Privacy Research

Is Private Browsing Really Private?

At DuckDuckGo, our vision is to raise the standard of trust online. To that end, we surveyed 5,710 random Americans about Private Browsing to understand what people know about and how they

Privacy Research

What Does a Secure Web Connection Actually Do?

Many websites use "https://" at the beginning of their address rather than "http://". But what protection does that give you? How much of your surfing data is secure?

Privacy Research

Most Browser Tracking Protection Doesn't Actually Stop Tracking by Default, but We Can Help

To really stop cross-site trackers, you have to prevent them from actually loading in your browser, which is a critical blocking feature that we provide in our all-in-one privacy browser extension & mobile browser.

Privacy Research

As Predicted, Google’s Search Preference Menu Eliminates DuckDuckGo

Google's search preference menu auction, as we predicted, has resulted in DuckDuckGo being eliminated, making it harder for people to get simple privacy.

Privacy Research

Google Search Mobile Market Share Likely to Drop Around 20% through Search Preference Menus

How to increase competition in the search engine market? Our new research shows that 24% of people in the US, 24% in the UK & 17% in Australia would choose a non-Google search engine when given the chance to express their preference on their mobile phones.

Privacy Research

The Risky Business of Charging Your Phone in Public

It has become commonplace to find free USB charging stations in many public areas, from airports to hospital waiting rooms. While this seems like a thoughtful accommodation, a quick recharge from a USB port in a public setting could actually put your data at risk of being stolen.

Privacy Research

The Hidden Privacy Risk in Note-Taking Apps

Saving private information to an unencrypted note-taking app is a largely unknown, everyday privacy risk that almost half of Americans are engaging in. Here's what you can do to protect yourself.

Privacy Research

Search Preference Menu Immediately Increases Google Competitors’ Market Share by 300-800%

Could a search engine preference menu significantly increase competition in the search market? We conducted research to find out.

Privacy Research

New DuckDuckGo Research Shows People Taking Action on Privacy

The results of our latest research are clear: not only are privacy concerns widespread, but people are taking real actions to protect their privacy online.

Privacy Research

Call for Change: People Want Stronger Privacy Laws

To gauge public sentiment towards privacy & the law, we conducted a survey of U.S. adults. The results clearly show strong support for legislative privacy protections.

Privacy Research

The "Do Not Track" Setting Doesn't Stop You from Being Tracked

Most browsers have a "Do Not Track" setting which sends "a special signal to websites, analytics companies, ad networks, plug in providers, and other web services you encounter while browsing, to stop tracking your activity." Sounds good, right? Sadly, it’s not effective.

Privacy Research

Measuring the "Filter Bubble": How Google is influencing what you click

Does Google show you different search results based on your personal info, even when signed out and in so-called "incognito" mode? We ran a study to find out.

Privacy Research

Most Americans aren't aware that Facebook owns WhatsApp, or that Google owns Waze

As Facebook usage wanes, messaging apps like WhatsApp are growing in popularity as a "more private (and less confrontational) space to communicate." That shift didn't make much sense to us because both services are owned by the same company, so we tried to find an explanation.

Privacy Research

A Majority of Americans Don't Know That Facebook Owns Instagram

In a survey of random U.S. adults, we found approximately half of Americans do not know that Facebook owns Instragram or Google owns YouTube.

Privacy Research

What U.S. Adults Think About Facebook After Cambridge Analytica

Survey results from 1,153 U.S. adults on awareness of the Cambridge Analytica incident, what people think about it, and what they think should be done about it.

Privacy Research

What Do Security Certificates Actually Do?

Together with encryption, security certificates are essential to securely send data over the Internet. Here's how they work.

Privacy Research

Privacy is Mainstream: 24% of Us Now Take Significant Actions to Protect Our Privacy

24% of the population currently cares deeply enough about their online privacy to take significant actions to try to protect it.

Privacy Research

Privacy Goes Mainstream: People Take Action As Privacy Risks Increase

Most people say they are concerned with online privacy, but do they care enough to take action? We polled US adults to find out...