Perhaps the name should be "IronyBrands"
We’ve been sounding the alarm about Google analytics, tag manager, and other Google trackers for years and why we started making our own extensions and browsers to block them and provide more comprehensive protection. On our homepage and everywhere else we can we try to get people to install those to get that additional protection, which you can compare here: https://duckduckgo.com/compare-privacy
Furthermore, I don't see any intimation in the article that Google owns DuckDuckGo.
All in all, it seems you and the article are on the same page.
They could have done a marketing blog post about the evils of Google Analytics without dragging DDG into this...
Unlike Simple Analytics (the post authors), you deploy Counterscale to your own Cloudflare account and control the code + data end-to-end. It also uses no cookies, has no browser fingerprinting, and has no monetized SaaS offering.
It only has 90 days retention though, which could be viewed positively.
IP address, User-Agent string, Referrer URL, Requested URL, Language, Locale, Screen resolution, Time zone, System time, Installed fonts, Installed plugins, Cookie data, Browser fingerprint, Canvas fingerprint, WebGL fingerprint, AudioContext fingerprint, Mouse movements, Click paths, Keyboard input timing, History sniffing, DNS queries, Destination IP addresses, HTTP traffic content, HTTPS metadata (host, SNI, timing), MAC address, Query parameters, Session ID, Login status, User account info, Geolocation (via IP), Geolocation (via browser API), Page interaction data, Time on page, Scroll behavior, Clicks, Form submissions, Browser type, OS type, Network provider, Client ID (\_ga cookie), Session ID, Timestamp, Pages visited, UTM parameters, Interaction events, Google Ad ID, DoubleClick cookie (IDE), Cross-site behavior, Cross-device behavior, Inferred demographics, Mouse tracking, Scroll depth, Video interactions, Audio interactions, Session replay, Keystroke logging, Facebook login status, Pixel events (Meta, LinkedIn, etc)
If you want to avoid that, you need to make a real effort (not just using DuckDuckGo). The Tails operating system might be a good place to start.
And remote servers are outside of your local network and thus cannot see these values, either.
You may assume that they collude, or not.
Just using Firefox with uBlock, no history, and privacy settings on max, through a somewhat trustworthy VPN like Mullvad will make your data mostly useless. Yeah, "they" could still catch you in a million ways, but if your threat model revolves mostly around surveillance capitalism you'll just be too much of a hassle to matter
It mixes voluntary user actions, like submitting forms and “query parameters”, with things like “WebGL fingerprint” which we agree is evil sneaky fingerprinting.
I agree tracking is a serious problem, but this list isn’t contributing to any discussion.
It is scary where we are, but you can't solve it by dismissing it as FUD.
9: <script src="https://test-v1.adriaan.com/script-v1.js" async></script>
https://test-v1.adriaan.com/simple.gif?type=event&hostname=t... Gecko/20100101 Firefox/128.0&version=test-2025-04-22-v2&event=onload&path=/blog/google-is-tracking-you-even-when-you-use-duck-duck-go&referrer=&session_id=ab6ceafa-47c1-48e4-b26b-79148e625a15&metadata={"beacon_ok":true,"keepalive_ok":false,"ts_ms":1752496007219,"send_method":"image"}&t=1752496007219
So the correct title must be: "We track you when you're reading about Google tracking you (even when using DuckDuckGo)."
You are sending the user agent, path, referrer, a session id + the IP (which is automatically sent) to your personal server and also using a different domain to track users who have ad blockers installed. Even Google Analytics does not use random domain names to track adblock users (yet).
This is slightly incorrect. By sending a request from your business website (SimpleAnalytics) to your personal domain (Adriaan), you actually transfer personal data. In this case, it’s the IP address, which according to GDPR is considered PII.
Taking into account the scope of privacy terms provided on your business website, it doesn’t include data sharing with your personal entity through your website. So this is basically illegal, unless adriaan[.]com belongs and operated by SimpleAnalytics company.
How about this, I set a preference for some stuff I am interested in and that’s what they can show me.
3-letter-agencies.gif
Google analytics??
And many vpns also offer an option to block trackers and ads before they get to you.
So any client side requests to a known URL is just blocked. So only server side would work.
This is basically it. GDPR is a stupid unenforceable law, and should be wiped from the books. Try again with something new.
China has a ton of laws aimed to suppress political dissent, and a good chunk of their laws/regulations would be even more unenforceable if they adopted an EU style approach. Of course, China means business, so they just go ahead and deploy the sledgehammer: you are banned from China unless you comply with the law. You typically can't even read the letter of the law and implement what it says verbatim; if you violate the spirit of the law (that is, don't disseminate anti-CCP content) you will still get the banhammer.
It's all about what political capital you're willing to give up to enforce the law.
Many "cookie banners" have finally started to work in the EU. Once you deny PII processing many sites don't load GA etc... The time of malicious compliance is starting to pass. Some sites have figured it out and realized they really don't need personalized analytics and have replaced implementations with privacy respecting ones(ex, plausible). This lets them remove the dark-patternish banner and no additional consent is required as all data is pooled together and one persons actions truly can't be singled out.
GDPR obviously has other good effects but as PII processing through cookies is what most people know, I chose that as an example. Email tracking links & pixels are another good example.
There's also a big difference between 2018 and 2025 when discussing GDPR in work contexts and saying that implementing this or that tracking would be illegal.
It's a slow process, but it's working as intended.
The way you phrase this is expressly non-compliant with the GDPR, because what you're describing is an opt-out. To be compliant, websites should only load GA etc after you accept PII processing.
For stopping tracking, uBlock Origin.
And yes I still use uBlock on top on desktop.
