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Security report for duck.ai

DuckDuckGo · Technology · United States

Medium risk. 3 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS and GDPR outside view.

Security score

70/100

Risk levelMedium

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

DuckDuckGo is a well-established privacy-focused technology company founded in 2007, offering a search engine and AI chat services under the Duck.ai brand. The company emphasizes user privacy by not tracking searches or storing user prompts and outputs on their servers, instead opting for local device storage and anonymization before interacting with AI model providers. Their AI chat service integrates multiple leading AI models, including GPT and Claude, with strict privacy agreements in place. Technically, the website uses modern web technologies such as React and delivers a fast, mobile-optimized experience with excellent design and user experience. Security practices include HTTPS enforcement and data anonymization, though some security headers and cookie consent mechanisms could be improved. Overall, the domain registration and WHOIS data align with the company's history and branding, indicating a legitimate and trustworthy online presence.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
53/ 100 · Medium
Checks completed
7of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

3 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. SSL/TLS

    TLS encrypts the connection and proves the site is really yours. Weak or expiring certificates trigger browser warnings and put traffic at risk.

    • Critical

      Unable to retrieve SSL certificate

      Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information

      What to do: Check if the server is accessible and SSL/TLS is properly configured

  2. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Cookie Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

      What to do: Add a dedicated cookie policy explaining cookie usage and purposes

    • High

      No Cookie Consent Banner found

      GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

      What to do: Implement a cookie consent banner that appears on first visit

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching duck.ai

This scan found 12 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

Daily monitoring

Recommended

€25per month

  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

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Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
0
Security headers
90
Email security
85
DNS health
90
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
53
Average
70

Not counted

  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

DuckDuckGo holds a strong market position as a leading privacy-centric search engine and AI chat provider. Their business model focuses on privacy-first services, targeting general users concerned about data tracking and privacy. Revenue streams likely include privacy-respecting advertising and partnerships. The company maintains a robust partnership ecosystem with AI model providers and open-source contributors, as evidenced by multiple GitHub links. Growth indicators include the integration of AI chat services and continuous product updates. The company operates primarily in the technology sector with a large user base and global reach.

Security posture

DuckDuckGo demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS, anonymization of user data, and contractual agreements with AI providers to limit data usage and retention. The absence of personal data storage on servers reduces risk exposure. However, the lack of visible security headers and a formal vulnerability disclosure policy indicates room for improvement. Incident response contact is provided via a legal email address, supporting compliance with regulations such as GDPR. Overall, the security culture appears strong but could benefit from enhanced transparency and additional security controls.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC to improve domain name system security.
  2. Implement and publish security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HSTS, and X-Frame-Options.
  3. Add a cookie policy and consent mechanism to comply with privacy regulations and improve transparency.
  4. Publish a security.txt file to facilitate responsible vulnerability disclosure.
  5. Consider providing more direct contact options for security incidents and data protection officer information.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
DuckDuckGo
Description
DuckDuckGo provides privacy-focused search and AI chat services, offering free and private AI chat with multiple AI models including GPT and Claude without tracking users.
Key services
Privacy search engine, Duck.ai AI chat service, Privacy protection tools
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
React, JavaScript, CSS, Proxima Nova font, Various JS bundles and modules
Frameworks
React
Platforms
Web
Performance
fast
Mobile
excellent
Accessibility
good
SEO
basic

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No personal data stored on servers
  • Anonymization of user data before sending to AI providers
  • Agreements with AI model providers to limit data use

Analytics and tracking

Tracking level
minimal
Privacy practices
excellent

Advertising

Transparency
poor

Site quality

Design
excellent
User experience
excellent
Content relevance
excellent
Navigation
excellent
Professionalism
excellent
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible with no blocking or WAF challenges.
  2. Strong privacy focus with clear policies and no user tracking.
  3. Use of modern web technologies and good UX design.
  4. No cookie consent mechanism detected, which could be improved.
  5. No explicit security headers detected in provided data; recommend adding.
  6. No direct phone numbers or physical addresses found on the page.
  7. Contact email legal@duckduckgo.com provided for legal and incident response.
  8. AI chat service uses multiple AI models with privacy agreements in place.
  9. No advertising or tracking scripts detected in the provided content.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a modern React framework with modular JavaScript and CSS assets, ensuring a fast and responsive user experience. The use of custom fonts and well-structured CSS variables indicates attention to design consistency and accessibility. Hosting and DNS are managed through reputable providers, including NameCheap and NS1. Performance is optimized with preloading and prefetching of scripts. There is no evidence of legacy or vulnerable libraries in the provided content. The technical infrastructure supports scalability and security but could be enhanced with additional security headers and formalized vulnerability management.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

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