• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, April 11, 2024

DuckDuckGo, known as a privacy-first search engine, has added web browser and email protection.

On Thursday the company announced its first paid subscription service that bundles an open-source VPN with the company's privacy search engine, tracker blocking, email protection, and more than a dozen other privacy features.

The focus of the PrivacyPro offering is DuckDuckGo's browser. Advertisers may find fewer ads and popups beneficial because this gives their ads more time with consumers and less competition with other brands. 

Subscribers get a secure VPN that does not log their activity. It removes personal information and access by data broker sites. It also prevents identify theft, restoration to help fix credit report mistakes, and may help to recover any resulting financial losses.

Iris Powered by Generali supports the identity theft restoration service. It is one of the oldest firms specializing in identity theft in the U.S., according to DuckDuckGo.

Theft advisors are available all day every day of the year, and answer calls within 11 seconds on average.

The FTC received fraud reports from 2.4 million consumers in 2022, with the most commonly reported being imposter scams, followed by online shopping scams. Prizes, sweepstakes, and lotteries; investment related reports; and business and job opportunities rounded out the top five fraud categories.

If a subscriber’s identity is stolen, Iris will collect details about the situation to provide assistance; no personal information is shared between Iris and DuckDuckGo. Once a case is established, Iris has several ways to help get you back on track such as repairing credit, document replacement and, in some cases, covering out of pocket costs.

Subscriptions can be managed through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store when the user subscribed through the platforms. If subscribed through DuckDuckGo, the user will manage the account from the DuckDuckGo browser’s Settings.