Does using DuckDuckgo prevent Google from collecting user IP addresses?

1. What DuckDuckGo does for IPs: anonymous handling, not masking

DuckDuckGo’s privacy policy states that when you visit their search engine they receive routine connection data such as IP addresses but “we don’t save your IP address or any unique identifiers alongside your searches or visits” and they discard the IP after using it ^[1]. Their help pages explain they may use an IP briefly for GEO::IP lookups to guess location for localized results, then throw the IP away ^[2]. That means DuckDuckGo aims to avoid retaining and linking IPs to search queries, rather than hiding the IP from the network path itself ^{[1] [2]}.

2. What DuckDuckGo does not do: it is not a VPN or network anonymizer

Multiple explainers and reviews make the same distinction: DuckDuckGo blocks trackers and prevents Google‑style search profiling, but it “doesn’t mask your IP address or encrypt your entire connection, like a VPN does” — its protection is limited to what happens inside its search service or browser environment ^{[3] [5]}. Guides on using proxies with DuckDuckGo explicitly say you still need proxies or VPNs if you want to hide your IP from websites, avoid geo‑blocks, or prevent your ISP from seeing your traffic ^[4].

3. Who can still see your IP even when you use DuckDuckGo

Available reporting states that while DuckDuckGo won’t store your IP with your searches, the IP is still visible to the websites you visit after leaving the DuckDuckGo environment and to intermediaries such as your ISP or anyone on the local network. Several privacy guides emphasize that DuckDuckGo doesn’t prevent those parties from seeing your IP address ^{[6] [4] [7]}.

4. Why this distinction matters for real privacy goals

If your goal is to reduce search‑engine profiling and third‑party tracker-based ad targeting, DuckDuckGo’s approach — no saved search history linked to identifiers and tracker blocking — provides concrete protection ^{[1] [5]}. If your goal is to conceal your network identity (IP) from websites, ISPs, or nation‑state observers, DuckDuckGo’s described practices do not achieve that; a VPN or proxy that changes the apparent source IP and encrypts traffic is required ^{[3] [4]}.

5. Competing perspectives and limitations in the record

DuckDuckGo’s own materials emphasize temporary use and deletion of IPs for service delivery and localization ^{[1] [2]}. Independent reviews and VPN guides corroborate that DuckDuckGo “doesn’t log your IP addresses” and “doesn’t mask your IP” — they recommend pairing DuckDuckGo with a VPN for stronger anonymity ^{[5] [3]}. Some privacy blogs assert strongly that DuckDuckGo “does not log or store IP addresses” ^[7], which is consistent with DuckDuckGo’s policy, but these sources also note the persistent visibility of IPs to other actors ^{[7] [6]}. Available sources do not mention any reporting that DuckDuckGo leaks IPs deliberately to Google or that DuckDuckGo’s policy is being systematically violated; if you need evidence of such claims, it is not found in current reporting.

6. Practical recommendations depending on your threat model

• If you want less ad profiling and no linked search history: use DuckDuckGo (its policy says it doesn’t save IPs with searches) and enable its tracker blocking ^{[1] [5]}.
• If you need to hide your IP from websites, ISPs, or network observers: use a reputable VPN or proxy in addition to DuckDuckGo; DuckDuckGo alone won’t mask the IP or encrypt network traffic ^{[3] [4]}.
• For local search results without revealing exact IP long‑term: DuckDuckGo uses a GEO::IP guess and discards the IP, per their help pages ^[2].

7. Bottom line — translating policy into practice

DuckDuckGo prevents Google from building search histories tied to your DuckDuckGo queries by not storing IPs with searches and by blocking trackers, but it does not stop Google (or any website, ISP, or network observer) from seeing your IP address at the network level when you connect to the open web. To prevent IP‑level visibility you must add a VPN, proxy, or Tor, because DuckDuckGo is designed to be a privacy‑preserving search and browser layer rather than a network anonymization service ^{[1] [3] [4]}.