DuckDuckGo bundles VPN with privacy protection

DuckDuckGo bundles VPN with privacy protection is profiled by BTW Media because public-source evidence links it to internet infrastructure, governance, operational dependencies, or market visibility.

• DuckDuckGo has launched a new Privacy Pro subscription that bundles VPN services, personal information deletion, and identity theft recovery.
• The plan costs $9.99 per month or $99 per year and is currently only available to Americans.
• A VPN uses the open source WireGuard protocol to protect a user’s identity when they visit different sites on the network.

New Privacy Pro subscription

DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused consumer tech company, on Thursday launched a new Privacy Pro subscription that bundles VPN services, personal information deletion, and identity theft recovery.

The plan costs $9.99 per month or $99 per year and is currently only available to Americans. This is the company’s first move toward a subscription service built into the DuckDuckGo browser.

DuckDuckGo has been profitable since 2014, but has so far relied on advertising revenue. Subscription services have opened up a new way for the company to make money.

Also read: Cryptography startup Zama secures $73M to enhance data privacy

Multiple personal information protection barriers

VPNs use the open source WireGuard protocol to protect a user’s identity when they visit different sites on the network. All DNS queries are also routed through DuckDuckGo’s own DNS resolvers, so Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can’t snoop on users’ browsing history, the company said.

With its personal information removal service, DuckDuckGo scans dozens of data broker sites for details such as user names and addresses. If the service finds a user’s details on these sites, it requests removal and processes email communications with them. The company says the feature is built on technology from Removaly, a startup that DuckDuckGo acquired in 2022.

The third feature of the DuckDuckGo Privacy Professional program is Identity Theft Recovery, where counselors will help you recover from identity-related losses 24/7. This includes financial losses and even repairing credit reports by freezing reports until identity is restored, as well as replacing and cancelling items such as driver’s licenses, bank cards and passports. The company says a recovery agent will work with you to handle all the formalities and follow up with the companies.

DuckDuckGo says that in order to ensure user Privacy, it does not maintain a log of users’ VPN activity, stores data provided during deletion of personal information on a local device, and the company assigns a random ID when users sign up for the Privacy Pro service.