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Web Browsing Privacy

DuckDuckGo Web Tracking Protections

DuckDuckGo never tracks you. And when you leave our search engine and use our apps or extensions to browse other sites, we aim to protect your privacy as much as possible. To be effective, browser tracking protection needs to continually evolve to mitigate how trackers attempt to evade specific protections. That’s why we offer multiple types of web tracking protections. Other browsers offer some of these by default, like cookie and fingerprinting protections, but we also provide many other protections that most browsers do not offer by default, like 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection, Global Privacy Control, Link Tracking Protection, CNAME Cloaking Protection, Google AMP Protection, and more, which all help cover different tracking angles.

For example, most browsers’ default tracking protection focuses on cookie and fingerprinting protections that only restrict trackers after they load in your browser. Unfortunately, that level of protection leaves information like your IP address and other identifiers sent with loading requests vulnerable to profiling. We offer our 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection to help address this vulnerability, which stops most 3rd-party trackers from loading in the first place, providing significantly more protection.

We created this page to explain how each of our web tracking protections works, how our protections work across supported platforms, and how they work together to provide overlapping protection. Most of our apps and extensions are also open source, which means that anyone can examine their source code and how our web tracking protections are coded. To identify trackers, we crawl the web with our Tracker Radar, which is also open source, as is our list of trackers. While no one can eliminate all hidden tracking or all profiling online, we aim to prevent most 3rd-party tracking through the overlapping protections described on this page. At the same time, we aim to preserve site functionality as much as possible, for example making sure our Web Tracking Protections don’t interfere with your ability to view websites correctly, sign in to sites, or make online purchases.

3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection

When you visit a website, the web address (URL) in your browser’s address bar tells your browser where to go. What you may not realize, is that sites also try to load other URLs in the background while your destination page is loading. Many of those URLs come from other companies, commonly referred to as “3rd parties.”

Sites often embed these 3rd-party requests to support site functionality, but they can also be used to track you. We crawl the web with Tracker Radar to identify tracking requests and maintain our own list of trackers. For example, the most prevalent 3rd-party tracker on the Internet is Google Analytics. Requests to Google Analytics URLs are embedded on millions of sites to help the owners understand how their sites are being used. But typically, Google can also use this to profile you outside of the site where the information originated.

Most browsers that offer web tracking protections are usually talking about cookie tracking protections (described in 3rd-party and 1st-party cookie protection). However, these types of protections can only restrict 3rd-party trackers after they load in your browser, and these 3rd parties still get access to information that could be used to track you across sites as part of the loading process (like IP address or other identifiers sent with the loading request). To protect against this tracking, you need a web tracking protection that actually stops most 3rd-party tracking requests from loading in the first place. This type of protection comes built-in with all our apps and extensions, and goes well beyond the web tracking protections most popular browsers offer by default.

This protection is particularly difficult to provide without causing usability issues because some websites depend on code that loads from these embedded requests. We can sometimes work around this with Surrogates. In other cases, we may make a limited exception when it would prevent you from signing in to a site or to otherwise preserve essential site functionality. It’s also important to note that the intention of 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection is not to stop all 3rd-party requests from loading, just those used for 3rd-party tracking. For example, infrastructure domains require more nuanced classification since they don’t always serve tracking content. Additionally 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection may also behave differently following a click on a DuckDuckGo Private Search Ad.

Platform Support
Firefox extension 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from loading.
Chrome extension 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from loading. Blocking resources loaded by service workers is currently unsupported due to platform limitations.
Edge extension 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from loading. Blocking resources loaded by service workers is currently unsupported due to platform limitations.
Opera extension 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from loading. Blocking resources loaded by service workers is currently unsupported due to platform limitations.
iPhone & iPad app 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from loading.
Android app 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from loading.
Mac app 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from loading.
Windows app 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from loading.

Believe it or not, web “cookies” were originally designed to be a helpful data storage mechanism. However, 3rd-party cookies have become one of the most common methods of web tracking.

If you notice the same ads following you around, 3rd-party cookies may be to blame because they can easily track you as you browse from site to site. That’s because even though third-party cookies are created on one site, they can be retrieved from another. For example, if you visit a website which uses Google’s ad network, it can create a 3rd-party cookie based on the content you are viewing. Then, when you visit another website that also uses Google ads, Google can read the initial cookie, know that you’re the same person, and show you an ad based on what you were viewing on the previous site.

