Like Google, DuckDuckGo Has Been Blocked In China

Here's an interesting one: China is blocking DuckDuckGo. the very private search engine, and newly found option in iOS 8, is reportedly being blocked in China. In response to a Twitter question asking why a device with iOS 8 — and DuckDuckGo enabled — wouldn't connect to the search engine, CEO Gabriel Weinberg acknowledged the Chinese stiff-arm.

The oddity is that China was accusatory in the past of Apple spying on its citizens. China has also blocked Google, which is an effort to better control the flow of information to citizens in China.

The DuckDuckGo incident is a bit more opaque. The search engine doesn't track locations, and doesn't store search queries. If anything, DuckDuckGo eliminates troublesome annoyances found elsewhere.

There has been no reason offered up yet for why DuckDuckGo is being blocked, so we can't say what's going on. It's not known if China wants data servers on their own soil, a concession Apple made recently, or if the lack of tracking is bothersome for a territory bent on controlling what their people can and can't see.

Via: TechInAsia