DuckDuckGo apps and extensions now block Google login pop-ups on all of its apps and browser extensions, removing what it perceives to be an annoyance and privacy risk to its users.

DuckDuckGo offers a privacy-focused approach search enginea mail service, mobile appand data protection browser extensions. A standalone web browser is also in the works, currently in beta and only available for macOS.

The company announced today that all of its Chrome, Firefox, Brave, and Microsoft Edge apps and browser extensions will now actively block Google login prompts displayed on the sites.

Google offers this website single sign-on option to allow users to quickly sign in to new platforms using their Google Account for convenience and unified control.

Simply put, instead of having to create new accounts and manage multiple passwords on different sites, users can simply sign in with Google when the option is available and skip the hassle.

The downside of this practice for users is that the websites and apps users log into can be tracked by Google.

While Google explicitly states that “login data with Google is not used for advertising or other non-security purposes”, DuckDuckGo claims that their tests show that Google still collects data.

“See our tests in the attached image which shows that Google collects data from sites when they are logged in with Google. For example, on investing.com, many requests go to https://securepubads.g .doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?.” DuckDuckGo told BleepingComputer.

“This includes the full page URL in the request parameters. In testing, if we are not logged into the website with Google, the DSID cookie sent with these requests has a value of NO_DATA. If we are logged in website with Google, the DSID cookie sent with these requests has a long hex value.”

“You can see it in the attached image – on the left we are logged in with Google, on the right we are not logged in with Google.”

As DuckDuckGo believes these to be privacy risks, it resorted to the rather aggressive approach of blocking Google’s login prompts, never giving users a chance to accept the Google offer. tech giant.

BleepingComputer discovered that the option is integrated into the general protection function of the browser extension. So when the extension is active, all Google prompts are automatically blocked.

The same goes for DuckDuckGo browser for macOS, where Google’s blocking feature is built into “Protection”, and there is no option to turn it off unless you turn off all protections in the private life.

However, even though DuckDuckGo made this change to block suspected privacy threats, it will likely cause problems for those using Google Sign-in on websites, as they will no longer be able to sign in.

In these situations, the user will need to register a new local account on the site or disable the privacy features of DuckDuckGo extensions and browsers.