DuckDuckGo, the privacy-centric web browser, has recently unveiled a new feature that enables users to synchronize and access their saved passwords, bookmarks, and email protection settings privately across multiple devices. This includes various devices like smartphones, tablets, and computers.
This development comes as DuckDuckGo continues to position itself as a privacy-friendly alternative to other popular browsers like Google Chrome. The browser, which advocates for user privacy, is available for download on various platforms including Windows, Mac, iPhone, and Android.
DuckDuckGo emphasizes that this new feature, termed as ‘Synchronization and backup,’ has been designed with the brand’s core values of privacy and security in mind. It further elaborates on this in a statement on its blog.
This new functionality is designed to help users synchronize, migrate, and backup important data such as bookmarks, favorites, passwords, and Email Protection accounts between different devices that have the DuckDuckGo browser installed.
DuckDuckGo has criticized Chrome for its constant nudging of users to sign in with their Google account, a process that enables the synchronization of bookmarks, passwords, and favorites across all devices where the user has logged in.
However, DuckDuckGo points out that this system implicitly gives Google the permission to collect more information about the user’s browsing habits. The collected data is then used to serve personalized ads to the user.
To counter this, DuckDuckGo has developed its own import and sync system that does not track users or compromise their personal data. This is because DuckDuckGo’s system does not require the creation of an account on the platform.
Furthermore, DuckDuckGo emphasizes that its password manager stores all user credentials locally on the device and under encryption. The synchronization process is also private and is end-to-end encrypted, which means that the data remains encrypted throughout the entire process.
To access the new ‘Sync and Backup’ feature, users need to download the DuckDuckGo browser, which is free, on one or more devices. Alternatively, they can also update their existing browser to the latest version to access this new feature. The feature can be found in the ‘Settings’ section of the browser, where users can also view the list of synchronized devices and add new ones if they wish.
