It’s been just over a year since DuckDuckGo announced App Tracking Protection, or its application tracking protection for Android, a function that is still in beta, but is already available to all users who wish to use it. And he promises the invention.
Broadly speaking, the intention of DuckDuckGo with the feature at hand is to “imitate iOS controls”, which basically allow the user to block advertising and tracking that does not meet minimum requirements. In essence, you activate the function of yore and DuckDuckGo takes care of put a stop to all trackers on your Android. To all, yes, or at least to all those who have files on Tracker Radar, DuckDuckGo’s tracker blocking system and one of the most powerful on the market.
The question remained as to how App Tracking Protection would work, since they did not explain it in great detail at the time and since the testing phase began as a closed beta, we had no way of checking it first-hand either. The doubt remained, because this function arrives directly implemented in the DuckDuckGo app for Androidwhich is still a web browser.
A sample of massive Android app tracking
Thus, the question was whether to use DuckDuckGo as the default browser, since that was not implied. There was talk of Android in general and how many free apps include trackers that can’t be avoided -that you can’t reject or block by assigning permissions, since this leads to the loss of functionality in the application- and that a browser does not prevent it.
And if it’s about blocking everything that happens in the browser, there are already alternatives that are just as or more interesting than DuckDuckGo, both in terms of privacy protection and in terms of features typical of a web browser. It should be remembered in this regard that DuckDuckGo is still testing its browser for PC, currently only available for Mac. The solution, however, is much more attractive than expected.
DuckDuckGo for Android, a “VPN” against tracking
Indeed, App Tracking Protection, the application tracking protection for Android proposed by DuckDuckGo works through a “VPN” focused on blocking trackers. A VPN in quotes, because that is how the system will recognize it, even if it does not work exactly as a VPN would. According to the assistant’s explanation:
How does it work?
App Tracking Protection **detects and blocks third-party app trackers, like when Facebook tries to track you in a health app.
It’s free and you can enjoy your apps just like always. It works in the background and protects you day and night.
Who sees your data?
App Tracking Protection is not a VPN. However, your device will recognize it as if it were. This is because it uses a local VPN connection to work.
App Tracking Protection is different. Never routes app data through an external server.
So, yes, App Tracking Protection is a VPN, but it’s not, since it only works locally, to control what goes out. So don’t expect it to encrypt or mask your web traffic under an IP other than yours like a regular VPN would, because that’s not its purpose.
Interested in trying App Tracking Protection? If you were signed up for the beta waiting list, as you open the DuckDuckGo app, an assistant will appear to announce the good news, indicating the path to follow to activate it and showing you relevant information about this feature.
In any case, managing App Tracking Protection by hand is easy: open the DuckDuckGo app and go to “Settings > More about DuckDuckGo > App Tracking Protection”. There you can activate or deactivate the protection, as well as control its operation, for example to “see what personal data trackers try to collect before blocking them (such as your precise location, age, and a fingerprint from your phone).”
You can also choose which apps are subject to protection and which are not. By default, App Tracking Protection will “whitelist” apps that are known to cause problems. In general and according to their own nature, web browsers, but also others such as Gmail, WhatsApp or YouTube, to name a few well-known ones. They can always be removed from the whitelist, but the warning remains.
Be that as it may, in the event of any doubt, the application will show help links to the frequently asked questions, translated into Spanish. It is convenient to pay attention to them so as not to be disappointed. And it is that not everything that App Tracking Protection brings with it is good.
The concept and possibilities of App Tracking Protection are very well carried out and we can classify it as a success on the part of DuckDuckGo… which yes, you have, has had and probably will have its chiaroscuro, but it tends to rectify and in general terms it is much more reliable than most of its competition, although it could be even more so. However, the best ideas are also susceptible to problems and this is no exception.
The most obvious counterpart to App Tracking Protection is that it is an application that has to be continuously activated to work, which translates into a additional consumption that is not small. Something that can be partially remedied by activating the function only when potentially risky applications are going to be used – it will tell you which ones they are – with the consequent annoyance, not to mention those applications that remain in memory to transmit notifications or whatever.
To quickly turn it off without going into the app, the permanent notification
In addition, it has the against that Android only allows one VPN connection at a time, so you won’t be able to use a real VPN while App Tracking Protection is running. And this does not have any bypass. At most, what you use through another browser. But it must be taken into account due to the manifest incompatibility of using a VPN with App Tracking Protection.
The last problem would be that of the white list, and that is that if blocking the tracking of some applications causes them to malfunction, we stay as we were.
Because of these problems, DuckDuckGo has made some progress or other. For example, since App Tracking Protection was introduced last year, work has been done to improve the app’s performance and, for greater transparency, the list of trackers blocked has been made public. All in all, miracles to Lourdes: the energy cost is still considerable and with the VPN there is no tutoring.
Everything has to be carefully assessed, because what was intended to be a solution can cause a problem. It should not be forgotten either that the characteristic is still in beta phase. However, it has much more positive than potentially negative and that must also be valued. For ordinary mortals, of course, it is a tool that is well worth having on hand, at least for when it is needed. We’ll track him down.
Be careful: do not confuse this with blocking advertising on Android. Is not the same. Although this is supported.
