DuckDuckGo vs Swisscows: privacy compared
DuckDuckGo and Swisscows are both rated in search engines against the same 12 public criteria. DuckDuckGo does better on open source, no trackers or telemetry, tells users about requests, security headers and no account needed. DuckDuckGo is based in the United States (Five Eyes); Swisscows is based in Switzerland.
| Criterion | DuckDuckGo Our pick | Swisscows |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | Grade C C (73/100) | Grade D D (50/100) |
| Jurisdiction | United States Five Eyes | Switzerland Outside Eyes |
| Open source Is all the source code needed to run the product public? | Partial source | No |
| No trackers or telemetry Are the website and apps free of third-party trackers, with any analytics anonymous and any telemetry off by default? | Yes source | Partial source |
| No ads or data sales Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data? | Partial source | Partial source |
| Independent audit Has an independent security or privacy audit been published within the last three years? | No | No |
| Transparency report Does the provider regularly publish how many government and legal requests it receives and how it responds? | Partial source | Partial source |
| Tells users about requests Does the provider promise to tell users about requests for their data, unless a court forbids it? | Yes source | No |
| TLS configuration Does the website pass the Qualys SSL Labs test with a grade of A or better? | Yes source | Yes source |
| Security headers Does the website pass the Mozilla HTTP Observatory test with a grade of A or better? | Partial source | No source |
| Modern web standards Does the website score 90% or higher on the Internet.nl website test? | Not tested yet | Not tested yet |
| No search history logs Are searches stored without IP addresses or other identifiers? | Yes source | Yes source |
| No profile-based ads Are ads (if any) based only on the current search, not a profile? | Yes source | Yes source |
| No account needed Can every feature be used without an account? | Yes source | Partial source |
Summaries
DuckDuckGo. DuckDuckGo scores 73 out of 100 (grade C) on the search engines criteria. It meets 6 of 11 criteria: no trackers or telemetry, tells users about requests, TLS configuration, no search history logs, no profile-based ads and no account needed. It partly meets open source, no ads or data sales, transparency report and security headers. It does not meet independent audit. It is based in the United States: Five Eyes member; subject to the US CLOUD Act. Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A+ and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade B.
Swisscows. Swisscows scores 50 out of 100 (grade D) on the search engines criteria. It meets 3 of 11 criteria: TLS configuration, no search history logs and no profile-based ads. It partly meets no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, transparency report and no account needed. It does not meet open source, independent audit, tells users about requests and security headers. It is based in Switzerland: Not in the Five, Nine or Fourteen Eyes; GDPR-style data protection law. Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A+ and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade C-.