To protect against this, we first block most 3rd-party tracking requests with 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection, which stops requests from loading that would otherwise have a chance to create or access 3rd-party cookies. In addition, we also automatically block 3rd-party cookies on our list of known trackers by default, and will only make a limited exception when it would prevent you from signing in to a site or to otherwise preserve essential site functionality.

Platform Support
Firefox extension 3rd-party cookies from domains on our list blocked. 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from setting or accessing 3rd-party cookies.
Chrome extension 3rd-party cookies from domains on our list blocked. 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from setting or accessing 3rd-party cookies.
Edge extension 3rd-party cookies from domains on our list blocked. 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from setting or accessing 3rd-party cookies.
Opera extension 3rd-party cookies from domains on our list blocked. 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from setting or accessing 3rd-party cookies.
iPhone & iPad app 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from creating or accessing 3rd-party cookies, and 3rd-party cookies also blocked through WebKit’s built-in cookie tracking protection.
Android app 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from creating or accessing 3rd-party cookies. All 3rd-party cookies also blocked through the Android WebView API, except when a Google Single-Sign On (SSO) is in progress.
Mac app 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from creating or accessing 3rd-party cookies, and 3rd-party cookies also blocked through WebKit’s built-in cookie tracking protection.
Windows app 3rd-party cookies from domains on our list blocked. 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from setting or accessing 3rd-party cookies.

Unlike 3rd-party cookies, 1st-party cookies are less likely to be involved in cross-site tracking because they can only be retrieved from the site where they were originally created. However, 1st-party cookies can still be used to re-identify you when you later return to a website. This can be helpful when used to recognize that you’re still signed in, but 1st-party cookies can also be used to monitor your activity on sites over time and facilitate cross-site tracking. That’s because identifiers stored in 1st-party cookies can be sent to 3rd-party companies when their requests are directly embedded in the content of a website.

To protect against this, we first block most embedded 3rd-party tracking requests before they even have a chance to create or access 1st-party cookies, because we stop those requests from loading with 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection. We also do the same for many 3rd-party requests that are disguised as 1st parties with CNAME Cloaking Protection. We’re sometimes unable to block 3rd-party tracking requests because doing so would break site functionality. Since these unblocked 3rd parties may be able to set 1st-party cookies, we automatically set a 24-hour expiration on those cookies to limit their privacy impact. In addition, we set a 7-day expiration for all other 1st-party cookies created by scripts. We may make a limited exception when these rules would prevent you from signing in to a site or to otherwise preserve essential site functionality. We may also alter the behavior of 1st-Party Cookie Protection following a click on a DuckDuckGo Private Search Ad.

Platform Support
Firefox extension 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from creating or accessing 1st-party cookies, including those impersonating 1st parties on our CNAME list. Automatic 7-day expiry enforced for all 1st-party cookies created by all other scripts.
Chrome extension 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from creating or accessing 1st-party cookies, including those impersonating 1st parties on our CNAME list. Automatic 7-day expiry enforced for all 1st-party cookies created by all other scripts.
Edge extension 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from creating or accessing 1st-party cookies, including those impersonating 1st parties on our CNAME list. Automatic 7-day expiry enforced for all 1st-party cookies created by all other scripts.
Opera extension 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from creating or accessing 1st-party cookies, including those impersonating 1st parties on our CNAME list. Automatic 7-day expiry enforced for all 1st-party cookies created by all other scripts.
iPhone & iPad app 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from creating or accessing 1st-party cookies, including a subset of those impersonating 1st parties on our CNAME list. Automatic 24-hour or 7-day expiry enforced for all 1st-party cookies through WebKit’s built-in cookie tracking protection.
Android app 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from creating or accessing 1st-party cookies, including those impersonating 1st parties on our CNAME list. Automatic 7-day expiry enforced for all 1st-party cookies created by all other scripts. On our product roadmap to enforce 24-hour expiry for 1st-party cookies set by scripts on our list.
Mac app 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from creating or accessing 1st-party cookies, including a subset of those impersonating 1st parties on our CNAME list. Automatic 24-hour or 7-day expiry enforced for all 1st-party cookies through WebKit’s built-in cookie tracking protection.
Windows app 3rd-party scripts on our list blocked from creating or accessing 1st-party cookies, including those impersonating 1st parties on our CNAME list. On our product roadmap to enforce 24-hour expiry for 1st-party cookies set by scripts on our list and to enforce 7-day expiry for all 1st-party cookies created by all other scripts.

