Google is slowly updating its many iOS apps with App Store privacy labels, detailing the type of data it collects from users. The Google and Chrome apps have recently been updated with these new labels, and DuckDuckGo is already using them to their advantage.
In a post on Twitter this afternoon, DuckDuckGo questioned Google’s privacy labels for Search and Gmail, while also pointing out that the company only added the labels “after months of waiting”. DuckDuckGo has always called itself a privacy-friendly alternative to Google apps and is now using App Store privacy labels as further evidence:
After months of waiting, Google has 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 browser or search engine. We would know (our app is in one).
DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser is the second most downloaded mobile browser in the United States (after Chrome) and, as you might expect, it does not collect any data linked to you, making it simple to get the privacy you deserve online.
The image attached to the tweet shows side-by-side comparisons of the privacy label for DuckDuckGo App Store, Chrome and Google apps. The DuckDuckGo privacy label indicates that it does not collect any data linked to the user, but the same cannot be said for the Google and Chrome apps.
The Google and Chrome privacy labels show that data like location, browsing history, financial information, search history and more are linked to the user for things like third party analytics, personalization and advertising. None of this should necessarily be surprising to Google users, but DuckDuck is using it to his advantage.
App Store privacy labels went live on the App Store in December. These privacy “nutrition labels” were first introduced at WWDC over the summer, with Apple saying the goal is to better inform consumers about the privacy practices of individual applications. The application’s privacy labels are divided into three sections: “data used to track you”, “data linked to you” and “data not linked to you”.
What do you think of DuckDuckGo using the App Store’s privacy labels as a way to differentiate itself from Google? Let us know in the comments!
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