The privacy-oriented internet firm DuckDuckGo has announced that a beta version of its free email privacy tool is now available for all users. Best known for its eponymous search engine, DuckDuckGo also offers other products, including a privacy-oriented mobile browser on Android and iOS. Earlier this year, the company also launched a desktop browser for Mac users, although it's still not available on Windows and Linux. Instead, PC users can install the DDG extension on their existing browsers, including Firefox, Chrome, Edge, and Brave.
Internet bigwigs like Google and Facebook have often come under scrutiny for their privacy practices. Many users are particularly worried about the privacy of their emails, as they often contain confidential information regarding people's careers, medical history, finances, property and family. While Gmail has long been the leading webmail service provider globally, many privacy advocates look elsewhere for their email service. One webmail provider that has become the default go-to for journalists and activists is ProtonMail, which is popular due to its focus on privacy and end-to-end encryption. With its new service, DDG is hoping to offer a free alternative to ProtonMail, especially for users who simply can't move away from Gmail, Yahoo, and other leading webmail providers.
Originally released as a limited trial last year, DuckDuckGo Email Protection is a free email forwarding service that enables users to hide their email IDs when signing up for various online services, newsletters, etc. It offers the best of both worlds by not only helping users hide their real email ID from shady services, but also eliminating trackers commonly found in email messages. The service also has the ability to protect users against trackers embedded in web links.
DuckDuckGo Email Protection
With its various privacy features, the DDG Email Protection service aims to prevent surreptitious user-profiling by ad companies, online retailers, and others to serve targeted ads. According to DDG, "companies embed trackers in images and links within email messages, letting them collect information like when you’ve opened a message, where you were when you opened it, and what device you were using." The companies can then use it as a profiling identifier that could invade people's privacy. DDG says that its new email forwarding service will strip the emails of those trackers and prevent them from reaching the end user, thereby helping them enjoy full tracking protection without changing their email provider.
Email Protection is available on the DuckDuckGo Browser on iOS and Android, as well as desktop browsers with the DuckDuckGo extension installed. To sign up on mobile, upgrade to the latest version of the app from the Play Store or the App Store, then open Settings, and finally select Email Protection. On desktops, navigate to duckduckgo.com/email on a compatible web browser with the DDG extension installed. Mac users can simply navigate to the same address on the DuckDuckGo browser for Mac. By signing up for the service, users will get their own @duck.com address, which will work across desktops and mobiles. DuckDuckGo says users can create unlimited private email addresses and can deactivate them at any time they want.
Source: DuckDuckGo