How to get a @Duck email address

In case you weren’t already aware, the DuckDuckGo website is launching a new email privacy service designed to stop ad companies from spying on your inbox.

A more than welcome protection feature, and also a breath of fresh air, in these treacherous times.

So, basically, users can get a free @duck.com email address, that will forward emails to their regular inbox, but only after analyzing their contents for trackers and removing them, if necessary.

DuckDuckGo is also providing unique, disposable forwarding addresses, which can be generated easily in DuckDuckGo’s mobile browser or through desktop browser extensions.

How do I get a @Duck email address?

If you’re thinking that setting up this extra protection feature for your emails, you might want to reconsider. This process actually takes only a few minutes of your time and can save you a lot of headaches.

DuckDuckGo is releasing our Email Protection feature into beta testing, while they are ironing out the wrinkles.

To get access to the beta, all you have to do is join the private waitlist They are accepting new people in every day, but the sooner you join, the sooner you’ll be protecting your email privacy.

Another very important fact when considering to opt for this security service is that you won’t need to share any personal information to join the waitlist.

Here’s what you need to do, using your mobile phone:

1. Download DuckDuckGo for iOS or Android
2. Open Settings > Beta Features > Email Protection
3. Click “Join the Private Waitlist.”

Pretty easy right?

According to the people from DuckDuckGo, the personal DuckDuckGo email is actually meant to be given out to friends and contacts you know.

They also advise that the disposable addresses are better used when signing up for free trials, newsletters, or any other place that you suspect might sell your email address.

That way, if the email address is compromised, you can easily deactivate it.

What am I protecting myself against?

The answer to this question is extremely simple: email trackers. To be more exact, email trackers are found in more than 70% of mailing lists, according to experts.

And once these trackers are deployed, they let advertisers figure out when you open your email, where you are when you open it, and what device you’re using. Pretty scary, right?

Thus, removing trackers from email removes data points from lists building hidden advertising profiles on you, which have become a priority for privacy advocates in recent years.

DuckDuckGo developers are estimating the wait will be a couple of weeks since you have punched in your request, after which you will get a notification to set up the feature.

What you should know is that the setup process involves a bit of light reading about the privacy features and choosing a new duck.com email address.

One of the features that DuckDuckGo is proud to announce to the public is that it doesn’t see or save your email.

Instead, the tracker removal is done in its servers’ memory and not ever written to a disk or hard drive.

The experts at DuckDuckGo also built the forwarding software themselves, so it didn’t have to rely on a third party also processing the emails before they hit your inbox.

Are you going to sign up for this privacy service as well? Let us know in the comments section below.