Private Search in Private Browser Tabs Gives Users Unmatched Online Privacy

Brave and DuckDuckGo are thrilled to announce a partnership today to radically improve Internet privacy. Standard browsing and search compromise user data. To combat this, we’ve integrated DuckDuckGo search within the Brave browser’s private tabs, providing users with a simple way to ensure privacy.

The feature is available today via the new Brave browser desktop release 0.19.116, and will be integrated in Brave Android and iOS apps in the first quarter of 2018.

Here’s how we’re boosting online privacy together. Users that open a new private tab (also referred to as “incognito” by some users) in Brave will be presented with an option to select DuckDuckGo as their default search engine. Other search engines track users even when they are used inside of private browsing modes. DuckDuckGo does not ever collect or share users’ personal information. With over 16 billion cumulative anonymous searches as of 2017, DuckDuckGo is becoming the world’s most trusted search engine.

Many popular sites can host as many as 70 trackers, following users around the web and compiling information about their site visits. Brave, by default, stops ads and trackers that violate users’ privacy. Users achieve an even higher level of privacy by opening a private tab, accessible from the browser File menu. These tabs are not logged in History or in browsing data, and are not counted in Brave Payments calculations. Both Brave private tabs and their cookies vanish when the browser is closed.

In a recent study, DuckDuckGo found that privacy is now a mainstream concern in the U.S. with 24% of adults caring enough about their online privacy to take significant action to protect it. 65% of people would be motivated to switch search engines if they knew a new search engine did not collect personal data about searches. In a January 2017 report, 84% of Americans said they would consider trying another major web browser if it offered more features to help protect their privacy.

“A lot of people think their searches aren’t tracked in private browsing mode. Unfortunately, that’s not true unless you’re using a private search engine like DuckDuckGo. We are thrilled to partner with Brave to give people the search privacy they expect and deserve,” said Gabriel Weinberg, Founder & CEO, DuckDuckGo.

“With Brave and DuckDuckGo, users can rest assured that we don’t see the sites they browse, that personal information is not stored, and that they are protected from trackers,” said Brendan Eich, CEO and co-founder of Brave Software. “Users have suffered long enough from the current broken online ecosystem, and with the right tools, they can reclaim their privacy and take a stand against the intermediaries that exploit their personal data.”

For search in regular tabs, the Brave browser currently features 19 search engines, including DuckDuckGo. Users can select DuckDuckGo as their default search engine by going to Preferences/Search. In the desktop browser, they can also type :d in the URL bar for a shortcut to DuckDuckGo Search. Regular search engines record what users enter in the search bar.

DuckDuckGo.com is already a Brave Verified Publisher, and Brave users can opt to anonymously send donations to DuckDuckGo via Brave Payments. Users can also use the “pinning” option in Brave Payments to reward DuckDuckGo, allocating the percentage they favor for the donation.

Users who choose the benefits of DuckDuckGo and Brave not only enjoy the benefit of a private browsing experience, they’re also active participants in a larger movement toward a free and open web that doesn’t come at the cost of user privacy. The private search and domain verification are only the beginning of a long term partnership for better privacy. DuckDuckGo and Brave intend to collaborate on co-branded privacy awareness initiatives and experimental pilots.

About DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo (https://duckduckgo.com) is an internet privacy company that empowers people to seamlessly take control of their personal information online, without any tradeoffs. Since 2008, DuckDuckGo has operated a search engine that doesn’t track user search histories or otherwise profile its users, and now also offers mobile apps and browser extensions to protect user privacy across the internet.

About Brave Software

Brave Software (https://brave.com) is a start-up that is building a fast, open source, privacy-focused browser that blocks invasive ads and trackers. Brave aims to reset the online ad ecosystem with faster and safer browsing, as well as micropayments and opt-in anonymous ads to share revenue with users and to support publishers. The Brave solution is a win-win for everyone who has a stake in the open Web and who is weary of giving up privacy and revenue to the ad-tech intermediaries. Brave Software was co-founded by Brendan Eich, co-founder of Mozilla and creator of JavaScript, and Brian Bondy, formerly of Khan Academy and Mozilla.