Diet Google: ‘Privacy-Focused’ DuckDuckGo Fails to Block Microsoft Trackers

The allegedly “privacy-focused” search engine DuckDuckGo may not be as private as it claims, according to a recent report. According to researchers and eventually the CEO’s own admission, the site doesn’t block trackers from Microsoft, who provides much of the site’s search content.

Review Geek reports that DuckDuckGo has made a confidential search agreement with Microsoft in which the search engine will not block all Microsoft trackers. DuckDuckGo also only acknowledged the privacy issue after it was noticed by security researchers.

DuckDuckGo pulls the majority of its search results from other engines such as Microsoft’s Bing. DuckDuckGo has also previously warned that clicking a Microsoft-posted ad in DuckDuckGo will reveal your IP address to Microsoft Advertising Service, something which the search engine has noted in the past.