DuckDuckGo (DDG) released the App Track Protection privacy tool on Wednesday. The feature is now in beta test mode for Android. It is designed to protect its users from companies harvesting personal data through your apps.

The new feature will give users more of the privacy protections already out there for iPhones. 

The search engine DuckDuckGo (DDG) has been around since 2008. It has always emphasized protecting users' privacy. And attempts to circumvent the ad-attracting filter bubble of personalized search results.

DDG does not show content farm info in search results. And it uses APIs of other websites to obtain quick results.  It has its web crawler and partners with Bing to assure search results are comprehensive.

App Track Protection blocks 3rd party snoopers

 Peter Dolanjski, director of product at DuckDuckGo, says most people don’t know that data collection is running in the background and invading everyone's life. 

 “People were absolutely baffled, not just at the number of requests apps are making but also the kind of data involved,” he said.

Meta, Google, and countless others make money from data. And use the data for advertising. 

You have no privacy. The tech giants are tracking every user's behavior across countless apps and websites owned by a myriad of companies.

 It’s also common for App developers to share your data with third parties. They send it directly from your phone to corporate servers. And use snippets of code called trackers to track. 

Data harvesters running in the background

The App uses AI running in the background on your phone of day-to-day usage to determine when one of your apps attempts to send information to a third party. And it blocks the majority of those transmissions.

When opening the DuckDuckGo app creates a real-time summary of all attempts to collect your data. And allows users to see what information apps are trying to harvest and the third-party company where they’re trying to send it.

According to DDG estimates Android users have about 35 apps on their phones. And a phone with 35 apps in use sends 1,000 to 2,000 tracking data packets to over 70 different companies every day. And the numbers could be even higher depending on which apps you use.

There are other tracker protection tools for Android users. But DuckDuckGo’s offering is free. And this search engine has been developing privacy protections for more than a decade. 

The feature is user-friendly and easy to use. To install the DuckDuckGo app, open up Settings. Then select “App Tracking Protection.”  And the onscreen step-by-step instructions will appear.