Consider including/mentioning DuckDuckGo's mobile and desktop browsers

[joelostblom]

DuckDuckGo recently launched a desktop browser https://spreadprivacy.com/introducing-duckduckgo-for-mac that is claimed to not just be a reskin of Chrome or similar. It would be interesting to see how this compares to Firefox.

They also have an Android (and iOS) browser and it would be interesting to see how this compare with Bromite. Since the mobile browsers have been out for some time, I imagine that they have already been discussed somewhere but I couldn't find any mention of them when searching.

In general I find notes like the one below very helpful to understand why a software that might have a popular reputation of being private is not recommended and I wonder if it would be worthwhile adding this for DuckDuckGo for Android (if it is not including that is, maybe it uses the gecko engine?) and desktop.

[jonaharagon]

This is sweet, I definitely want to check this out. DDG was recommended for iOS previously, I'm not sure why it was removed off the top of my head, @TommyTran732?

I'll have to wait until DuckDuckGo grants me access to this macOS version to test it out.

[TommyTran732]

Duckduckgo for Android is a webview based browser, rather than a standalone browser. Beyond the adblocker/tracker blocker, its privacy and security properties depend entirely on the Android SystemWebview implementation. The way I think about it is this: If what's on the system is already good (like Vanadium on GrapheneOS for example), there is no point in using DDG Browser over Vanadium and add yet another party to trust rather than just using the built in browser. If whatever comes with the OS is not good enough, DDG is not going to fix it either. You are better off using Bromite.

On iOS, all browsers are to limited the same WebKit framework and I generally do not want to recommend anything that is not provided by the OS if it does not provide substantial privacy or security benefits. As far as I am concerned, DuckDuckGo does not provide any real improvements over Safari. Safari already has some tracking protection, Apple lets you disable telemetry via the OS settings, and you are already implicitly trusting Apple anyways. There is no point in adding yet another party to trust if there is no privacy/security advantages to justify it. This is not to mention the fact that way more people use Safari than DDG on iOS, so if there is a way to detect whether the browser is DDG, it will make the user more identifiable. Of course, if I missed any important privacy/security feature that the DDG browser provides, please let us know.

Also for the record:
I do not think adblockers/trackerblockers are actual privacy or security improvements. If anything, they are a convenience feature to make the web more tolerable. If you want privacy, think about the following threats and solutions:

• If you want to avoid IP based tracking, use a VPN or Tor.
• If you want to avoid cross site cookie tracking, block all third party cookies.
• If you don't want fingerprint tracking, use a browser with fingerprinting resistance like Tor Browser or Brave. If there is no option for this available (as is the case on iOS), just use whatever most people use and blend in.
• If you don't want persistent tracking by a website (using site data or cookies), just clear the data when you close the browser or the tab. Some browsers, including Safari, include the ability to do this automatically.

We generally don't recommend software because they are marketed as private, but rather based on their technical merits.

[joelostblom]

Great, thank you so much for taking the time to write up this detailed reply @TommyTran732 !

I value that privacyguides recommends software based on technical merit and my suggestions was just to add notes for some common software that people might wonder why it is not listed (for clarity to the person reading the page). I understand you can't do this for all possible software, but one example I like is the note that is included on the page about why iOS based 3rd party browsers are likely not adding extra security or privacy. Do you think something like this would be beneficial to add for Android as well (to complement the note about geckoview)? Maybe:

On Android, many 3rd party browsers are based on Androids webview implementation (e.g. the DuckDuckGo browser), which means that they provide little additional security and privacy benefits of the default browser apps

Thanks for the additional tips! I implement many of these on my desktop, but not yet on mobile because I haven't gotten around to installing GrapheneOS yet which (as you also pointed out) seems like the best solution there.