If you're doing something online, you're probably being tracked. Whether you're shopping, subscribing or scrolling on social media, companies are generally looking to scoop up your data so they can get more from advertisers. DuckDuckGo wants to help you avoid that, offering a suite of privacy-focused tools and features, including its privacy-focused web browser.

There are other private browsers, such as Brave and the Mullvad Browser, that block people from monitoring your online activity. But DuckDuckGo sees itself as a direct competitor to Google Search, complete with a mobile app and extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari and other browsers, as well as for Windows and Mac browsers in public beta. And the company has significantly expanded its offerings over the past few years, making it a more robust service for protecting your privacy.

After major incidents like the Cambridge Analytica scandal, people have become more aware of how much personal information is available to tech companies and advertisers -- and are opting out of being tracked when they can. While it doesn't track users, DuckDuckGo's browser and extensions were downloaded more than 250 million times as of September 2023. 

Here's what you need to know about DuckDuckGo and how it tries to keep your searches more secure.

What is DuckDuckGo? 

DuckDuckGo started as a browser and search engine that pledges to keep your search activity anonymous and not track you online, but the company has since expanded to offer a wider range of services, including paid offerings under its Privacy Pro plan that bundles a VPN, personal information removal and identity theft restoration.

Read more: Best VPNs of 2024

How does the DuckDuckGo browser work?

For starters, DuckDuckGo does not track searches made through its browser extension or mobile app. Other browsers, including Chrome, allow you to use private or incognito windows that don't track your search history, but their default windows do. (That's the basis of every "embarrassing search history" joke.) Instead of making you navigate to a different version of its app, DuckDuckGo never tracks your search history.

Searches made through DuckDuckGo also automatically connect you to the encrypted versions of websites wherever possible, making it harder for anyone else to see what you're looking at online. This is another scenario where both options (encrypted and unencrypted) exist on other search engines, but the default isn't always the privacy-friendly option. DuckDuckGo saves you the extra steps of manually navigating to encrypted connections.

DuckDuckGo was criticized in May 2022 when researchers discovered some Microsoft tracking scripts while using DuckDuckGo's browsers. The presence of Microsoft trackers seemed to fly in the face of the search engine's privacy promise, and DuckDuckGo's founder and CEO clarified on Reddit that the company was "currently contractually restricted by Microsoft" from stopping Microsoft scripts from completely loading. This is because the company uses Microsoft's Bing to power its search results, which the company had previous disclosed. The company followed up a few months later by announcing that it would further restrict Microsoft trackers in its browsers.

DuckDuckGo also actively blocks external trackers from following you around online. For a more detailed explanation of DuckDuckGo's privacy features, check out DuckDuckGo's blog. 

How is DuckDuckGo different from Google Search? What about Incognito mode and private browsing?

DuckDuckGo essentially takes the opposite approach compared to other big tech companies like Google and Facebook, which have traditionally made money by targeting ads based on your browsing history and personal data. While Google originally said it would stop this practice, the company reversed its course in June. It collects a ton of data about you, including your location and search activity -- yes, even in incognito mode. 

Incognito mode simply deletes information related to your browsing session from your computer: your history, cookies and any info you've entered into fields. Notably, it only does that after you end your session by closing all of your tabs. So if you leave your incognito tabs open for hours or days at a time, that information will still build up. And no matter what, Google can save your searches -- and companies, internet service providers and governments can still track you across the internet, even when you're using incognito mode, although the company did agree to destroy billions of incognito records earlier this year.

DuckDuckGo doesn't store your browsing data at all, and it blocks trackers while you're browsing. 

If it isn't targeting ads, how does DuckDuckGo make money?

DuckDuckGo still makes money from advertising -- it just doesn't use targeted ads. The search engine shows you ads based on the keywords you search for, which aren't connected to your personal data like your browsing or purchase history. Essentially, you'll only see ads for whatever you're currently searching for, not the weird product your friend sent you a link to last week that you now can't get away from. 

Earlier this year, the company also launched a paid subscription, called Privacy Pro. Subscribers get access to DuckDuckGo's VPN, personal information removal service and identity theft restoration service. Privacy Pro costs $10 per month or $100 for an annual subscription. 

How can I use DuckDuckGo?

The easiest way to start using DuckDuckGo is to download its browser. On mobile devices, simply open your app store and search for "DuckDuckGo." On a desktop, go to duckduckgo.com, where you'll see a button to download the DuckDuckGo browser. In addition to getting more private web searches, you can also play around with other features like its email protection, app tracking protection and even an anonymous platform for using AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude.

For more about online privacy, check out the five reasons to ditch Google for DuckDuckGo and what to know about DuckDuckGo's free AI feature DuckAssist.