Duckduckgo directions are now available!

M.Sc. Jan Hörnemann

Duckduckgo directions are now available!

The Internet search engine Duckduckgo has now integrated directions. The possibility to access a map and directions directly via different search engines, such as Google, is already known. But now the search engine Duckduckgo can also shine with this feature.

Duckduckgo – An alternative search engine

The number 1 search engine on the Internet is still Google. The term “googeln” was already included in the German dictionary in 2004 and describes: searching something on the Internet with a search engine. But it is above all criticism regarding data storage that Google often has to confront.

The search engine Duckduckgo follows a completely different concept. This search engine is considered a search engine that does not store any personal information of the users. This concept is gaining more and more popularity, so in August 2020 approx. 50 million search queries per day were measured.

Directions now integrated in Duckduckgo

A function that some search engines have already integrated for a long time is the direct offer of directions to the searched term. This function can be provided if the search engine still provides a map function and has some kind of navigation program installed on it.

The developers of the search engine Duckduckgo have now also integrated a route description into their own search engine. To use this function, you have to search for either a company, an address or a place of interest and then switch to the “Maps” tab.

Map view Duckduckgo

After switching to the map, the option to activate the route description appears in the middle of the settings window. After selecting this function, a familiar view of a route description appears, which we know from other navigation pages.

Directions

In contrast to other navigation pages we “only” have the possibility to choose between car or walking. Based on the chosen means of transportation Duckduckgo calculates other routes which we could choose to suit the means of transportation.

In accordance with the high level of data protection of the Duckduckgo search engine, the location data should be deleted directly after the request. Due to the high data protection requirements of the site itself, a navigation that we know from Google Maps is not possible. Therefore the Duckduckgo route description is more suitable for a previous route planning than for a live navigation.

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M.Sc. Jan Hörnemann

Hello dear reader, my name is Jan Hörnemann. I am a TeleTrust Information Security Professional (T.I.S.P.) and have been dealing with information security topics on an almost daily basis since 2016. CeHv10 was my first hands-on certification in the field. With a Master of Science degree in Internet Security, I have learned about many different aspects and try to share them in live hacking shows as well as on our blog. In addition, I am active as an information security officer and have been qualified by TÜV for this activity (ISB according to ISO 27001)