As internet users are becoming increasingly worried about their online privacy, some companies are finding business opportunities in those concerns. Apple and DuckDuckGo have formed a partnership meant to provide location search capabilities to users all while keeping their privacy safe, at least on paper.
As part of the tie-up, DuckDuckGo will be pulling up location information from Apple Maps and show it on its search results. Apple"s MapKit JS framework will be used to power these location searches on the privacy-oriented search engine. The new capability is available both on the mobile and desktop versions of the search engine.
On top of using Apple Maps in location-related search results, DuckDuckGo will use Apple"s mapping data for search results that show up in a separate maps tab. DuckDuckGo stressed that it won"t be keeping your personal information and search history.
The search provider said:
We do not send any personally identifiable information such as IP address to Apple or other third parties. For local searches, where your approximate location information is sent by your browser to us, we discard it immediately after use.
In other words, DuckDuckGo vows to keep users anonymous while they search for addresses and location on its platform. And that seems to be an argument it"s using to get people to sign up for the new integration, especially those who are wary about third-party prying eyes.