Why DuckDuckGo Is Now Blocking All Third-Party Microsoft Trackers In Its Browser | Explained

Privacy-focused browser DuckDuckGo has now started blocking all third-party Microsoft trackers in the DuckDuckGo browser.

Privacy-focused browser DuckDuckGo is promising complete privacy now. Image: Getty

Privacy-focused browser DuckDuckGo has now started blocking all third-party Microsoft trackers in the DuckDuckGo browser. Paoli, Pennsylvania-headquartered DuckDuck received severe flak in may for allowing Microsoft tracking scripts on third-party websites as both the firms had an agreement. Following the controversy, DuckDuckGo has now started all third-party Microsoft tracking scripts.

Following the backlash, DuckDuckGo recently announced it was expanding its third-party tracker loading protection to include Microsoft.

"Over the next week, we will expand the third-party tracking scripts we block from loading on websites to include scripts from Microsoft in our browsing apps (iOS and Android) and our browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge and Opera), with beta apps to follow in the coming month. This expands our 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection, which blocks identified tracking scripts from Facebook, Google, and other companies from loading on third-party websites, to now include third-party Microsoft tracking scripts," the company said in a statement.

DuckDuck which has been touted to be the most focused on privacy offers certain web tracking protection features which are not offered by most popular browsers by default.

Explaining why it allowed Microsoft's tracking scripts on third-party websites, DuckDuckGo said: "Previously, we were limited in how we could apply our 3rd-Party Tracker Loading Protection on Microsoft tracking scripts due to a policy requirement related to our use of Bing as a source for our private search results. We’re glad this is no longer the case. We have not had, and do not have, any similar limitation with any other company."