DuckDuckGo is launching an email service to protect your inbox against the extreme data hunger of advertisers. We explain how this service works in this article.
You may know DuckDuckGo as a search engine that does not store any personal data. The same developers are now coming up with an email protection feature, which allows users to request their own email address for free, ending in @duck.com. With this e-mail address you can have e-mails forwarded to your regular address, after DuckDuckGo has checked the e-mails for unwanted trackers. If trackers are found, they are first removed from the emails before they are forwarded to you. It is even possible to create a unique address several times, which is deactivated after use.
You can use the @duck.com address for mail contact with friends or acquaintances, while you use the “disposable address” for newsletters or contests, for example.
Since iOS 14, Apple has launched similar features to prevent advertisers from peeking into your inbox, but DuckDuckGo’s service also protects Android users regardless of which browser they use. Moreover, it is now a lot easier to create an e-mail address that you use once to register somewhere.
That is how it works
In the DuckDuckGo mobile app, you can go to the settings, where you can set the function Email Protection finds. Here you can register to use the service, after which you will be placed in the queue. According to DuckDuckGo, it can take several weeks for the email protection to kick in. Users will be notified when the time has come. You can then create your own email address.
DuckDuckGo emphasizes that it never gains insight into your emails and that emails are not stored anywhere. In addition, the technology behind the protection function was created by the company itself. So no third party is engaged for this.
When an email has been analyzed and forwarded, you can see at the top of the email how many trackers have been removed. By pressing this notification you can get some extra information about these trackers.
With the @duck.com e-mail address you can also respond to e-mails that you receive, but composing an e-mail yourself is not possible. The email protection feature is still in beta, though, so DuckDuckGo may need to tweak the feature.
DuckDuckGo recently announced that it is also working on a desktop browser that is all about protecting your personal data. The browser should appear at the end of 2021.
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