DuckDuckGo, the privacy-oriented search provider, has announced the launch of its Email Protection service. If you use the service, you will have access to a personal @duck.com email address that you can provide to services you sign up for and any emails you receive will be first stripped of trackers by DuckDuckGo before being forwarded to your actual email address.
According to DuckDuckGo, 70% of emails that you receive contain trackers that can identify if you’ve opened an email, where you were when you opened it, and what device you used to open it. The firm said that email tracking is just one more means by which third parties can profile you for the purposes of advertising, and unlike the warnings you get on websites, most people don’t know their emails are also tracked. It should be mentioned that not all trackers are deployed for advertising purposes.
DuckDuckGo said it’s excited about this product because it’s easy for people to adopt, unlike some other services which require you to change email services or apps and which sometimes degrades the viewing experience by hiding all of the images. With DuckDuckGo’s service, you should receive your emails in your normal inbox without any alteration except for the removal of trackers.
To begin using the service, download the DuckDuckGo app on iOS or Android, then go to Settings > Beta Features > Email Protection. From there you can join the private waitlist. DuckDuckGo is adding new users to the beta every day and it said that it will be supporting the service long-term so you can confidently use it when signing up to services. If you’re concerned about DuckDuckGo’s handling of your emails, it says it never saves your emails and has published Privacy Guarantees.