App Tracking Protection Beta is Now Available to All Android Users
November 18, 2022 8:50 AM Subscribe
App Tracking Protection is now open for all Android users. It’s a beta feature in DuckDuckGo for Android that helps block 3rd-party trackers in your apps, even when you’re not using them. You can see what personal data trackers are typically trying to collect before we block them (like your precise location, age, and a digital fingerprint of your phone). We’ve also improved performance, reduced app exclusions, and made our blocklist publicly available. Start blocking 3rd-party trackers in your Android apps today: update to the latest version of the DuckDuckGo Android app, open Settings and select “App Tracking Protection” and follow the onscreen instructions.
I use the DuckDuckGo app on my iPhone -- regardless Apple blocks *some* things, when you're inside their walled garden you still have to play The Apple GameTM. DuckDuckGo does give a small measure more control of the device I paid big bucks for but still don't really own. I recommend the DuckDuckGo app, for realz; I pretty much use DuckDuckGo anywhere that I can.
I use the DuckDuckGo app on my iPhone -- regardless Apple blocks *some* things, when you're inside their walled garden you still have to play The Apple GameTM. DuckDuckGo does give a small measure more control of the device I paid big bucks for but still don't really own. I recommend the DuckDuckGo app, for realz; I pretty much use DuckDuckGo anywhere that I can.
I installed this a couple of days ago and haven't seen much in from background (or non-running) apps, but hoo boy, the couple of basic games I have on my phone? Played one game of Sudoku and over 2K http requests blocked.
posted by Ickster at 9:36 AM on November 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Ickster at 9:36 AM on November 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
Note that this works by tunneling all network requests through the DuckDuckGo App, so you should only use it if you trust DuckDuckGo not to be evil, now and in the future.
More generally, I hate that so much of the web and now the app ecosystem is covered in trackers. Some apps include three or four trackers. I am glad Apple started to crack down and I think DuckDuckGo has their heart in the right place even if the implementation is intrusive.
posted by AndrewStephens at 10:01 AM on November 18, 2022 [7 favorites]
More generally, I hate that so much of the web and now the app ecosystem is covered in trackers. Some apps include three or four trackers. I am glad Apple started to crack down and I think DuckDuckGo has their heart in the right place even if the implementation is intrusive.
posted by AndrewStephens at 10:01 AM on November 18, 2022 [7 favorites]
I'd like to use this, but I'm already running a fake VPN for ad blocking (Blokada) and I don't think you can daisy-chain VPNs on Android.
posted by srt19170 at 10:34 AM on November 18, 2022
posted by srt19170 at 10:34 AM on November 18, 2022
Well that's interesting - I just started up a bunch of apps to see which ones had trackers, and DuckDuckGo blocked trackers from nine apps, including an app that I wrote myself! My app was trying to send out a tracker for Facebook, and I have no idea how it got in there. I certainly didn't add it intentionally.
posted by Umami Dearest at 10:55 AM on November 18, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by Umami Dearest at 10:55 AM on November 18, 2022 [12 favorites]
Note that this works by tunneling all network requests through the DuckDuckGo App, so you should only use it if you trust DuckDuckGo not to be evil, now and in the future.
I've always been curious how DuckDuckGo makes money, if they aren't tracking users themselves, or otherwise monetizing data collection from user behavior. I wonder what stops Google or Facebook (choosing not to use their alternative names to help anonymize them) from simply buying them out.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:34 AM on November 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
I've always been curious how DuckDuckGo makes money, if they aren't tracking users themselves, or otherwise monetizing data collection from user behavior. I wonder what stops Google or Facebook (choosing not to use their alternative names to help anonymize them) from simply buying them out.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 11:34 AM on November 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
I've always been curious how DuckDuckGo makes money
https://help.duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/company/advertising-and-affiliates/
As far as I can tell from what they've written here and there, their business model is that selling ads is viable based on search without tracking users and creating micro-targeted profiles. As always, I appreciate a business model that allows people to make a living by providing a straightforward exchange rather than resorting to underhanded methods to extract maximum profits.
posted by Ickster at 1:02 PM on November 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
https://help.duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/company/advertising-and-affiliates/
As far as I can tell from what they've written here and there, their business model is that selling ads is viable based on search without tracking users and creating micro-targeted profiles. As always, I appreciate a business model that allows people to make a living by providing a straightforward exchange rather than resorting to underhanded methods to extract maximum profits.
posted by Ickster at 1:02 PM on November 18, 2022 [4 favorites]
An alternative to this is to use an ad-blocking DNS service from NextDNS or AdGuard which blocks ads and trackers. It's compatible with using a VPN.
Apple users might be surprised how much tracking and monitoring of your devices Apple itself is doing.
posted by riddley at 6:06 PM on November 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
Apple users might be surprised how much tracking and monitoring of your devices Apple itself is doing.
posted by riddley at 6:06 PM on November 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
I'm finding the implementation really informative, not intrusive at all. Some things were no surprise (the Reddit app, which I use under duress already, is a lethargic mess in part from all the trackers it employs literally at all times).
Other non-surprising things (which support my reflective disgust at the "every device must have its own specialized mediocre app for setup and configuration" from the smart water heater to the standalone LED lamp... yeah they're all lighting up like the Rockefeller Center tree with trackers.
posted by abulafa at 4:51 AM on November 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Other non-surprising things (which support my reflective disgust at the "every device must have its own specialized mediocre app for setup and configuration" from the smart water heater to the standalone LED lamp... yeah they're all lighting up like the Rockefeller Center tree with trackers.
posted by abulafa at 4:51 AM on November 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
Apple users might be surprised how much tracking and monitoring of your devices Apple itself is doing.
My Mac mini consistently generates about a hundred blocked queries an hour according to my pihole, even when idle, just from the default blocklist. It's a lot.
posted by Dysk at 5:43 AM on November 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
My Mac mini consistently generates about a hundred blocked queries an hour according to my pihole, even when idle, just from the default blocklist. It's a lot.
posted by Dysk at 5:43 AM on November 19, 2022 [1 favorite]
I set up a pihole, after years of recommendations here, and was a little startled to see that the busiest tracking is done by my TVs--185 queries an hour to the nice folks at Roku. Which seems like such overkill, they're not tracking my location (the TV is just...y'know...there in the room), I don't change channels 185 times an hour, and although they would like to show me ads on the homescreen (no thanks) there aren't nearly two hundred different ads an hour. So, god knows what they're looking for. (although if they're tracking the location of the remote, it'd be nice if they could let me know when it's under the couch.)
posted by mittens at 5:55 AM on November 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by mittens at 5:55 AM on November 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
Why would my NYT app, that I pay a subscription for, allow Facebook, Google, ComScore, Functional Software and Data Log to track my data. Its all just money right? I guess I just think, hey I'm paying for this and you're still letting people track me.
posted by PHINC at 9:03 AM on November 21, 2022
posted by PHINC at 9:03 AM on November 21, 2022
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posted by SomethinsWrong at 9:33 AM on November 18, 2022 [1 favorite]