CNAME Cloaking Protection

Some 3rd-party trackers disguise their real (origin) domains as subdomains of the website they’re hiding on, so they appear to belong to the website owner (1st party). This can help them escape common 3rd-party tracking protections. For example, metrics.example.com looks like it belongs to the example.com website owner, but the metrics.example.com subdomain may actually have a 3rd-party tracking company behind it.

We identify 3rd-party domains trying to track you in this way through our open-source Tracker Radar crawl. We then help protect against CNAME cloaking by treating those domains as proper 3rd parties, such that we can then apply 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection and other web tracking protections. This type of protection is not offered in most popular browsers by default.

Platform Support
Firefox extension Treats 1st-party requests on our CNAME list as 3rd parties.
Chrome extension Treats 1st-party requests on our CNAME list as 3rd parties.
Edge extension Treats 1st-party requests on our CNAME list as 3rd parties.
Opera extension Treats 1st-party requests on our CNAME list as 3rd parties.
iPhone & iPad app Treats 1st-party requests on a subset of our CNAME list as 3rd parties. On our product roadmap to address usability issues limiting domain coverage.
Android app Treats 1st-party requests on our CNAME list as 3rd parties.
Mac app Treats 1st-party requests on a subset of our CNAME list as 3rd parties. On our product roadmap to address usability issues limiting domain coverage.
Windows app Treats 1st-party requests on our CNAME list as 3rd parties.

Fingerprinting Protection

Some companies try to combine specific information about your browser and device information to create a unique identifier for you that can let them follow you around the web. This widespread tracking technique is known as “fingerprinting” or “device fingerprinting” and is one way tracking companies try to get around cookie tracking protections. They do this by running JavaScript code and using browser APIs to ask the browser to reveal and return information about itself and the device it’s running on (for example, screen size and CPU type).

To protect against this, we block many fingerprinting scripts before they can even load with our 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection. In addition, we override many of the browser APIs used for fingerprinting to make them return either no information or alternative information that’s less useful for fingerprinting. We will only make a limited exception when it would prevent you from signing in to a site or to otherwise preserve essential site functionality. You can review our open-source code for this feature.

Platform Support
Firefox extension Fingerprinting scripts from 3rd-party trackers on our list blocked from loading. Browser APIs on our list overridden.
Chrome extension Fingerprinting scripts from 3rd-party trackers on our list blocked from loading. Browser APIs on our list overridden.
Edge extension Fingerprinting scripts from 3rd-party trackers on our list blocked from loading. Browser APIs on our list overridden.
Opera extension Fingerprinting scripts from 3rd-party trackers on our list blocked from loading. Browser APIs on our list overridden.
iPhone & iPad app Fingerprinting scripts from 3rd-party trackers on our list blocked from loading. Browser APIs on our list overridden.
Android app Fingerprinting scripts from 3rd-party trackers on our list blocked from loading. Browser APIs on our list overridden, except in iframes, where JavaScript injection is unsupported by the Android WebView API.
Mac app Fingerprinting scripts from 3rd-party trackers on our list blocked from loading. Browser APIs on our list overridden.
Windows app Fingerprinting scripts from 3rd-party trackers on our list blocked from loading. Browser APIs on our list overridden.

Smarter Encryption (HTTPS Upgrading)

If the web address you are visiting starts with http://, that means the Internet connection to the website is unencrypted, and everything you do or see on that website is vulnerable to network onlookers, including the specific page you are on and any information you submit about yourself while there. If the web address starts with https:// (with an s at the end), the Internet connection is encrypted, and anyone trying to spy on you (like your Internet provider or Wi-Fi snoopers) can’t see anything beyond the website you’re going to.

To offer Smarter Encryption (automatic HTTPS upgrading), we crawl the web continuously, look for sites that fully support HTTPS across their entire website, and maintain a list of the sites we find within our apps and extensions. You can review the open-source code for our crawler. If you try to navigate to one of these sites unencrypted (http), for example from a social media link, we automatically change to encrypted (https) for any site on our list.

