DuckDuckGo launches beta version of privacy-focused desktop browser

DuckDuckGo, the company known for its privacy-focused search engine of the same name, has launched a beta version of its desktop browser aimed at improving the privacy layer on using the internet.

DuckDuckGo CEO Gabriel Weinberg shared details of the new browser in his blog post besides also highlighting the features it would include.

The blog read that from improvements to search, tracker blocking, and our mobile app, to new features like Email Protection and App Tracking Protection, DuckDuckGo is building a simple privacy layer for how people use the Internet today.

Email Protection:

Free email forwarding service that removes trackers in your email and protects the privacy of your personal email address without asking you to change email providers.

App Tracking Protection:

This feature helps in blocking third-party trackers like Google and Facebook lurking in other apps and DuckDuckGo has claimed that after installing it the users would be surprised to see the intervention from apps in their devices.

Private Search:

Besides revamping page design and improving directions and map results, this feature introduced improvements including a new translations instant answer, revamped definitions and weather answers, custom date range filtering, more filters on images, and improvements to advanced search.

Tracker Blocking:

According to the blog, unlike tracking protection from the major browsers, this feature blocks hidden trackers before they load. Most tracking protection just restricts trackers after they load, which can still leak your information.

Sometimes trackers aren’t exactly hidden though: they can also be associated with embedded content on pages, like posts, comments, and other content from Facebook. This year our browser extension got a new feature that identifies this content from Facebook, blocks it on websites before it loads, and gives users the choice to load the content if they want to.

Mobile App: Burn, Flush, or Blow Private Data Away

This feature added new animation options to the Fire Button so now instead of burning your data, you can choose to flush it down a virtual drain or watch it get blown away!

In addition, some other app improvements we made this year include adding a “Fireproofing” prompt so you have the choice to keep certain sites logged in between burns, a new setting to change font sizes on web content, simplifying the search bar.

Desktop App

No complicated settings, no misleading warnings, no “levels” of privacy protection – just robust privacy protection that works by default, across search, browsing, email, and more.

The blog stated that they are building a desktop app around the OS-provided rendering engines (like on mobile), allowing them to strip away a lot of the unnecessary cruft and clutter that’s accumulated over the years in major browsers.