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What transparency reports or policies does DuckDuckGo publish about government or third-party data requests?
Executive summary
DuckDuckGo publicly states it does not retain search or browsing histories that can be tied to individual users and says it will resist legal demands for whatever minimal personal data it might hold (privacy policy) [1]. It also publishes a DSA transparency report (updated June 13, 2025) and related PDFs that document regulatory reporting under the EU Digital Services Act [2] [3] [4]. Coverage from independent and industry sites in 2025 highlights new or expanded transparency reporting commitments, but some of those pieces are secondary reporting rather than primary DuckDuckGo documents [5] [6] [7].
1. DuckDuckGo’s core public claim: “We don’t have searchable histories to hand over”
DuckDuckGo’s privacy policy and help pages assert that the company does not store search or browsing histories in a way that can be linked to individual users, and therefore “it’s not possible for us to provide search or browsing histories linked to you in response to legal requests” [1] [8]. The company adds it will “vigorously resist” government attempts to compel production of the limited personal data it might hold (such as an email for a newsletter subscription) [1].
2. Formal regulatory transparency: the DSA Transparency Report
DuckDuckGo publishes a Digital Services Act (DSA) transparency report and lists a DSA reporting page; the report has a publication date of February 16, 2024 and a last update of June 13, 2025, and a 2025 PDF is available on their site [2] [3] [4]. This is a primary, legally framed transparency disclosure aimed at EU obligations — it’s the clearest example in the provided sources of a formal, public accounting of regulatory requests and actions.
3. Company-level statements and product explanations about legal requests
Beyond the DSA report, DuckDuckGo’s help pages and privacy policy provide user-facing explanations about government and third‑party requests: they emphasize the technical design choices (not retaining identifiable histories) as the main reason they can’t comply with certain types of legal requests [1] [8]. These are policy statements rather than periodic lists of every request, although the DSA report serves as a periodic regulatory disclosure [2].
4. Media and industry reporting: claims about new or expanded transparency reporting
Several 2025 industry and tech summaries (UMA Technology, MEFMobile and related pieces) reported that DuckDuckGo planned to or had begun issuing more frequent transparency reports in 2025 — mentioning quarterly or biannual reports that would include authority data‑request counts and related actions [5] [6] [7] [9]. These accounts appear to be secondary reporting and framing of DuckDuckGo’s 2025 tracking/privacy updates rather than the company’s own transparency PDFs; available sources do not show a central DuckDuckGo page labeled “quarterly transparency reports” beyond the DSA materials [5] [9] [2].
5. What the sources agree on — and what they don’t
Primary DuckDuckGo documents in the provided set (privacy policy and DSA report) consistently claim minimal retention and an inability to produce linked search histories, and they provide at least one formal transparency document required by the EU DSA [1] [8] [2] [3]. Secondary reporting agrees DuckDuckGo has emphasized transparency and in 2025 described expanded reporting plans, but the secondary pieces are not replacements for primary reporting and do not themselves constitute official transparency reports [5] [6] [9].
6. Limitations, gaps, and competing viewpoints
Independent reviews and articles praise DuckDuckGo’s privacy stance but also raise questions about limits: reviews repeat DuckDuckGo’s claim that it “does not retain” information and uses ephemeral techniques for location and service features [10] [11]. Older critiques point out that “private” search engines can’t fully insulate users from all surveillance vectors — a broader point about tool limits rather than direct refutation of DuckDuckGo’s policy claims [12]. The provided reporting does not include a comprehensive, itemized U.S. government‑request transparency ledger published by DuckDuckGo; if you seek a regular, jurisdiction‑by‑jurisdiction tally beyond the DSA report, available sources do not mention such a ledger (not found in current reporting).
7. What to look for next / practical takeaway
If you want authoritative, primary evidence of DuckDuckGo’s handling of government or third‑party requests, consult their privacy policy and the DSA transparency report PDFs on duckduckgo.com [1] [3]. Treat secondary pieces (UMA Technology, MEFMobile) as reporting on announced commitments to expand transparency rather than as substitutes for DuckDuckGo’s own disclosures [5] [9]. For jurisdictional request counts or a searchable public ledger, available sources do not mention one beyond the DSA disclosures (not found in current reporting).