Duck Duck Go Inc., a company already known for its privacy-focused search engine, is once again spreading its wings into even more privacy services Privacy Pro plan These include three services: a virtual private network, a personal information removal service, and identity theft recovery.
The plan announced Thursday will cost subscribers $10 per month, or a total of $100 per year. The plan is currently only available to users in the US, but the company said it plans to expand it to other regions in the future.
The offering comes at a time when Google LLC has announced it is discontinuing it the VPN bundled with the Google One subscription plan later this year. Originally launched in 2020, users who subscribed to Google One were given access to a VPN, which Google says is now being discontinued due to lack of usage.
The new VPN service works through the company’s existing privacy-focused DuckDuckGo browser introduced in 2022 for Mac and brought to Windows in mid-2023. A VPN provides additional protection from prying eyes by encrypting Internet traffic from a user’s computer to an endpoint in another part of the world, thereby hiding the data transmitted over that connection from the user’s Internet service provider. It also hides their Internet Protocol address from websites, making it more difficult to determine their location.
“There is no need to install a separate VPN app. Once you sign up for Privacy Pro, you can install our VPN directly into your DuckDuckGo browser,” DuckDuckGo wrote in its announcement. “You can then secure your connection with just one click and check the status at a glance. It provides full device coverage on up to five devices simultaneously.”
The company said its VPN traffic is encrypted using open source WireGuard protocol and domain name service requests are also routed over the VPN to the company’s own DNS resolvers, which is intended to prevent information from being leaked to a user’s ISP. The company added that it also does not maintain strict logs of user activity that could impact online activity, further increasing the protection of user privacy.
To protect users’ private information, DuckDuckGo has integrated a public information removal service scans data broker for information and requests the removal of personal data. The company said it will even process the “back-and-forth confirmation emails” automatically behind the scenes to reduce the tedium caused by fighting for information from its databases.
“Unlike other similar services, we only contact data brokers once we confirm that you are in their databases, and the information you enter for scanning is stored on your device – not on remote servers,” DuckDuckGo wrote.
The technology to scan and remove this information comes from Removaly, a data removal service that DuckDuckGo acquired in 2022. The personal information removal service based on Removaly’s technology continues to regularly scan the databases of data broker websites against the stored data on user devices and initiates all removal requests – users can also keep an eye on ongoing requests.
What happens if the worst happens and pre-existing personal information is used to steal a subscriber’s identity? DuckDuckGo offers identity theft recovery, which involves bringing in a consultant to help gather information about the situation, freeze credit reports, replace documents, assist with travel, resolve fraudulent medical claims, and even reimburse certain expenses.
The company has partnered with Iris Powered by Generali, a company specializing in identity theft in the US, to work with subscribers and get their lives back in order. DuckDuckGo said no personal information will be shared between Iris and DuckDuckGo, but some details about the situation will be collected so a consultant can provide assistance.
Users need the latest version of the company’s browser to use these services, which are available on iOS, Android, Windows And Mac OS, and can go to Privacy Pro website to get more information.