Signing up for newsletters, quizzes, or discounts often leads to endless spam from vendors and advertisers. A common workaround is creating a disposable email account, but even those can fill up and lose their purpose over time.
Enter DuckDuckGo's innovative Email Protection feature. As a privacy-focused browser company, DuckDuckGo launched this beta tool to generate unique @duck.com addresses that forward emails to your main inbox—minus hidden trackers.
Emails to your @duck.com address pass through DuckDuckGo's servers, where trackers are stripped before forwarding. Emails are encrypted, never logged, and not used for ads.
Currently in beta with a waitlist, access is rolling out weekly. Users will soon share invites. Here's my step-by-step experience signing up and testing it.
Download the DuckDuckGo app from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
Open Settings > Email Protection to join the waitlist or enter an invite code.
Your invite arrives via email link. It explains DuckDuckGo's no-log, no-ad policy and encryption. Accept terms, choose a 3-30 character alias (e.g., youralias@duck.com), and set your forwarding email.
Use your @duck.com address on sites. Incoming emails get cleaned of trackers before reaching your inbox.
In my tests, it delivered as promised with minor hiccups. Signing up at Allrecipes, the confirmation took over an hour but arrived tracker-free. A header noted: "DuckDuckGo removed LiveIntent trackers and more," linking to details.
Travelsmith's email arrived in seconds to Gmail's Promotions tab, with "DuckDuckGo deleted 1 tracker"—a Travelsmith one.
Post-signup, install the extension for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, or Safari. It autofills your @duck.com or generates random aliases.
Bonus: Site privacy scores, tracker counts, and default blocking of social media trackers. Disable per-site if needed (e.g., it briefly blocked our CMS).
For existing beta users: In the app, tap three dots > Settings > Email Protection (beta).
DuckDuckGo Email Protection is a smart, free way to curb spam and trackers. If you're on the waitlist, it's worth the wait—your inbox will thank you.
