DuckDuckGo Calls Out Google Search for 'Spying' on Users After Privacy Labels Go Live

[MacBH928]

I wonder if that is the full extent however.. They say they use other apps to collect data also. Other apps have access to even more. Surely they is classed as a loop hole.

I once heard they have a map of every Wifi router out there. They know it by people turning google maps/location on Android devices on, so it knows the Wifi address, and makes a huge map world wide.

Assuming its possible, when you connect from any wifi router they know where you are even with locations off.

 

[BigMcGuire]

You do know that Bing/Microsoft are just as invasive as Google right?

While there are a lot of similar practices, Google does a much better job at tracking and selling that information imo. That said, yes, they do similar activities. Which is now why I run AdGuard Pro along with other security tools to see who is doing what. I don't quite go to the extent of running a VPN all the time, but yes, search engines sell your info.

Which is why I use DDG exclusively now - and have for years.

 

[throAU]

If you are a network administrator that will help a lot.

-Will I notice any difference if I use IPv6?
-Is there a benefit if I have IPv6 but the site/service I am connecting to uses IPv4?
-My understanding that IPv6 can give a unique identifier to every device on the internet. How do I ensure the IP address on my device is not the same as a one already used out there? Or does the idea of the "outside" network and "inside" network (192.168.1.X) still apply?

IPv6 will eventually be required for IPv6 only services. China for example has a very limited quantity of ipv4 and a massive population. Also, IOT is going to drive IPv6 adoption, so if you want to be able to talk to IOT devices in the future you'll need functional ipv6.

If a service is on ipv4 there's no benefit to connecting to it using ipv6.

IPv6 has a very, very big address space. Every subnet in IPv6 (even point to point links) is 64 bits in size, which is 4 billion ipv4 internets worth of address space. i.e., your home network gets 4 billion times 4 billion ipv6 IPs. Wasteful? Sure, but it makes things like IPv6 auto negotiation, ipv6 address randomisation, etc, work properly and simplifies the global internet routing table significantly. And there are plenty enough ipv6 addresses to go around using the 128 bit address space. Like.... 2-4 per square cm of the earth's surface. NAT to try save IP addresses is simply not required.

Outside vs. inside networks are simple. And unique. Firewalling is no different to NAT (block all inbound, permit outbound, permit established return connections would be the sensible default), except you now have the option for full bi-directional communication if required without ugly state-tracking, in-flight packet mangling hacks - that actually reduce security to make VPNs even work.

Your inside network is just a subnet split off from your ISP's allocation. I.e., they will be unique, live, internet routable IPs. Common allocations are a /56 for a domestic connection, giving you up to 256 IPv6 subnets (each 4 billion internets worth of IPs) to use internally for different networks.

An enterprise will typically be given a /48 which is 65536 /64 networks for a business grade connection. Which is convenient - you could have 256 sites each with 256 different VLANs, for example - to better segregate traffic.

The ipv6 address space is large enough that if you were to generate a truly random 64 bit subnet has essentially no chance of collision with anything else. The address space is that large. But your internet routable allocation(s) will typically come from your ISP.

Without any configuration ipv6 defaults to link-local addresses (fe80:xxxxx) which will work with zero configuration between local machines by just plugging them in. The unique addresses are just determined by the network adapter's MAC address.


A bit of an illustration of size:

How Many IPv6 Addresses Are There? - subnettingpractice.com

This article has an interactive graphic showing just how many IPv6 addresses are there. Grasp how huge the IPv6 address space really is!

subnettingpractice.com

 

[throAU]

how do you find out the ip address of sites you visit? do you look it up each time?

DNS, same as IPv4.

IPv4 and ipv6 can co-exist (dual stack) and if you have dual stack, modern operating systems will choose ipv6 by default if a site is ipv6 enabled (google, Facebook, YouTube, etc. already are).

If you're using mobile internet there's a good chance you may already have ipv6 enabled by your carrier, depending on where you are.

 

[MacBH928]

IPv6 will eventually be required for IPv6 only services. China for example has a very limited quantity of ipv4 and a massive population. Also, IOT is going to drive IPv6 adoption, so if you want to be able to talk to IOT devices in the future you'll need functional ipv6.

