What is DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials? Should I install it?

You are being tracked online most of the time. Nearly every website you visit tracks you, logs you, and profiles you for a variety of reasons - delivering personalized ads to you is just one of them. To enhance your privacy protection from online tracking, you can install DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials on your Safari browser. This easy-to-install browser add-on for Safari will help you get rid of ad trackers and keep your search history private.

So what is DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials? Should you install it on Safari?

What is DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials?

DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials is a browser extension that allows users to browse the Internet privately. The extension is available for all leading web browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Opera, and Safari.

Here are ways DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials enhances your online privacy:

1. The browser extension will block all third-party trackers on the websites you visit.
2. You can see a site's security level showing how much you can trust the site before and after implementing the DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials protection.
3. Your search history will remain private if you set it as your default search engine.

Most browsers block third-party trackers after they load in the browser. But this method may send your IP address or other identifiers to third parties when the tracker loads.

However, DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials does not allow loading of third-party scripts (i.e. trackers) from Google, Facebook and other companies, preventing those companies from collecting your IP address or any kind of number any other identification.

Smartphone users can download DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser on the device to search and browse the web privately. Android users can download DuckDuckGo Privacy browser from GooglePlay, and iPhone users should visit the App Store to download it.

Should DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials be used on Safari?

To illustrate how DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials works, the article will focus on Safari, Apple's default web browser.

Safari does well when it comes to privacy because it has many features needed to enhance privacy. Users have options to block cross-site (i.e. third-party) tracking and hide the IP address. Safari also allows users to make DuckDuckGo Search their default search engine.

The Safari browser already provides users with options for private browsing. So should you install DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials on Safari? The simple answer is, yes.

The DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials browser extension enhances Safari's tracking protection on the websites you visit. And it will allow you to access the DuckDuckGo Privacy Board in the Safari browser.

This privacy table will tell you the Privacy Grade and other privacy metrics of the websites you visit. Privacy Rating Grade goes from A to F. Privacy Grade "A" means that the websites you are visiting are excellent at protecting privacy. And Privacy Grade "F" represents the poor performance of websites in terms of protecting visitor privacy.

In a nutshell, DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials simplifies privacy on Safari. Two privacy tools, Safari and DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials, working in tandem, can better protect your online identity.

How to install DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials on Safari

Close the Safari browser and open the App Store on your Mac. Search for "DuckDuckGo Privacy for Safari" . Click on the DuckDuckGo Privacy for Safari app , then click the Get button.

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Click Install. Your Mac will ask you to use Touch ID to authenticate or enter a password, depending on your Mac's settings. Once the authentication is complete, the installation will start and finish quickly.

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Once the installation is complete, the Open button will appear in the browser extension. Close the App Store.

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Open Safari and go to the Settings menu. Click the Search tab and set DuckDuckGo as the default search engine for private searches if you haven't done that already. You can get results faster in DuckDuckGo with search operators.

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Click the Extensions tab and enable Privacy Dashboard and Privacy Protection  by checking both boxes. Close the Safari browser.

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Open Safari browser and visit any website. You'll see the website's Privacy Grade in the Safari browser itself. Click the Privacy Grade of the website you visited. The Privacy Dashboard will open to show you insights into how DuckDuckGo's privacy essentials are enhancing your privacy.

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With the tech giants being extremely active in tracking users, keeping your browser private is essential. Using DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials can help you do just that.

Together with Safari's built-in privacy protection (as well as the privacy controls other browsers offer), this easy-to-add browser extension gives you privacy reliable. Consider using a reputable Virtual Private Network (VPN) on your device to further improve online privacy and security. You can also explore other anonymous browsers like Tor for private browsing.

Kareem Winters

Update 17 February 2023