There was a person in all these days that trough some shade on Boost for tracking, but they were referring to the free version, which makes the presence of ads and tracking very clear. In the post somebody recommended the app tracking protection that comes with DuckDuckGos Browser. I downloaded it and to my surprise have had a lot of tracking attempts blocked from Boost, despite me having the payed version.
I thought I’d ask about this here first, because there might be a reasonable explanation for this. From my understanding it was made clear previously, that the payed version of boost doesn’t tack data…?
After a little experimenting I believe that what you’re seeing are tracking attempts from websites using the in-app browser.
I didn’t see a single tracking attempt when using Boost except when using the in-app browser.
If you click a link to http://amazon.com/ and it loads inside Boost then DuckDuckGo records the trackers that the Web page loads as coming from Boost.
I recommend instead using an external browser:
Settings > General > Default Browser > select “Open Externally”
Unfortunately I already have had my browser set to Firefox since I started using Boast, so it can’t be the in-app browser.
Which companies is the App Tracking Protection recording Boost connecting to?
As seen in the screenshot, for me it’s only Google. Could if be an Android thing?
It’s probably that they’re using the free tier and didn’t read any of the full screen pop-up disclosures on first launch. The ones that clearly say that you’re using ad networks to take your data.
This happens at launch. The first thing it does is check if you have a paid version, if you don’t it loads the ad networks, otherwise it just loads the program.
The ad network shows a full-screen pop-up the first time it’s started ever, this pop-up discloses the tracking.
It’s probable that they didn’t read/understand the disclosure and are seeing normal ad network traffic.
Ah, that’s where DuckDuckGo is being particular unhelpful.
You can read Boost’s privacy policy by going to:
Settings > Privacy Policy
Which takes you to: https://www.iubenda.com/privacy-policy/16063183
It mentions that Boost uses:
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Firebase Crashlytics https://firebase.google.com/docs/crashlytics
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Firebase Remote Config https://firebase.google.com/docs/remote-config
These are standard tools used by developers. They’re not advertising networks, they aren’t selling your data. There’s nothing nefarious about them. You can follow those links to learn more about them.
Firebase is owned by Google and these API are hosted under google domains:
So I can see why DuckDuckGo is labelling them as Google but it’s a little misleading.
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If you share examples of the blocked tracking attempts we might be able to make sense of it. Without seeing it this just sounds like another unevidenced smear.
If I wanted to smear I wouldn’t have come here but posted it elsewhere, for example in the thread I brought up. How would I show such examples?
A screenshot of the app was what I meant. But after posting that I tried it out myself (see my other reply).
I was kinda disappointed DuckDuckGo didn’t give any meaningful insight. It looks like it’s basically just guessing what the trackers may be collecting based on domains connected to.
As mentioned in my other reply I’m certain the trackers recorded are actually from opening websites using the in-app browser, not from Boost itself.
So does it stop showing tracking when you sett your browser to external? Because it doesn’t for me.
Also, details are the same for me, just a general guess.
I don’t have an answer for this particularly, but it might be worth it to check out this post and article, because duckduckgo have decided to opt everyone into AI.
