DuckDuckGo Sync & Backup Privacy Policy
DuckDuckGo's Sync & Backup allows you to store and sync an encrypted copy of your bookmarks, email protection settings, Duck.ai chats, passwords and other autofill information (such as credit cards, names, and addresses) (“Sync & Backup Data”) across connected DuckDuckGo browsers. The master decryption key is stored on your devices, so we cannot read any of the data stored on our servers, which are hosted by our cloud providers.
We use end-to-end encryption.
Synced data is end-to-end encrypted on your devices. This means that before your data is sent to us, it is first encrypted with a master decryption key. This master decryption key is embedded in your Recovery Code and stored locally on any devices that you sync, protected by your device's built-in secure storage (for example, Apple Keychain or Android Keystore). Data can only be decrypted (read) on devices that have the master decryption key. As noted above, this means DuckDuckGo cannot read your Sync & Backup Data.
We do not require any personal information or accounts for Sync & Backup to function.
To protect your identity, you do not need to create an account in order to use Sync & Backup. Instead, when you enable Sync & Backup within a DuckDuckGo browser, you are issued a random Recovery Code and associated QR Codes to connect your devices. For more information about setting up Sync & Backup, follow the instructions here.
In supported DuckDuckGo browsers, you may optionally enable the feature to ‘Restore on App Reinstall’. This allows you to restore access to your Sync & Backup Data after reinstalling the DuckDuckGo app or restoring it on a new device. You can opt out of this feature at any time by going to your Sync & Backup settings and toggling off ‘Restore on App Reinstall’. If you enable this feature on Android, your Recovery Code and device name will be securely stored using Android's Block Store infrastructure.
We limit how long we keep encrypted data.
If your Sync & Backup Data is not accessed for 18 months, it is automatically deleted from our servers and cannot be recovered.
You can disable Sync & Backup and delete your synced data at any time by following the instructions here. Disabling Sync & Backup or deleting synced data from our servers will not remove data already stored locally on your devices.
We will notify you when our Sync & Backup Privacy Policy is updated.
We will notify you of changes to this document by posting the modified version at https://duckduckgo.teclab.org.cn/sync_and_backup/privacy. We will indicate the date it was last modified below with an updated message on top if substantive changes were made.
Our general Privacy Policy also applies to your use of Sync & Backup. If there is a conflict with our general Privacy Policy, this Sync & Backup Privacy Policy applies.