Security News > 2022 > August > DuckDuckGo browser now blocks all third-party Microsoft trackers
DuckDuckGo announced today that they will now be blocking all third-party Microsoft tracking scripts in their privacy browser after failing to block them in the past.
This change comes after the company faced massive blowback in May for not blocking some third-party Microsoft trackers in the DuckDuckGo browser due to a syndicated search content agreement between the two companies.
"Tracker Radar automatically blocks hidden third-party trackers we can find lurking on websites you visit in DuckDuckGo, which stops the companies behind those trackers from collecting and selling your data," explains the Apple App Store page for the DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser.
The fact that some Microsoft trackers were allowed was discovered by security researcher Zach Edwards, who found that the DuckDuckGo browser blocked Google and Facebook trackers but allowed some of Microsoft's trackers on Linkedin and Bing domains.
Today, DuckDuckGo announced that it would begin this week to block all third-party Microsoft tracking scripts in its mobile DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser and DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials browser extensions.
As DuckDuckGo relies on Microsoft Advertising for ads shown in the search engine, there will be some limited allowance of Microsoft trackers when using the privacy browser.