DuckDuckGo switches to Apple Maps
DuckDuckGo has turned to Apple Maps for its address-related searches on mobile and desktop. The search engine said it does not send any personally identifiable information to Apple.
"For local searches, where your approximate location information is sent by your browser to us, we discard it immediately after use," the company said in a blog post.
"You are still anonymous when you perform map and address-related searches on DuckDuckGo."
DuckDuckGo did not discuss how working with Apple, which the search engine said will result in a "a new standard of trust online", was better or worse from a privacy perspective than using data from the OpenStreetMap project as it did previously.
The search engine is one of the first to sign up for Apples' MapKit JS framework.
In the version of Maps rolled out with iOS 12, Apple added more data on vegetation, parking lots, putting greens, harbours, beaches, and race tracks.
The new Maps are being progressively rolled out in the United States, and initially only covers 48 counties in California, and four in Nevada.
Last month, The Verge reported DuckDuckGo took control of the Duck.com domain that Google formerly had as part of its 2010 purchase of On2 Technologies.
"Please note that On2 was previously called the Duck Corporation," Google says on the On2.com page that has not been updated since the transfer.