In older Publication We reported that security researcher Zack Edwards revealed problems in DuckDuckGo's mobile browser as it allows some Microsoft programs to bypass its blockers on trackers.
While the browser blocks Facebook and Google crawlers, DuckDuckGo makes an exception for some of Microsoft's programs. Edwards found that the browser allows data to be sent to Microsoft's LinkedIn and Bing domains.
Over the weekend, however, the company's CEO and founder, Gabriel Weinberg, told reddit that the issue concerns only DuckDuckGo browsers and not the search engine while clarifying that it allows only specific Microsoft trackers:
"I'm the CEO and founder of DuckDuckGo. To be clear (as I see confusion in the comments), when you upload our search results, you are anonymous, including ads. Also, on third-party websites, we actually block Microsoft third-party cookies in our browsers and provide more protections, including protection against fingerprinting. That is, all that was written is not about our browser, but our browsers - we have browsers for iOS, Android and now for Mac (in beta).
When most other browsers talk about surveillance protection, they usually refer to third-party cookie protection and fingerprinting protection. Our browsers impose the same restrictions on all third-party tracking scenarios, including Microsoft. "
This post does not imply endorsement of DuckDuckGo's practices, as if a company is advertised as offering security, it does not automatically have the right to compare itself to practices used by conventional browsers.
George is still wondering what he is doing here….
