Has DuckDuckGo ever changed its privacy policy regarding logs (include year)?

1. A Consistent Public Promise — What DuckDuckGo’s Policy Says Now and Historically

DuckDuckGo’s formal privacy policy text, last recorded here as updated on May 11, 2023, explicitly states the company does not track users, save search or browsing history, or log IP addresses or unique identifiers ^[1]. The supplied white paper and product explanations reiterate the company’s commitment to this approach and frame it as central to DuckDuckGo’s market positioning and design choices ^[3]. This consistency across policy and explanatory materials indicates a stable public line: DuckDuckGo markets itself as avoiding the kinds of server-side logging common at many competitors. The documents provided do not show an earlier or later date when that central pledge was rescinded or reversed.

2. Technical and Partnership Changes That Alter the Practical Landscape

While the core privacy pledge appears unchanged in the documents provided, operational changes and agreements with partners have affected how tracking protections work in practice, notably a 2022 amendment related to Microsoft tracking scripts that removed a prior carve-out and allowed DuckDuckGo to block more third‑party tracking scripts from loading on websites ^[2]. That change does not equate to a policy reversal on logging, but it does alter the practical protections users experience: blocking more third‑party scripts reduces the chance that external parties can log or correlate browsing data. The white paper and product updates describe technical tradeoffs and competitive constraints without describing a policy change to start logging user searches ^{[3] [4]}.

3. Where the Sources Are Silent — Limits and Open Questions

Several supplied sources affirm DuckDuckGo’s stance but do not explicitly document any historical policy change regarding logs; multiple entries say they reaffirm the company’s no-logs claim without specifying continuity or any past changes ^{[5] [6] [4]}. The absence of a documented policy-change year in the provided material leaves an evidentiary gap: no source here cites a particular date on which DuckDuckGo altered a logging policy, nor do they cite external audits or regulatory filings that would show a formal policy alteration. This silence constrains definitive conclusions about any subtle or internal policy shifts not reflected in public policy texts or press announcements.

4. Multiple Perspectives and Potential Agendas in the Records

The dataset includes company-authored materials and reporting that largely echo DuckDuckGo’s claims; this alignment is expected but raises the possibility of confirmation bias in available documents ^{[1] [3]}. Where independent reporting appears, it emphasizes product evolution and technical protections without asserting a logging-policy reversal ^[7]. Observers pushing privacy advocacy might highlight product improvements and ongoing risks from third-party trackers, while corporate materials emphasize a no-logs identity. Both angles are present here: the company projects a stable privacy promise, while technical coverage documents incremental changes that affect exposure to tracking ^{[2] [8]}.

5. Bottom Line and What Remains to Verify

Based on the supplied sources, there is no documented year in which DuckDuckGo changed its privacy policy to begin logging user search queries or IP addresses; the firm’s policy as of May 11, 2023, continues to assert a no-logs stance ^[1]. However, product and partnership developments—such as the 2022 change involving Microsoft tracking script handling—have changed the real-world protections users receive and merit scrutiny ^[2]. To close remaining gaps, one should review archived policy versions, independent audits, regulatory filings, and contemporaneous reporting outside the provided dataset to confirm whether any earlier, less-publicized policy adjustments occurred. ^{[3] [7]}