DuckDuckGo calls out Google Search for ‘spying’ on users after privacy labels go live

Over the past few weeks, Google App has added Privacy labels to its iOS apps in accordance with Apple’s App Store rules, but it took Google several months to share the information.

It has been speculated that Google’s delay meant it had something to hide, which DuckDuckGo is leaning on with a new tweet highlighting Google’s data collection and calling on the company to “ spy on ” users.

Google recently added app privacy labels to its Google Search app, which indicate the extent of the information collected. For third-party advertising purposes, Google collects data including location, search history and browsing history. Google’s proprietary marketing data includes all of the above information along with contact information and device IDs, plus even more data is collected for analysis, app functionality and product personalization.

DuckDuckGo claims that Google wanted to “hide” the information it collects, which is why it has taken Google so long to roll out support for App Privacy labels. Most people probably aren’t surprised at the volume of data Google collects, but having it in one place in the ‌App Store‌ is a stark reminder.

Many of Google’s main apps didn’t get privacy labels until the end of February, although Apple’s rule went into effect in December. Google delayed adding the labels for so long that its apps took more than two months without updating. Even now, it has been three months since the Google Maps app was updated, although most other apps have now received app privacy labels and updates.

DuckDuckGo is a privacy-focused search and browser option available on iOS devices that can be set as the default search engine. As DuckDuckGo points out in its tweet, the DuckDuckGo app does not collect data associated with you.