Let's take a look at this support page on the Microsoft Advertising Blog. If you take a look at DuckDuckGo's GitHub page for Privacy Configuration, you can see the list of tracking parameters that it blocks. Google's AMP is perhaps the most notorious example of URL-based tracking, besides Facebook, of course.Įssentially, this method circumvents cookie-based tracking, to identify you across sites. In other words, it is not good for privacy. This data could be used to profile your browsing habits, deliver personalized ads, etc. how you landed there (via search, a specific article, a product promotion, etc). Likewise, the page that you were redirected to, can know which website you were on earlier, i.e. If you click on a link in a web page, and the URL has some parameters such as an affiliate ID, or other tracking elements, the website can know which link you clicked, and depending on its policies, may earn a commission from the destination site for advertising it. Here's a gist of how users are commonly tracked on the internet. When I tested extensions such as ClearURLs, Redirect AMP to HTML extension, I explained how URL-based tracking works. The tracker part is visible in the address bar of the browser even after the page has loaded. However, when you use a similar link and replace it with Microsoft's tracking method, such as the one below, the browser does not strip the query URL parameters. Visiting the above URL in the DuckDuckGo Browser on macOS removes the tracker from the address bar, this is what the tracking protection feature should work like. (source: Twitter)ĭuckDuckGo's browser ha a built-in tracker blocker and cookie blocker, this should, on paper, prevent users from being tracked by ad networks, right? It does, but with some exceptions.Įich says that DuckDuckGo's browser on macOS removes the tracking parameters from URLs, if they are from third-parties like Google or Facebook, In fact, he has accused DuckDuckGo of lying to their users. He played down the scrutiny, stating that the search engine protects the anonymity of users, even when ads are displayed from the Redmond company, by blocking third-party cookies.īrave Browser's founder, Brendan Eich, doesn't appear to have been satisfied by the casual explanation given by the rival browser maker. When questioned about the original issue, DuckDuckGo's founder, Gabriel Weinberg, clarified that his company has a partnership with the Microsoft, which prevents them from blocking the ads.
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