DuckDuckGo, an Android app, is testing an Anti-tracking feature

With its reputation as a privacy-focused alternative to Google Search, DuckDuckGo has now released an ‘App Tracking Protection’ tool that works in a similar way to Apple’s own solution to disable hidden trackers in other apps. 

With the release of iOS 14.5 and the introduction of App Tracking Transparency, Apple provided users with the ability to allow or reject an app’s ability to track their activities across other applications and websites.  Whenever a user launches an iOS app for the first time, he or she is presented with a prompt requesting if the app can track his or her activities in order to collect relevant data and provide relevant ads to them.

The majority of Apple device owners, it appears, chose not to be tracked when offered the option.  So much so that a cumulative $10 billion in ad revenue was wiped out for Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Snap as a result of the shift. Google has stated that it intends to adopt a comparable mechanism through the Play Store, although those plans have not yet materialised. 

While this is going on, DuckDuckGo has announced the launch of their App Tracking Protection for Android users. Third-party trackers in other applications that send data to the likes of Google and Facebook are claimed to be blocked by the feature, which is integrated directly into the eponymous app itself. 

DuckDuckGo claims that its investigation discovered hidden third-party trackers inside 96 per cent of the most popular free Android apps, of which 87 per cent fed data to Google and 67 per cent seeded the user’s phone activity to Facebook, demonstrating the need for such a system on Android smartphones.

Despite being free, DuckDuckGo’s anti-tracking solution claims to be effective in blocking third-party trackers that lurk within apps and other web-based applications. After it has been enabled, it will actively detect and block data packets whenever an app tries to send information to a third-party tracking service. 

When the phone is inactive, this tracking and blocking mechanism is still in action, and all activity takes place on the device itself rather than being routed through a VPN server. Users can see instant notifications as third-party trackers are disabled if enabled. The service is now in beta testing, and users must sign up for a private waitlist that accepts new registrants on a weekly basis in order to participate.

Those interested in testing out App Tracking Protection should download the DuckDuckGo app from the Google Play Store, navigate to the app’s Settings section, touch on App Tracking Protection, and then select Join the Private Waitlist on the following page on the next page. 

In the beginning, the company adds, there will be a small number of exceptions to this rule. For example, tracking is required in certain situations, such as mobile games, in order for them to function properly. 

Whenever users have difficulties, such as the inability to upload files, movies that do not load properly, or an app that becomes unresponsive, they have the option of individually whitelisting those applications. In order to avoid performance and functionality difficulties, DuckDuckGo claims it would gradually reduce the number of apps that must be avoided by its anti-tracking technology in the future.