DuckDuckGo calls out Google for spying on users and collecting data

Google updated the privacy labels on the Apple App Store recently after months of delay. The privacy labels reveal the type of user data used by Google apps. Following the update, Privacy-focused search engine DuckDuck Go called out Google for “spying” on users.

DuckDuckGo took to Twitter to highlight the privacy labels updated by Google for its Search and Gmail apps after “months of stalling”. Word on the web was that Google was delaying the update on purpose to avoid revealing the amount of data it accumulated from users for its services. The company took months to update the privacy labels on the Apple App Store to show the data linked to users, the data not linked to users, and the data used to track users.

Following the update, DuckDuckGo called out Google and accused the American tech giant of spying on users. “After months of stalling, Google finally revealed how much personal data they collect in Chrome and the Google app. No wonder they wanted to hide it. Spying on users has nothing to do with building a great web browser or search engine. We would know (our app is both in one).

Images attached with the tweet compare the privacy labels of either search engines. It shows that DuckDuckGo does not collect any data, whereas Google Search and Chrome collect user data related to location, browsing history, financial information, search history, etc.

DuckDuckGo claims that it does not collect any data that is linked to users. It is the second-most downloaded mobile browser in the US after Google Chrome. However, the privacy-focused search engine has a tiny market share compared to Google Search, which has over 91 percent of the global search engine market share.