What tracking protections and blocked third-party trackers does DuckDuckGo provide?
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Executive summary
DuckDuckGo’s apps, browser and extensions advertise multiple overlapping tracking protections — including cookie and fingerprinting blocks, 3rd‑party tracker loading protection, CNAME cloaking protection, Link Tracking Protection, Global Privacy Control support and Google AMP protection — and they assert “we don’t track you” while noting limits when you visit other sites [1] [2]. DuckDuckGo’s materials and app store listing also highlight a mobile “App Tracking Protection” feature that funnels app traffic through filters to block embedded trackers [3] [4].
1. What DuckDuckGo says it blocks: a feature list from the company
DuckDuckGo’s official Web Tracking Protections page lists a suite of defenses beyond typical browser defaults: cookie and fingerprinting protections, 3rd‑party tracker loading protection, Link Tracking Protection, CNAME cloaking protection, Global Privacy Control, Google AMP protection and more — described as overlapping protections intended to stop trackers at different stages of loading and profiling [1]. Their privacy policy reiterates that their apps and extensions “offer protection well beyond search” when browsing, while emphasizing the company does not track users [2].
2. How DuckDuckGo frames the difference with other browsers
The company contrasts its approach with most browsers’ default protections, saying many competitors only limit cookies and fingerprinting after trackers load, which can still expose IP addresses and request identifiers. DuckDuckGo positions its extra features (for example, blocking tracker loads and CNAME‑cloaked domains) as measures to prevent those earlier leaks of information [1].
3. App Tracking Protection and mobile specifics
Independent reviews and the app listing note an “App Tracking Protection” (ATP) in DuckDuckGo’s browser that routes app traffic through filters to try to stop trackers embedded in mobile apps; reviewers describe it as VPN‑like behavior with inclusion/exclusion lists and tradeoffs like battery impact, while DuckDuckGo’s Play Store entry points users to the Web Tracking Protections help page for more details [3] [4].
4. Transparency and code: open source claim and documentation
DuckDuckGo says most of its apps and extensions are open source so anyone can examine how protections are implemented, and it has published help pages intended to explain how each protection works and where limitations exist [1] [2]. The company also updated its privacy policy to describe changes and limitations as recently as November 2025 [2].
5. Limits DuckDuckGo itself states — where protection ends
DuckDuckGo’s policy explicitly warns that protections are not complete when you visit other sites or apps: the visited site’s own policy applies and services like Facebook will know activity on their properties even if you use DuckDuckGo tools. They also note search ad clicks have limitations for 3rd‑party tracker protection [2] [4].
6. Independent reporting and reviews: effectiveness and tradeoffs
A third‑party review cited in the results finds ATP useful and practical but notes realistic limitations — it’s not a magic bullet and has side effects like battery use; the reviewer characterizes such protections as sensible but imperfect in the broader effort to reduce tracking [3]. Available sources do not include independent large‑scale audits of DuckDuckGo’s blocking lists or comparative metrics versus other browsers in this dataset.
7. Claims to watch: marketing, updates and 2025 reporting
Several 2025 summaries in the search results repeat DuckDuckGo’s privacy posture and list new or enhanced features (e.g., refined cookie controls, Tracker Radar, privacy dashboards) but those are from a site called UMA Technology rather than DuckDuckGo itself; those pieces describe planned or promoted 2025 enhancements but are not DuckDuckGo’s own help pages or policy statements in the supplied sources [5] [6] [7]. Available sources do not mention independent verification of those 2025 feature claims.
8. What’s not in the supplied reporting — gaps to verify
The provided sources do not include technical blocklists, sample tracker names that are blocked, or empirical tests showing how often DuckDuckGo prevents tracker requests compared with other tools; they also do not provide a formal audit demonstrating that ATP blocks a quantified percentage of app trackers (not found in current reporting) [1] [3].
Conclusion — balance and context
DuckDuckGo documents a broad set of protections and advertises extra layers (3rd‑party loading, CNAME, AMP, Link Tracking, ATP), while candidly acknowledging limits when visiting other sites and noting some ad‑click exceptions [1] [2] [4]. Independent review coverage in these search results finds ATP practical but imperfect [3]. For readers seeking quantified assurance, the available reporting here lacks independent technical audits and comparative blocking statistics; those are the follow‑up items to request or seek from third‑party testing labs.