New DuckDuckGo tool might block apps from tracking Android users

Privacy-focused browser maker DuckDuckGo has introduced a new tool to prevent apps from tracking Android users. The tool, called App Tracking Protection, hopes to.

According to a media report, these hidden app trackers are creepy because they can track everything you do in an app and also can continue to track you even when you are not using the app.

“Many of these trackers are designed to record your activity in real time: where you are, what you are doing, where you have been, and even how many hours you sleep at night,” the search engine said in a blog post.

Over 96 percent of the popular free Android apps DuckDuckGo tested contained hidden third-party trackers. Of those, 87 percent sent data to Google and 68 percent sent data to Facebook.

Apple recently introduced App Tracking Transparency, a feature for iPhones and iPads that asks users in each app whether they want to allow third-party app tracking or not, with the vast majority of people opting-out.

“However, most smartphone users worldwide use Android, where no similar feature exists. In fact, advertisers are now spending more money on Android apparently because it is now easier to track you there. That is why we are excited to announce the beta of App Tracking Protection for Android,” the search engine informed.

After enabling App Tracking Protection, the DuckDuckGo app will detect when your Android apps are about to send data to third-party tracking companies found in our app tracker dataset, and block those requests.