Some popular browsers only direct users to encrypted versions of pages in specific circumstances, such as when you navigate directly to a page in the address bar. Otherwise, they only offer additional HTTPS upgrading functionality if you opt-in to advanced settings or use certain modes (like private browsing). By contrast, Smarter Encryption covers all clicks and interactions as you browse the web, including clicks from social media, search engines, and other websites.

Platform Support
Firefox extension Upgrades our full list of domains.
Chrome extension Upgrades our full list of domains.
Edge extension Upgrades our full list of domains.
Opera extension Upgrades our full list of domains.
iPhone & iPad app Upgrades a subset of our full list of domains that covers approximately 90% of search engine clicks. Platform limitations restrict us from upgrading additional requests loaded by websites (such as those used to load additional content).
Android app Upgrades a subset of our full list of domains that covers approximately 90% of search engine clicks. Platform limitations restrict us from upgrading additional requests loaded by websites (such as those used to load additional content).
Mac app Upgrades a subset of our full list of domains that covers approximately 90% of search engine clicks. Platform limitations restrict us from upgrading additional requests loaded by websites (such as those used to load additional content).
Windows app Upgrades a subset of our full list of domains that covers approximately 90% of search engine clicks.

The links embedded in websites, social media, and emails that we share and click on every day often contain additional URL parameters after the destination domain. While many of these parameters aren’t used for tracking purposes, others are added to specifically track your behavior across sites (for example: example.com/page.html?fbclid=your_facebook_account_ID).

We help protect against this type of tracking by removing many tracking parameters. We may make a limited exception when removing parameters would prevent you from signing in to a site or to otherwise preserve essential site functionality. This type of protection is not offered in most popular browsers by default.

Platform Support
Firefox extension Removes URL parameters on our list.
Chrome extension Removes URL parameters on our list.
Edge extension Removes URL parameters on our list.
Opera extension Removes URL parameters on our list.
iPhone & iPad app Removes URL parameters on our list from the first navigation request. Applying protection to subsequent links in a series of automatic redirects unsupported due to platform limitations.
Android app Removes URL parameters on our list.
Mac app Removes URL parameters on our list from the first navigation request. Applying protection to subsequent links in a series of automatic redirects unsupported due to platform limitations.
Windows app Unsupported, but on our product roadmap.

Referrer Tracking Protection

When content loads in a web browser, the browser and any servers through which the request passes along the way use metadata in what’s called the “header” to determine what to do with the request. Part of this header is known as the “referrer,” which allows a server to identify the last place a user was before they arrived on that site. Sometimes this is used for security checks (like when you sign in to a website), but it can also be hijacked by companies to send along additional data that could help them track and fingerprint you.

By default, we “trim” (remove) some of the metadata in the “referrer header” that trackers could potentially use to track you individually. All 3rd-party requests are trimmed down to the hostname (for example, info.test.com/path?query becomes just info.test.com). We may make a limited exception when this protection would prevent you from signing in to a site or to otherwise preserve essential site functionality.

Please note that even in the absence of this feature, your DuckDuckGo search terms are never included in the referrer header. Read more.

Platform Support
Firefox extension Referrer headers trimmed to the hostname for all requests originating from a different domain.
Chrome extension Unsupported due to platform limitations.
Edge extension Unsupported due to platform limitations.
Opera extension Referrer headers trimmed to the hostname for all requests originating from a different domain.
iPhone & iPad app Referrer headers trimmed to the hostname for all requests originating from a different domain than the visited site through WebKit’s built-in referrer tracking protection.
Android app Unsupported due to Android WebView limitations.
Mac app Referrer headers trimmed to the hostname for all requests originating from a different domain than the visited site through WebKit’s built-in referrer tracking protection.
Windows app Referrer headers trimmed to the hostname for all requests originating from a different domain.

Embedded Social Media Protection

When you visit a website that contains embedded content from social media companies (such as YouTube videos, Tweets, Facebook comments, or sign-in buttons), that content often includes tracking code that those companies use to link your user information (like IP address and browser details) with your browsing history.

