DuckDuckGo on a website like Facebook, and you’ll see that DDG does NOT stop data streams to Microsoft’s Linkedin domains or its Bing ad domains.
IOS + Android test: ๐๐ซฅ๐ฎโ๐จ๐คกโ๏ธโ๏ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ pic.twitter.com/u3Q30KIs7e
– โจ๐๐ ๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐ด๐๐ฏ๐ก๐ฐ (@thezedwards) May 23, 2022
DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg responded quickly to the Twitter thread that Edwards created.
For blocking non-search crawlers (for example, in our browser), we block most third-party crawlers. Unfortunately, our Microsoft search syndication agreement prevents us from doing more on Microsoft properties. However, we have been pushing continuously and look forward to doing so soon.
– Gabriel Weinberg (@yegg) May 23, 2022
“Clicking on an ad provided by Microsoft will redirect you to the advertiser’s landing page using the Microsoft Advertising platform. At this point, Microsoft Advertising will use your full IP address and agent chain. user so that he can properly process the ad click and charge the advertiser, “says DuckDuckGo on the help page he created about the issue.
So according to an agreement between the privacy-focused search engine and Microsoft, you’re actually being tracked, but not in the same way, with a lot of information, which can be tracked in Google Chrome .
Although DuckDuckGo does not collect information about you or create a profile about your search behavior, the Bleeping Computer report explains that the browser (currently) allows Microsoft followers to follow you through the web. Crawlers related to “bing.com” and “linkedin.com” (both owned by Microsoft) are allowed in the DuckDuckGo browser. Wow.
Weinberg later clarified that this tracking only occurs in the DuckDuckGo browser and that the search engine itself does not have the same problems.
As Bleeping Computer pointed out in the original report, it’s a bit suspicious that DuckDuckGo only clarified the tracking issues of Microsoft applications after a researcher found out. In addition, we have contacted Microsoft for feedback.
In addition, Weinberg provided Bleeping Computer with a statement after the news, saying the company has been “extremely careful never to promise anonymity.”
Another excerpt from the statement reads:
“When most browsers on the market talk about tracking protection, they usually refer to third-party cookie protection and fingerprint protection, and our browsers for iOS, Android, and our new beta version of Mac, impose these restrictions on third-party tracking scripts, including those from Microsoft.
What weโre talking about here is superior protection and beyond what most browsers donโt even try to do, which is to block third-party tracking scripts before they load on third-party websites. Because we do it wherever we can, users are still getting significantly greater privacy protection with DuckDuckGo than with Safari, Firefox and other browsers. “
Weinberg also said that DuckDuckGo is working with Microsoft to remove this “restriction.”
DuckDuckGo does a pretty good job of privacy, as it doesn’t create profiles of its users and doesn’t track users from one web page to another. That said, this is obviously a misstep by the privacy-focused company, and hearing from the CEO that the company โhas never promised anonymityโ is a bit of a surprise, no doubt.
If you’re disappointed with DuckDuckGo, it may be time to start thinking about a browser alternative.