DuckDuckGo wants to add a privacy measure to Android that Google has not yet deigned to include in its operating system. The feature, called “Android App Tracking Protection,” is intended to prevent apps from tracking users, just as Apple does with App Tracking transparency.
The funny thing is that this tool is implemented in the DuckDuckGo application itself. Therefore, in order to activate the application tracking protection, it will be necessary to download the browser from the Google Play Store and activate the proposal, which is currently in beta. Even so, the developer company assured that will work for all apps installed on the device.
According to DuckDuckGo, the tool will be able to detect in the background if an app is going to send personal data to third-party tracking companies. If these are in the browser’s database, blocks them so that information is not shared. “You can enjoy your applications as you normally would. App Tracking Protection will run in the background and will continue to block detected trackers in all your applications, even while you sleep,” the company states on its blog.
DuckDuckGo wants in Android what Apple has implemented in iOS
DuckDuckGo also highlights that the function not a private VPNInstead, it is considered a local “VPN connection” as it “never routes application data through an external server.” The browser will also allow you to see which applications the tracking has blocked.
Is this feature really useful on Android? For the most part, yes. During the first tests, the developer company has verified that more than 96% of the most popular Android apps send information to third-party companies. Part of this data is sent to Google (87%), while 68% of the information collected is sent to Facebook (Meta).
Users who wish to use it can join a virtual waiting list through the DuckDuckGo page. It is unknown when it will officially arrive in the browser. However,Google can allow these types of practices? Facebook disagreed when Apple announced the possibility of requesting that apps not track because it hurt its advertising business. The Mountain View firm, however, could implement this same feature in a future version of Android.