By default, we block social media embedded content from Facebook on our list of content types, which includes: sign-in buttons, videos, comments, posts, pages, and groups. We plan to expand this protection to additional social media content, including YouTube videos. You can easily unblock a particular piece of content to view it if desired. We may make a limited exception when this protection would prevent you from signing in to a site or to otherwise preserve essential site functionality. While social media companies will receive some user information each time you unblock a piece of content, this protection will help reduce what they know about you overall by default. You can learn more about Embedded Social Media Protection. This type of protection is not offered in most popular browsers by default.

Platform Support
Firefox extension Embedded Facebook content on our list of content types blocked. Additional social networks on our product roadmap.
Chrome extension Embedded Facebook content on our list of content types blocked. Additional social networks on our product roadmap.
Edge extension Embedded Facebook content on our list of content types blocked. Additional social networks on our product roadmap.
Opera extension Embedded Facebook content on our list of content types blocked. Additional social networks on our product roadmap.
iPhone & iPad app Unsupported, but on our product roadmap.
Android app Unsupported, but on our product roadmap.
Mac app Embedded Facebook content on our list of content types blocked. Additional social networks on our product roadmap.
Windows app Unsupported, but on our product roadmap.

Google-Specific Web Tracking Protections

Google AMP Protection

Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is marketed as a way to “make it easy to build fast websites” by serving them from Google, but Google can also use AMP to track users who read those pages.

To help protect you against this form of Google tracking, we replace most Google AMP links when clicked with the original publisher’s website so publishers can directly serve you these pages, instead of Google.

To do this, we extract the original publisher link where possible by recognizing the format of AMP. Otherwise, we load the AMP link in the background, and block all content from loading, separate from your normal browsing experience. This allows us to extract the publisher link, delete all data from that background load and then load the publisher webpage, as normal. This helps protect you from the additional Google tracking that may not be present on the original webpage. We may make a limited exception when this protection would prevent you from signing in to a site or to otherwise preserve essential site functionality. This type of protection is not offered in most popular browsers by default.

Platform Support
Firefox extension Google AMP links replaced wherever detected.
Chrome extension Google AMP links replaced wherever detected.
Edge extension Google AMP links replaced wherever detected.
Opera extension Google AMP links replaced wherever detected.
iPhone & iPad app Google AMP links replaced wherever detected.
Android app Google AMP links replaced wherever detected.
Mac app Google AMP links replaced wherever detected.
Windows app Unsupported, but on our product roadmap.

Google Topics Protection

Google is attempting to replace 3rd-party cookies within their browser with an alternative tracking mechanism called Topics. For Google Chrome users, Topics can use your Chrome browsing history to automatically infer your interests and align them with a predefined list of topics (for example, “Child Internet Safety” or “Personal Loans”). A subset of this list is shared with websites and other tracking companies so they can target you with ads just as easily — based on your behavior and without your knowledge.

The DuckDuckGo Chrome extension disables Topics from running in Google Chrome. We may make a limited exception when this protection would prevent you from signing in to a site or to otherwise preserve essential site functionality. You can learn more about Google Topics Protection and review our open-source code for this feature.

Platform Support
Chrome extension Google Topics disabled.
Others Not applicable to other platforms.

Google Protected Audience API Protection

Like Topics, the Google Protected Audience API (previously known as FLEDGE) is another Google mechanism meant to replace 3rd-party cookies. Its ultimate goal is also to “re-target” you with ads — in other words, letting Google ads follow you from website to website. The Google Protected Audience API works directly in the Chrome browser and uses your browsing history to run ad auctions in order to re-target you better and without you realizing it.

The DuckDuckGo Chrome extension disables the Google Protected Audience API from running in Google Chrome. We may make a limited exception when this protection would prevent you from signing in to a site or to otherwise preserve essential site functionality. You can learn more about Google Protected Audience API Protection (previously known as FLEDGE) and review our open-source code for this feature.

Platform Support
Chrome extension Google Protected Audience API disabled.
Others Not applicable to other platforms.

Google Sign-in Pop-up Protection

Aggressive prompts to sign in using your Google Account are commonplace across the most popular websites, often popping up as soon as a website loads. Opting to sign in using your Google Account can give Google implicit permission to collect even more data about your activity on sites than they would typically have access to when you’re not signed in or if you chose a different sign-in method.

