Index/Topics/DuckDuckGo data privacy limitations

DuckDuckGo data privacy limitations

Limitations and potential issues with DuckDuckGo's data privacy policies

Fact-Checks

14 results
Jan 25, 2026
Most Viewed

How does DuckDuckGo’s Fire Button differ from a standard browser 'clear cookies' action?

’s is a one‑click “burn everything recent” control that closes tabs and clears on‑device browsing data while integrating selective exceptions and other built‑in privacy tools, whereas a standard brows...

Jan 27, 2026
Most Viewed

What information does DuckDuckGo collect for search personalization or advertising?

’s published stance is clear: it does not build personal profiles from users’ searches or browsing history for , and search ads are served based on the contents of the search results page rather than ...

Jan 24, 2026
Most Viewed

How do Duck.ai’s contractual limits with model providers interact with government legal process for chat data?

places contractual limits on the model providers it uses — promising , a prohibition on using Prompts/Outputs to train models, and deletion of chat data "at most within 30 days" — but those contractua...

Jan 27, 2026

Has DuckDuckGo published a full independent privacy audit for its core search engine?

No public evidence shows has published a full, independent privacy audit specifically covering the core search engine; DuckDuckGo has published other audits and transparency materials (notably a 2024 ...

Jan 27, 2026

Has DuckDuckGo been involved in any GDPR-related legal issues?

has publicly positioned itself as -aware and supportive of user privacy tools like (GPC), and its published policies and help pages explain how it handles data and user rights . The reporting provided...

Jan 9, 2026

What legal processes does DuckDuckGo follow when it receives a National Security Letter or FISA order?

DuckDuckGo says it designs its services so it does not collect or retain search or browsing histories tied to individual users and therefore cannot produce such records in response to legal demands li...

Feb 6, 2026

How does DuckDuckGo’s privacy policy define data retention and logging?

’s policy frames and logging around a simple promise: it does not keep search, browsing, or IP-identifying logs and only uses the minimum data needed to run optional features, with any temporary techn...

Feb 5, 2026

Which data types does DuckDuckGo retain despite local clearing (bookmarks, search settings, downloads) and why?

does not retain identifiable user search histories on its servers, but some data relevant to user experience—settings, bookmarklets, and data stored locally by DuckDuckGo apps or the browser—can persi...

Feb 4, 2026

How does DuckDuckGo handle IP addresses and timestamps?

receives es automatically from devices connecting to its service but says it uses them only transiently — for content delivery, bot detection and an anonymous GEO::IP lookup for localized results — an...

Jan 20, 2026

What legal demands for user data has DuckDuckGo publicly disclosed and how were they handled?

DuckDuckGo publicly asserts it does not have searchable user search or browsing histories to hand over in response to legal process, while its published policies show limited categories of user data i...

Jan 20, 2026

How does DuckDuckGo encrypt or protect data stored locally on devices?

DuckDuckGo protects data stored locally through a mix of on-device encryption for sensitive items (passwords, bookmarks) and privacy-preserving local caches used by features like Smarter Encryption; w...

Jan 19, 2026

What does DuckDuckGo’s official privacy policy and technical documentation say about local data storage?

DuckDuckGo’s official materials consistently state that some data is stored locally on users’ devices for functionality and anonymity — for example, display settings, dismissed prompts, and subscripti...

Jan 15, 2026

How do DuckDuckGo’s transparency reports and law-enforcement response practices compare to other search engines like Google or Brave?

DuckDuckGo presents itself as a privacy-first search provider but its transparency is constrained by partial openness and operational ties to Microsoft’s Bing, while Brave emphasizes full open-source ...

Jan 10, 2026

Does DuckDuckGo collect any personal data from its browser extension users?

DuckDuckGo’s public documentation and extension listings state explicitly that the DuckDuckGo browser extension does not track users or collect personal data tied to individual identities, and the com...