DuckDuckGo is extending its App Tracking Protection tool by making it available to all Android users in a new update.
function originally launched in late 2021 as a limited beta version of the DuckDuckGo mobile browser and its core functionality remains the same.
after activation, App tracking protection (opens in a new tab) it can detect when a smartphone app is about to send data to a third-party tracker and block those requests – at least most of them. It even runs in the background in case the tracker wants to stealthily collect data while you sleep.
work in progress
The company claims that App Tracking Protection uses a “local VPN connection” to work and doesn’t send any data to DuckDuckGo itself or to some remote server.
New to the public beta is a browser that displays everything that is being blocked in real time. This includes who the third party tracker is and what data they collect from you. If you enable notifications, you will receive Quick summary (opens in a new tab) tells you how many tracking attempts have been blocked on your phone. DuckDuckGo has also achieved huge success list of blocked companies publicly available on GitHub (opens in a new tab) because it can prevent companies like Google and Adobe from collecting your data.
If all of this sounds familiar, iPhones have something similar called App Tracking Transparency. However, it may not be the best. – said Kamyl Bazbaz, Vice President of Communications at DuckDuckGo Edge (opens in a new tab) last year that Apple’s tool only blocks user ID for advertisers and nothing else. Developers are also under no obligation to respect your choice not to be tracked.
Users can try App Tracking Protection by updating the DuckDuckGo browser on their Android phone to the latest version or by downloading it from the Google Play store (opens in a new tab). To activate the protection, users will have to go to the browser settings and then go through the registration process.
There is still a lot of work to be done on the protection tool. A company representative told us that there are still third-party trackers that DuckDuckGo may not know that they need to add to the block list. Users may also encounter protections in other apps that have been disabled due to the beta. The company asks for feedback from users to improve the app’s tracking protection. You can do this by opening the Settings menu in the app and selecting Share Feedback.
When asked about a potential iOS beta, the same company rep told us that DuckDuckGo is looking into it.
New arrangements
A large part of the announcement was devoted to showing how external trackers work. Looking at the finds, this is quite insidious.
According to DuckDuckGo, “the average Android user has 35 apps on their phone.” A mobile device with so many apps can have up to 2,000 tracking attempts per day. DuckDuckGo has also discovered that these trackers collect lots of personal information including email address, phone number, exact location, and even device information. Chances are someone out there knows what type of phone you have, its screen resolution, and local internet providers.