To help protect against being misled into unwanted tracking, we block these annoying Google sign-in pop-ups by default on sites Google doesn’t own wherever possible. We may make a limited exception when this protection would prevent you from signing in to a site or to otherwise preserve essential site functionality. That means you can take back your choice to sign in with any account (including a Google Account) and use standard website sign-in forms instead.

Platform Support
Firefox extension Google sign-in pop-ups hidden wherever detected.
Chrome extension Google sign-in pop-ups hidden wherever detected.
Edge extension Google sign-in pop-ups hidden wherever detected.
Opera extension Google sign-in pop-ups hidden wherever detected.
iPhone & iPad app Google sign-in pop-ups hidden wherever detected.
Android app Google sign-in pop-ups hidden wherever detected.
Mac app Google sign-in pop-ups hidden wherever detected.
Windows app Google sign-in pop-ups hidden wherever detected.

Preserving Site Functionality

We aim to deliver privacy, simplified. Part of our ethos of simplicity is not breaking website functionality in the process of blocking and restricting trackers. We develop our protections with this mind, and we use the following techniques to further this effort as we continue to expand protections.

Surrogates

Sometimes sites depend on code that loads from embedded 3rd-party tracking script requests in order to function properly. When our 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection stops these from loading, it can cause sites to behave unexpectedly. However, we can sometimes create small pieces of code called “surrogates” that work around this tracker-dependent breakage so that we can still stop those trackers from loading.

A surrogate works locally on your device, pretending to be a particular 3rd-party tracking script without actually doing any tracking. Surrogates replicate the expected script’s API structure with all tracking components removed, including any remote server calls. This lets us neutralize the parts that would have tried to track you while allowing websites to load and function properly. You can review our open-source code for this feature. Surrogates are not offered in most popular browsers by default.

Platform Support
Firefox extension Surrogates preserve privacy and usability for tracker-dependent breakage on our list.
Chrome extension Surrogates preserve privacy and usability for tracker-dependent breakage on our list.
Edge extension Surrogates preserve privacy and usability for tracker-dependent breakage on our list.
Opera extension Surrogates preserve privacy and usability for tracker-dependent breakage on our list.
iPhone & iPad app Surrogates preserve privacy and usability for tracker-dependent breakage on our list, but some usability issues may still occur due to platform limitations that cause 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection to block scripts before we have a chance to apply Surrogates.
Android app Surrogates preserve privacy and usability for tracker-dependent breakage on our list.
Mac app Surrogates preserve privacy and usability for tracker-dependent breakage on our list, but some usability issues may still occur due to platform limitations that cause 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection to block scripts before we have a chance to apply Surrogates.
Windows app Surrogates preserve privacy and usability for tracker-dependent breakage on our list.

Remotely Configured Exceptions

If you’re using our app or extension and suspect that a website usability issue was caused by one of the Web Tracking Protections detailed on this page, you can let us know by submitting a Broken Site Report. You can also temporarily disable DuckDuckGo’s Privacy Protection for individual websites to troubleshoot the issue you’re experiencing.

We review user-reported Broken Site Reports daily, and work to address these usability issues continuously. When one of our Web Tracking Protections causes issues to occur (for example, if users can’t sign in or can’t use a popular website), we may add a site domain or cookie to a temporary exclusion list for that protection. This preserves essential usability for all users as we work toward a better solution. All of our privacy apps and extensions rely on these open-source lists, which vary by platform and protection, to maintain a seamless online experience.

Platform Support
All platforms All platforms provide feedback channels for reporting tracker-dependent breakage.

Infrastructure Domains

Most websites cannot build all of their technology in-house and must rely on 3rd parties for site functionality. We don’t want to penalize websites for using a 3rd party so long as their use of that 3rd party doesn’t help track you across websites. In this way, we hope to encourage good 3rd-party script behaviors over time.

We consider some domains on our list to be “Infrastructure Domains,” for example Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) and tag managers, since these domains are often used to load website functionality (i.e., infrastructure, like images, videos, and site elements you interact with) from other 3rd-party domains. However, Infrastructure Domains can be used to load both tracking and non-tracking resources.

Because blocking Infrastructure Domains from loading any resources creates significant site breakage and prevents sites from loading resources they rely on, we take the approach of evaluating individual resources loaded from Infrastructure Domains, and apply 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection to those specific resources that we observe participating in tracking, taking into account the potential for site breakage. In addition, we apply our other overlapping protections (like 3rd-Party Cookie Protection) to Infrastructure Domains directly.

