How to Use DuckDuckGo’s Privacy-First Email Service

Since 2008, DuckDuckGo has offered a privacy-focused search engine, but it is now turning its attention to email, giving you an email address which you can use as a buffer between your email inbox and the outside world.

As well as forwarding your incoming messages to your main email address, DuckDuckGo Email Protection strips them of the tracking technologies that inform the senders of when and where you're viewing your messages, and even which links you're clicking through.

The service can be used to create email aliases, temporary addresses that you can use with sign-up forms on the web and then deleted if you find they're attracting too much marketing mail. Apple's Hide my Email service works the same way.

All of this is being offered for free, even though the service is still in the early stages of development. Some features might change before the product is launched.

It's getting started.

The DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser app is required for access to DuckDuckGo Email Protection. With a browser tab open, you can choose settings and email protection. Pick yourduck.com address and specify which emails should be forwarded to it.

If you choose your address, it will appear in forms in the privacy browser. You can get to your account settings from inside the app, but only if you tap the three dots on the menu button. You can change your address under account.

You'll see a private DuckDuckGo address if you tap autofill, and if you want to use it in a web form, you'll have to copy it. The forwarding rules are the same for private and public email addresses.