Urgent warning to download app to stop Google and Facebook from secretly tracking your phone

SMARTPHONE users are advised to download an app if they’re tired of Google and Facebook secretly tracking their devices.

DuckDuckGo says its new protection helps to “block third-party trackers like Google and Facebook lurking in other apps.”

GettyDuckDuckGo is the latest popular search engine that helps to ‘block third-party trackers like Google and Facebook lurking in other apps’[/caption]

The company emphasizes protecting searchers’ privacy and avoiding the filter bubble of personalized search results.

The move means that smartphone users worried about their privacy can join a waitlist to protect their data.

“No complicated settings, no misleading warnings, no “levels” of privacy protection – just robust privacy protection that works by default, across search, browsing, email, and more,” explained a recent blog post about the new browser.

DuckDuckGo is now averaging over 100million daily search queries and has grown by almost 47 percent in 2021.

In 2020, the company received over 23billion total search queries and achieved a daily average of 79million search queries by the end of December of that year.

The jump in popularity comes amid increasing scrutiny of how giant tech companies handle their data and who is harvesting it.

In November, DuckDuckGo issued a press release for Andriod users, stating: “These hidden app trackers are super creepy because they can track everything you do in an app and also can continue to track you even when you’re not using the app.

“App Tracking Protection for Android is free and blocks trackers it identifies in other apps from third-party companies.”

PRIVACY CONCERNS

The tracking issue was highlighted over Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal, revealing how companies can compile valuable information as users scour the internet.

The tech companies compile the information to build a comprehensive user profile to target the user with specific and clickable – and so more profitable – advertising.

Apple and Google are currently engaged in a fierce war for dominance online and the issue of privacy could be a key factor when users choose which browser to use.

Apple has said it is has made privacy a top priority in all its products, including Safari.

Brave, an internet start-up, has also said privacy is a core element, while Mozilla and Microsoft have also highlighted privacy as a way to differentiate themselves from Google Chrome.

Although Google relies on ad revenue, its engineers are building a “privacy sandbox,” reports CNET.

Users can increase their privacy settings by disabling several features like your browser’s location tracking, turning off search engine autocomplete features and canceling password auto-fills.

Regularly deleting your browser’s history will also help.