For example, a domain that hosts open-source JavaScript libraries would be considered a CDN and thus not blocked by 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection, but any instance of the FingerprintJS fingerprinting library hosted on that domain would be blocked because it’s used to fingerprint you and track you around the web. Likewise, 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection doesn’t apply to Google Tag Manager, as we have not detected the tag manager itself participating in tracking, we’ve observed it associated with breakage on many sites, and it occasionally loads necessary features like site widgets and privacy-friendly analytics libraries. However, we continue to block tracking resources Google Tag Manager may load, such as Google Analytics, and we also block Google Tag Manager itself on sites where we’ve detected embedded fingerprinting code within it. Other Infrastructure Domains are treated similarly.

Platform Support
All platforms Infrastructure Domain categorization impacts how we build our tracker lists, which are shared across platforms.

DuckDuckGo Private Search Ads

Advertising on DuckDuckGo is done in partnership with Microsoft. Viewing ads on DuckDuckGo is anonymous, and Microsoft has committed to not profile our users on ad clicks: “when you click on a Microsoft-provided ad that appears on DuckDuckGo, Microsoft Advertising does not associate your ad-click behavior with a user profile. It also does not store or share that information other than for accounting purposes.”

To evaluate whether an ad on DuckDuckGo is effective, advertisers want to know if their ad clicks turn into purchases (conversions). To see this within Microsoft Advertising, they use Microsoft scripts from the bat.bing.com domain. Currently, if an advertiser wants to detect conversions for their own ads that are shown on DuckDuckGo, 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection will not block bat.bing.com requests from loading on the advertiser’s website following DuckDuckGo ad clicks and 1st-Party Cookie Protection will expire any cookies set by these requests on the advertiser’s website after 7 days, but these requests are blocked in all other contexts. For anyone who wants to avoid this, it’s possible to disable ads in DuckDuckGo search settings. And in any case, our other overlapping protections — including 3rd-Party Cookie Protection and Fingerprinting Protection — continue to apply, even in the context of DuckDuckGo ad clicks.

We’ve chosen this approach because it allows us to continue shipping best-in-class privacy protections while working to guide the advertising industry to adopt more privacy-preserving technologies. We envision a future where ad conversion detection can occur anonymously. DuckDuckGo isn’t alone in facing this issue, and the browser community has been working on private ad conversion technologies for several years now. Safari is working on Private Click Measurement (PCM) and Firefox is working on Interoperable Private Attribution (IPA). This work is important because it means we can improve the advertising-based business model that countless companies rely on to provide you with free services, making it more private instead of throwing it out entirely. We hope these efforts can help move the entire digital ad industry forward and make privacy online the rule rather than the exception.

Platform Support
All platforms All platforms support DuckDuckGo Private Search Ads.

Everyday Privacy Controls

The Fire Button

As you visit websites, everyday data, like regular cookies and browser storage, builds up locally in the browser. We’ve made it simple to clear data like this from the DuckDuckGo app’s local storage on your device with the “Fire Button.” This type of protection is not offered in most popular browsers by default.

The Fire Button erases traces of websites that you’ve visited (like cookies, website caches, and favicons), browsing session information (like open tabs, back button history, and visited URLs), and permissions you’ve granted to websites (like geolocation, camera, and microphone settings). Our apps offer additional control, where you can also make specific sites partially immune to the Fire Button by “Fireproofing” them. Fireproofing a website keeps some helpful data around, like 1st-party cookies and storage that would otherwise be cleared out by the Fire Button, so you can stay signed in.

From DuckDuckGo app Settings, you can manage your Fireproof Sites and choose whether you’d like to automatically clear tabs and data on restart. It’s important to note that the Fire Button will not clear the following: 1st-party cookies and storage for Fireproof Sites, bookmarks, downloaded files, or DuckDuckGo Search settings and associated storage. For example, we might use local storage to anonymously remember the fact that you’ve already dismissed a prompt to install our app so that we don’t annoy you by showing it again.

