What info does duck duck go give websites
Executive summary
DuckDuckGo generally tries to minimize the information it passes to websites: it does not store users’ search histories or IP addresses and it implements protections that strip or reduce tracking data such as referrers, cookies, and fingerprintable signals when possible [1] [2] [3]. However, the company acknowledges limits — third‑party scripts embedded on visited sites can still send data to large trackers like Google unless those trackers are blocked or the site is redesigned, and DuckDuckGo cannot fully control other sites’ practices [1] [4].
1. What DuckDuckGo says it gives sites: minimal contextual signals, not persistent identifiers
DuckDuckGo’s public documentation and privacy policy emphasize that the service does not retain personal identifiers like IP addresses or build search profiles, and that its monetization uses contextual ads tied to the search results page rather than user profiles — meaning the company’s stated default is to forward only the context of a page or search result rather than a user identity [1]. For local results DuckDuckGo will infer a coarse location from the incoming IP for GEO::IP lookup but says it throws away the IP afterward and does not save it [2]. The help pages further describe features that stop sites from receiving long-lived tracking artifacts by default, including cookie blocking, referrer trimming, and blocking of embedded social or ad trackers whenever possible [5] [3].
2. Technical protections that change what sites receive: referrer, cookies, trackers, CNAMEs
DuckDuckGo’s browser apps and extensions implement a suite of protections that alter or remove common tracking signals before they reach third parties: Link Tracking Protection and Referrer Tracking Protection limit the referrer data that gets sent, Cookie Protection isolates or blocks third‑party cookies, and CNAME cloaking and fingerprinting protections attempt to prevent parties from silently reidentifying a user via disguised domains or device signals [3]. The company also publishes and maintains the Tracker Radar dataset and related tooling to detect prevalent trackers and feed its blocking rules, which means the extension can proactively stop many known third‑party requests from ever loading on a page [6] [7].
3. What websites can still learn — the practical limits and observable signals
Despite these protections, visiting a site can still reveal information depending on the site’s configuration: some referrer hostname signals can be used by analytics providers to infer traffic sources (and Simple Analytics documents how DuckDuckGo traffic can be tracked via referrer hostname), and embedded third‑party scripts (e.g., Google Analytics, YouTube embeds) can send data back to their owners if they are not blocked or if a user’s environment leaks signals [8] [4]. DuckDuckGo itself warns that when users follow external links or interact with other sites, “the privacy policies and practices of those other websites apply” and that its protections cannot completely stop all tracking on third‑party sites [1].
4. Third‑party research and controversies that complicate the picture
Independent analyses and reporting complicate the simple headline “DuckDuckGo doesn’t share data”: DuckDuckGo’s Tracker Radar and open tooling are praised as best‑in‑class for detecting trackers and powering protections [6], but studies and commentators have demonstrated persistent data flows to dominant ad networks on many sites — meaning users can be exposed to tracking by the structure of the web itself rather than any single search engine [4]. There are also reported edge cases where partnerships (for example around ad serving arrangements) create gray areas critics have flagged, and DuckDuckGo has publicly promised continued transparency about such integrations [9] [10].
5. Bottom line and practical advice implied by the record
The empirical and company documentation together show that DuckDuckGo aims to send websites as little personally identifying information as possible — stripping referrers, not storing IPs, and blocking known trackers via its Tracker Radar and browser protections — but it cannot make third‑party sites stop sending data they already collect or embedded scripts stop calling other networks unless those calls are detected and blocked by its tools, and DuckDuckGo expressly cautions users that visiting other sites may expose them to those outside practices [3] [6] [1]. For anyone worried about exactly what a given site receives, the reporting here indicates testing with network tools or using extensions that log outgoing requests is the only way to know for sure under real‑world conditions [4] [8].