DuckDuckGo Announces Cross Platform Alternative to Apple's Hide My Email

DuckDuckGo today announced its brand new Email Protection feature that will allow users to save themselves from being tracked by trackers embedded into emails by forwarding them to a free and personalized DuckDuckGo email before being sent to their actual email.

duck duck go email protection
DuckDuckGo's Email Protection comes as an alternative to Apple's Hide My Email part of iCloud+, allowing users to direct emails for apps, websites, and services to a random ‌‌iCloud‌‌ email address before being sent to their actual address. This process means that apps and services never directly see a user's actual email, only their random ‌‌iCloud‌‌ address.

Apple has also introduced a similar feature as part of iOS 15 and macOS Monterey that hides a user's IP address and loads all content within an email, including "hidden pixels" for tracking in the background, through proxy servers. DuckDuckGo says its feature differs since it just removes trackers from an email before it's sent to a user, compared to Apple's approach which it claims sends "erroneous" user data back to a tracker's servers.

One of the largest cornerstones of DuckDuckGo's offering, compared to Apple's Hide My Email, is its cross-platform compatibility. Apple's Hide My Email will only work on Apple devices. At the same time, thanks to DuckDuckGo's browser extension and apps available on other platforms, DuckDuckGo's Email Protection is available no matter where a user chooses to browse the internet.

Choose your Duck Email Address (you@duck.com) and start giving it out. We remove hidden trackers from incoming emails sent to this address, then forward them to your regular inbox for safer reading. This means if you use an email service like Gmail or Yahoo, it’s no problem! Emails sent to your Personal Duck Address will arrive there as usual so you can read your email like normal, in any app or on the web, worry-free.

DuckDuckGo is pledging that it never saves a user's email and that even when emails are sent to its servers to be cleansed from trackers, that information remains private. DuckDuckGo is offering the new feature to a private group of beta testers, and those interested can join the waitlist.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
macbook pro blue green

When Will Apple Release the M5 MacBook Pro?

Wednesday March 26, 2025 4:53 pm PDT by
Apple regularly refreshes the MacBook Pro models, and a new version that uses M5 series chips is in the works. Apple just finished refreshing most of the Mac lineup with M4 chips, and now it's time for the M5. Rumors suggest that we could see the first M5 MacBook Pro models this fall. Design There have been no rumors of a design update for the M5 MacBook Pro models that are coming this...
Apple Lumon Terminal Pro

Apple's Mac Site Features Fictional 'Lumon Terminal Pro'

Wednesday March 26, 2025 12:19 pm PDT by
Apple is going all out with promotions for the popular Severance Apple TV+ show today, and as of right now, you'll find a new "Lumon Terminal Pro" listed on Apple's Mac site. The Lumon Terminal Pro is designed to look similar to the machines that Severance employees like Mark S. and Helly R. use for macrodata refinement. The Terminal features a blue keyboard, a small display with wide...
Facebook Feature

Facebook's New iPhone App Feature Turns the Clock Back to 2007

Thursday March 27, 2025 1:59 pm PDT by
In the mid-to-late 2000s, Facebook was all about staying connected with friends and family. However, as the social media platform added new features and grew over time, that core experience began to get drowned out. That changes starting now, according to Meta, which today introduced a new feature that will "bring back the joy" of classic Facebook. Specifically, Meta has redesigned the...
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Soon With These New Features for Your iPhone

Tuesday March 25, 2025 6:45 am PDT by
Apple is expected to release iOS 18.4 to the general public as soon as next week, following more than a month of beta testing. Apple's website says some iOS 18.4 features will be released in "early April," so the update should be out as early as Tuesday, April 1. Apple this week seeded the iOS 18.4 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, barring the discovery of any...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Supports 8K Video Recording, Suggests Leaker [Updated]

Wednesday March 26, 2025 4:06 am PDT by
Update 7:25 pm: Based on comments from our forums, it appears the original Weibo post may have been mistranslated and "8K" actually refers to the high price of the device rather than 8K video recording capabilities. The iPhone 16 Pro currently starts at 7,999 yuan in China. Our original article follows below. Apple's forthcoming iPhone 17 Pro models are capable of shooting 8K video, up...
iOS 18 4 Ambient Music Control Center

How to Use iOS 18.4's New Ambient Music Feature in Control Center

Thursday March 27, 2025 7:45 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update for the iPhone adds an Ambient Music feature to Control Center. Below, we take a closer look at how it works. iOS 18.4 is currently in beta, so the Ambient Music feature is not widely available yet. The update will likely be released to the general public next week. To use the feature on iOS 18.4, open Control Center and tap on the plus sign in the top-left...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

'iPhone Fold' to Feature Metallic Glass Hinge That Resists Deformation

Thursday March 27, 2025 4:21 am PDT by
Last week, we covered a report claiming that Apple's book-style foldable iPhone (or "iPhone Fold," as we are provisionally calling it here) will use liquid metal hinges to improve durability and help minimize screen creasing. Today, a Chinese leaker provided more details on the properties of this hinge material that help to clarify why Apple chose it for its first foldable device. According...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...

Top Rated Comments

sniffies Avatar
48 months ago
I'm more bothered by the amount of spam calls I get on my phone number.

No existing laws, no fines on telcos, no third-party apps have alleviated the problem. It's only getting worse and worse every year.

How come we can land a rover on Mars but we can't stop spam calls???
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sciomar Avatar
48 months ago
This is great news, the more privacy focused companies the better.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rictus007 Avatar
48 months ago
Next step would be to have the same thing for the phone number
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
One2Grift Avatar
48 months ago

This is great news, the more privacy focused companies the better.
Exactly right! Apple, now DDG ----- keep it going.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ddtmm Avatar
48 months ago
This is awesome. I'm glad to see more companies onboard with privacy protection. We need more of this. Maybe Apple will open up their iCloud+ email to work outside Apple's hardware as well, though not holding my breath. I'm definitely signing on to this one.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LeadingHeat Avatar
48 months ago

DuckDuckGo says its feature differs since it just removes trackers from an email before it's sent to a user, compared to Apple's approach which it claims sends "erroneous" user data back to a tracker's servers.
I think I’d rather have the false (erroneous?) data sent back than nothing at all. That way they know it was blocked. Similar to the downfalls of PiHole sadly.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)