Platform Support
Firefox extension Unsupported
Chrome extension Clears all browsing history and data. Can also clear data for a single site or for time periods. History and tab clearing can be disabled in Settings.
Edge extension Clears all browsing history and data. Can also clear data for a single site or for time periods. History and tab clearing can be disabled in Settings.
Opera extension Clears all browsing history and data. Can also clear data for a single site or for time periods. History and tab clearing can be disabled in Settings.
iPhone & iPad app Clears all browsing history and data. Supports automatic clearing on restart.
Android app Clears all browsing history and data. Supports automatic clearing on restart.
Mac app Clears all browsing history and data. Can also clear data for visited sites per-tab and per-window. Automatic clearing on restart on our product roadmap.
Windows app Clears all browsing history and data. Additional data clearing options on our product roadmap.

Note: As of May 16, 2024, a newly discovered bug in the operating system WebView2 component may temporarily prevent the Fire Button from instantly clearing fragments of browsing data from your device. This bug does not affect your privacy in our browser, the Fire Button still clears your browsing history and tabs, and any data remnants can be erased by closing the browser. Until this bug is resolved, you can restart your browser after using the Fire Button to ensure all data is cleared immediately.

Cookie consent pop-ups often use dark design patterns to get you to accept the least private option. When DuckDuckGo detects a cookie pop-up on sites you visit, we can try to automatically set your cookie preferences to maximize privacy and minimize cookies, then close the pop-up. For sites that don’t provide an option to manage cookie preferences on these pop-ups, we try to hide the pop-up instead using a combination of filter rules from open-source lists like EasyList Cookie List and our own cosmetic rules. In these cases, automatically hiding the pop-up is often still more private than selecting one of the limited options made available (e.g., “Accept All Cookies”). We currently offer coverage for most of the top 10,000 websites in the US, UK and EU and plan to expand coverage to additional websites over time.

This feature is enabled by default on supported platforms below, but you can choose to disable it in Settings. You can also review our open-source code for this feature. This type of protection is not offered in most popular browsers by default.

Platform Support
Firefox extension Unsupported, but on our product roadmap.
Chrome extension Unsupported, but on our product roadmap.
Edge extension Unsupported, but on our product roadmap.
Opera extension Unsupported, but on our product roadmap.
iPhone & iPad app Minimizes cookies, maximizes privacy, and closes cookie pop-ups on our list. Additional coverage on our product roadmap.
Android app Minimizes cookies, maximizes privacy, and closes cookie pop-ups on our list. Platform limitations prevent us from injecting scripts into iframes, which means we can’t handle consent on some sites. Additional coverage on our product roadmap.
Mac app Minimizes cookies, maximizes privacy, and closes cookie pop-ups on our list. Additional coverage on our product roadmap.
Windows app Minimizes cookies, maximizes privacy, and closes cookie pop-ups on our list. Additional coverage on our product roadmap.

Global Privacy Control (GPC)

Global Privacy Control (GPC) intends to help you express your opt-out rights automatically by telling websites (through a header and/or JavaScript-based signal) not to sell or share your personal information. Whether it can be used to enforce your legal rights (for example, current or future CCPA, GDPR requirements) depends on the laws in your jurisdiction. You can learn more about GPC and review our open-source code for Chrome/Firefox/Edge/Opera, iOS, Android. This type of protection is not offered in most popular browsers by default.

Platform Support
Firefox extension GPC signal sent via header and JavaScript to all sites.
Chrome extension GPC signal sent via header and JavaScript to all sites.
Edge extension GPC signal sent via header and JavaScript to all sites.
Opera extension GPC signal sent via header and JavaScript to all sites.
iPhone & iPad app GPC signal sent via JavaScript to all sites. Sending GPC header signal only supported for websites known to respect GPC due to platform limitations that would cause page load interruptions during back navigation.
Android app GPC signal sent via JavaScript to all sites. Sending GPC header signal only supported for websites known to respect GPC due to platform limitations that would cause page load interruptions during back navigation.
Mac app GPC signal sent via JavaScript to all sites. Sending GPC header signal only supported for websites known to respect GPC due to platform limitations that would cause page load interruptions during back navigation.
Windows app GPC signal sent via header and JavaScript to all sites.

How to Get our Web Tracking Protections

To get the privacy protections as described above, install the relevant DuckDuckGo app or extension:

If you use another Chromium-based browser like Vivaldi, you can usually install the Chrome version.

For questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Prior versions on GitHub.