Escape active ad tracking networks, increase your encryption protection, and search as privately as possible with the help of this nifty Chrome extension
If you were to describe yourself as being somewhat of a privacy or security-oriented user, then there’s a good chance you might have heard about DuckDuckGo.
In short, DuckDuckGo (DDG) is an Internet search engine that aims to be just as efficient as some of the world’s similar but more popular services while ensuring that your privacy stays untouched by blocking off filters and personalized search results.
We have to admit, the concept is pretty compelling, and up until this point in time, the company behind the project does have what most would call a spotless record. If you also feel that DuckDuckGo is worth your attention, then we would like to suggest checking out their bespoke Chrome extension called DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials.
DuckDuckGo was founded by Gabriel Weinberg on February 29, 2008, in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Weinberg is an entrepreneur who previously launched Names Database, a now-defunct social network.Initially self-funded by Weinberg, DuckDuckGo is advertising-supported, but the user has the option to disable ads. The search engine is written in Perl and runs on nginx, FreeBSD, and Linux. The Internet privacy company that empowers you to seamlessly take control of your personal information online, without any tradeoffs. DuckDuckGo has steadily carved out a place among the top search engines since its debut in 2008. The fervor and sense of the DDG mission clearly resonate with users across the internet. DDG’s mission is simple: Too many people believe that you simply can't expect privacy on the Internet. DuckDuckGo Help Pages. About DuckDuckGo. DuckDuckGo is the Internet privacy company for everyone who’s had enough of online tracking and wants to take back their privacy now. For over a decade, we’ve created new technology and worked with policymakers to make online privacy simple and accessible for all.
What’s it all about?
As its name makes it quite apparent, the extension is developed by the same team behind DuckDuckGo, and it aims to provide you with all the necessary tools to always be in full control of how your personal information is handled while browsing.
More to the point, DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials allows you to escape active ad tracking networks, increase your encryption protection, and search as privately as possible. The extension automatically blocks hidden third-party trackers (while showing you the culprits), forces sites to encrypt the connection (when available), and doesn’t allow search engines to get ahold of your personal info such as your financial, medical, political situation.
Better yet…
One of the best things about the extension is how simple it is, despite its complex underpinnings. As a user, you only interact with a polished little GUI that displays if the connection is encrypted or not, and how many trackers are found and blocked. You can also enable or disable the site privacy protection feature, manage a whitelist, as well as report broken sites.
The tool can be installed just like any other Chrome extension from the official Chrome Web Store without requiring any type of configuration on your part. Once launched, it integrates with Chrome’s toolbar via a small icon that also shows you a “privacy grade rating” when you visit websites. These ratings range from A to F, and the score is based on the prevalence of hidden tracker networks, encryption availability, and website privacy practices.
Conclusion
It’s quite refreshing to see a search engine that strives to distinguish itself from others of its kind by showing the utmost respect for user privacy. Not only that, but the company’s Chrome extension is something worth applauding since, if given the chance, we’re sure it will help increase the level of “trust” in the online world.
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DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials for Chrome was reviewed by Vladimir Ciobica- Remove innerHTML in favor of text nodes #630
- CSR cookies #631
- Merge autofill #632
DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials for Chrome 2021.5.10
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send us an update- runs on:
- Windows 10 32/64 bit
Windows 8 32/64 bit
Windows 7 32/64 bit - file size:
- 811 MB
- main category:
- Internet
- developer:
- visit homepage
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We've been providing users with mapping features within DuckDuckGo Search for many years, along the way improving them with greater accuracy, dark mode, local re-querying and more. Now we're excited to announce a big step forward with the introduction of directions – private, as always, and like our embedded maps, powered by Apple's MapKit JS framework and already familiar to millions of users.
You'll now see a new addition to location and map search results that will help you plan trips by showing you a route overview, distance and travel time. Look out for it both at the top of search results that display a map, as well as within our expanded map module. Let's see an example of the latter…
- A location query such as Tower of London can open our expanded maps, as usual.
- Clicking the Directions button in the map sidebar will now display boxes to enter a starting point and a destination. For convenience, the starting point by default will be set to your current location, which works anonymously (as explained below). The best routes and their estimated durations will be shown on the map, and updating the starting point will redraw the available routes.
As with all our search features, your privacy is still protected when using these directions thanks to our strict privacy policy of not collecting or sharing any personal information. In the case of location-related searches, your browser sends location information which we isolate from any personal information the browser sends, and which we discard after use, enabling us to provide anonymous localized results and features. Our help page has more detail on how we keep location searches private.
Duckduckgo Stock
Route planning was a missing piece in DuckDuckGo Search. Integrating it means our maps now have the functionality you expect with the privacy you deserve, with no trade-offs.
Https://duckduckgo.com/
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