If a service is on ipv4 there's no benefit to connecting to it using ipv6.

IPv6 has a very, very big address space. Every subnet in IPv6 (even point to point links) is 64 bits in size, which is 4 billion ipv4 internets worth of address space. i.e., your home network gets 4 billion times 4 billion ipv6 IPs. Wasteful? Sure, but it makes things like IPv6 auto negotiation, ipv6 address randomisation, etc, work properly and simplifies the global internet routing table significantly. And there are plenty enough ipv6 addresses to go around using the 128 bit address space. Like.... 2-4 per square cm of the earth's surface. NAT to try save IP addresses is simply not required.

Outside vs. inside networks are simple. And unique. Firewalling is no different to NAT (block all inbound, permit outbound, permit established return connections would be the sensible default), except you now have the option for full bi-directional communication if required without ugly state-tracking, in-flight packet mangling hacks - that actually reduce security to make VPNs even work.

Your inside network is just a subnet split off from your ISP's allocation. I.e., they will be unique, live, internet routable IPs. Common allocations are a /56 for a domestic connection, giving you up to 256 IPv6 subnets (each 4 billion internets worth of IPs) to use internally for different networks.

An enterprise will typically be given a /48 which is 65536 /64 networks for a business grade connection. Which is convenient - you could have 256 sites each with 256 different VLANs, for example - to better segregate traffic.

The ipv6 address space is large enough that if you were to generate a truly random 64 bit subnet has essentially no chance of collision with anything else. The address space is that large. But your internet routable allocation(s) will typically come from your ISP.

Without any configuration ipv6 defaults to link-local addresses (fe80:xxxxx) which will work with zero configuration between local machines by just plugging them in. The unique addresses are just determined by the network adapter's MAC address.


A bit of an illustration of size:

How Many IPv6 Addresses Are There? - subnettingpractice.com

This article has an interactive graphic showing just how many IPv6 addresses are there. Grasp how huge the IPv6 address space really is!

subnettingpractice.com

Thanks that was education and I appreciate the comprehensive reply. I am thinking to switch to IPv6 but since you mentioned I won't gain a benefit if everything already works on IPv4, so why should I bother?

That zooming illustration is scary big I don't think my brain can handle understand how big it is. Speaking of having 4 devices per square cm on earth, what if they build devices vertically 🤪 /jk

 

[throAU]

Thanks that was education and I appreciate the comprehensive reply. I am thinking to switch to IPv6 but since you mentioned I won't gain a benefit if everything already works on IPv4, so why should I bother?

It's not really something you have control over.

Your ISP will issue IPv6 sooner or later and so long as your router supports it, it should be transparent.

 

[Smartwatchlover]

I have just moved to DDG today on my iPhone and so far I'm enjoying it a lot (and I find it very fast as well).
On my iMac I have just added the DDG extension to Chrome and set DDG as default search engine.

The only think I really miss from Safari for iOS is the Reading Mode, which I use on daily basis and I find extremely useful. If DDG will eventually add the Reading Mode on their iOS app, this will be definitely killing Safari to me.

Regarding the email services, I moved years ago to iCloud and I find it quite good. I just use Gmail as a secondary account for minor stuff which I rarely need.
On the other side, I'm still heavily addicted to Google Maps and I'm still not convinced to move out of it in favor of Apple Maps.

 

[peachpup]

This is what Duck Duck Go says about MacRumors

 

[LalaGalich]

I know that there is no better browser than a decentralized idyll from the utopia ecosystem. It is the only anonymous browser in the world

 

[Charlesrfinal]

The average user is too busy allowing themselves to be sold and digitally abused via Tik Tok, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Google products etc. to get a real informed clue about the digital world they are a part of.

I think kids today really don't care outside their little bubble of a world.

Edited to add: You have the battered wife syndrome on display in this thread. And that is from people who like to think they are informed.

Example: I know Google doesn't adhere to its own policies and has been fined numerous times for violations etc. but, they do provide good search and Gmail works well for me. That is no different than a woman saying, I know my husband hits me a lot a berates me but, he also has good days where he will be nice to me.

Agreed