DuckDuckGo comes with a paid subscription with VPN and identity theft assistance

DuckDuckGo comes with the paid subscription Privacy Pro. It includes a VPN, a tool to remove personal information from the Internet and offers help with identity theft. For the time being, the service is only available to American users.

DuckDuckGo's Privacy Pro costs ten dollars per month. The service is a paid subscription that integrates into DuckDuckGo's browser apps for both desktops and smartphones. Users can take out such a subscription and then use the functions in the browser. Users do not need to have an account; Linking a subscription is done with a random ID. DuckDuckGo recently released a synchronization tool that works without an account.

Privacy Pro consists of three parts, the first of which is a VPN based on the Wireguard protocol. Users can connect up to five devices simultaneously. The VPN also has an always-on functionality and also encrypts DNS requests. DuckDuckGo does not say how many servers are available, but only that those servers are in the US and Europe.

Privacy Pro also has an option for personal information removal. Users can enter their data and DuckDuckGo then searches the internet for services and data brokers that have stored this data. According to DuckDuckGo, it constantly monitors “more than fifty” such data brokers. If information is found at one of those services, the browser creates a deletion request locally. This is then also submitted and processed by DuckDuckGo if the company agrees. This service can only be used on a single desktop computer and not on mobile browsers.

DuckDuckGo also works with the company Iris to combat identity theft. DuckDuckGo helps collaborate with financial institutions to reverse fraudulent transactions, for example, supports the replacement of driver's licenses or passports, and offers subscribers support from a personal coach for questions.

Especially because of the last two services, Privacy Pro only available to US users. It is not known whether the service will also be available in the Netherlands in the future.