In an era where AI tools are popping up everywhere, privacy worries are hitting an all-time high. Just take the recent PewDiePiew video on de-Googling his tech for example. People want to know their personal info isn’t being tossed around without permission. A Reddit post has now stirred the pot again, kicking off a conversation about Duck.ai, a service from the privacy-focused folks at DuckDuckGo.
The trouble started when a user named HerrNemeth called out Duck.ai for not sticking to its privacy claims. They posted a screenshot showing the AI pinpointing their city and country — stuff that could only come from an IP address. “This means that duck.ai does not remove personal information (like IP address) before calling the model providers (OpenAI). Therefore, that line in the privacy policy is a lie,” HerrNemeth wrote. Others chimed in too. One user added, “I was able to reproduce this. It gave the town I was in, based on the town my IP address appears to be in.” The thread blew up fast, with plenty of folks worried about what this meant for their data.
Then Gabriel Weinberg, DuckDuckGo’s CEO, jumped in to set things straight. “We always strip the IP address before calling any model provider (nor do we store it ourselves), just like in our traditional search engine,” he explained. Turns out, Duck.ai does ditch the IP but keeps an approximate city-level location to make local results — like weather updates or nearby news — more useful. It’s a trick they’ve been using with their search engine for years.
DuckDuckGo has built its name on keeping user data under lock and key, unlike some of the big tech giants. Duck.ai is newer, though, and still getting its footing. That’s why some features, like turning off location sharing, aren’t fully baked yet. Weinberg didn’t dodge the issue — he promised they’d roll out a setting to let users switch off even that approximate location stuff. Plus, they’ll tweak their help pages to make it crystal clear how location data gets handled.
When I read the thread, I immediately thought about the whole Snapchat AI drama back in 2023. Snap’s AI told users it didn’t know their location, but upon further questioning, it confirmed that it indeed knew their location. The company then had to issue an explanation about how it all works to ease the minds of users.
Now, coming back to the situation at hand. This clarification from the CEO itself shows DuckDuckGo isn’t just talking the privacy talk. They’re ready to tweak things when users raise a flag. With data privacy being such a hot topic, it’s a wake-up call to keep an eye on the tools we use and push companies to stay honest. DuckDuckGo’s quick move to fix this sets a solid example. As they keep fine-tuning Duck.ai, it looks like better privacy controls are on the way.
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Dwayne Cubbins
1203 Posts
For nearly a decade, I've been deciphering the complexities of the tech world, with a particular passion for helping users navigate the ever-changing tech landscape. From crafting in-depth guides that unlock your phone's hidden potential to uncovering and explaining the latest bugs and glitches, I make sure you get the most out of your devices. And yes, you might occasionally find me ranting about some truly frustrating tech mishaps.
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