Explained: Why DuckDuckGo has started blocking Microsoft’s web trackers – Times of India

Privacy-centric internet search engine DuckDuckGo has earlier promoted its browser saying that it blocks hidden online trackers on websites. However, in May, the company faced huge criticism for not blocking some third-party Microsoft trackers in the DuckDuckGo browser as both companies had a search content agreement between them. According to a report by Bleeping Computer, DuckDuckGo has recently confirmed that it has started blocking all third-party Microsoft tracking scripts in their privacy browser which it was unable to block earlier.
Why was DuckDuckGo criticised
The Apple App Store listing for the DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser explains that the Tracker Radar in the browser automatically blocks hidden third-party trackers that are lurking around on the website. This feature stops the companies behind those trackers from collecting and selling user data.
However, trackers discovered some Microsoft trackers were allowed by the DuckDuckGo browser. While the browser blocked Google and Facebook trackers, it allowed some of Microsoft’s trackers on Linkedin and Bing domains.

Why DuckDuckGo is changing things
After facing the flak, DuckDuckGo took steps to ameliorate its situation. The company updated its blog post to announce the new changes in the browser’s web tracking abilities. In the blog post, the company’s CEO, Gabriel Weinberg mentioned being aware of the user’s complaints and that the browser didn’t meet their expectations regarding web tracking protections.
So, DuckDuckGo has announced more privacy and transparency around the browser’s web tracking protections. Weinberg added that the company has also launched a dedicated help page and has shared the list of blocked trackers on GitHub.
The company has announced that it has already started blocking all third-party Microsoft tracking scripts in its mobile ‎DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser (iOS and Android) and DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge and Opera).
As per the report, the blocking of Microsoft trackers is being rolled out through the 3rd Party Tracker Loading Protection feature. The company has also listed 21 URLs whose scripts will be blocked which include — Azure, Bing, Linkedin and others.
DuckDuckGo will still allow some Microsoft trackers
The report also mentions that DuckDuckGo will offer some limited allowance of Microsoft trackers while using the privacy browser as the company relies on Microsoft Advertising for the ads shown in the search engine. This means that when users click an advertisement in the DuckDuckGo search, the browser will allow tracking scripts from bat.bing.com to execute once on the advertiser’s site.
This limited allowance will help advertisers to track the performance of their advertising campaigns. However, DuckDuckGo will stop any other calls on that site that tries to load trackers from bat.bing.com. Moreover, Microsoft is pleased with this solution as it enables DuckDuckGo to increase users’ privacy while also allowing Microsoft advertisers to continue tracking the performance of their ads, the report claims.
However, DuckDuckGo doesn’t think it to be a perfect solution as the company is planning to replace bat.bing.com trackers in the future with private ad conversion implementations that are currently in development by Firefox and Safari, the report adds.

Why Microsoft partnered with DuckDuckGo
The report also mentions that Microsoft has explained that the tech giant has policies in place to ensure that the company balances the needs of publishers as well as advertisers to accurately track conversions on its network.
Moreover, Microsoft has also claimed that its partnership with DuckDuckGo was to understand the implications of this policy. The company is pleased to have arrived at a solution that addresses those concerns, the report mentioned.