Privacy Oriented Search Engine Blocked in China

CHINA—China has reportedly started blocking DuckDuckGo, a search engine that protects people's privacy by not tracking their searches, according to CNET, which reported that DuckDuckGo founder and CEO Gabriel Weinberg had tweeted the news in response to a media query. "We did get blocked as far as we know," he tweeted. "DuckDuckGo has seen its popularity grow over the past year," reported CNET. "In 2013, the site picked up more than 1 billion searches, according to blog site Geektime. DuckDuckGo scored a major win when Apple announced that it would add the site as one of the default search options for Safari in iOS 8 and Mac OS X Yosemite. "Weinberg told TechInAsia that he wasn't sure when the block started or why but said that his site was accessible in China earlier during the summer," it continued. "The GreatFire site, which reports on websites and services blocked in China, also shows DuckDuckGo as blocked in the country with an indication that the ban may have started September 3." However, Weinberg also told the site that he was not overly concerned because the site doesn;t get much traffic from the country, and "added that he has no plans to reach out to anyone in China to pursue the matter further." Instead, he told CNET in an email, "DuckDuckGo is now available in iOS 8 and OS X Mavericks & Mountain Lion and all of our focus is on that." The article adds, "Search engines face unique challenges in trying to carve out business in China where the government demands that certain information be blocked from its citizens. Such companies must decide whether to comply with Chinese censorship by locally blocking the information themselves or run into difficulties with the Beijing government."