Again for clarity i think its fine that people use ddg, its betters then bing and google. But the absolute trust people seem to have is wild considering all of this. I occasionally use both ddg and startpage myself

The summary of my evidence is the hyperlink in my first comment.

Back on topic;

Hé doesn’t say that, the trackers are being blocked since 2022 since microsoft agreed to change the policy. Thats also in my original link

I guess you could believe this was unrelated that this happened just after it became a scandal but i am not that naive.

As a response to the scandal the ceo has the following to say.

For non-search tracker blocking (eg in our browser), we block most third-party trackers. Unfortunately our Microsoft search syndication agreement prevents us from doing more to Microsoft-owned properties. However, we have been continually pushing and expect to be doing more soon.

Bleeping computers, who originally ran this story hit the nail on its head with

“While DuckDuckGo has been transparent regarding the advertisement partnership with Microsoft, it is not clear why they did not disclose the allowing of Microsoft trackers until a security researcher discovered it.

This revelation comes at the wrong time, as DuckDuckGo recently went after Google for their new 'Topics' and 'FLEDGE' tracking methods, saying, "Google says they're better for privacy, but the simple fact is tracking is tracking, no matter what you call it."

Especially that last part is something ddg seemed to really want to forget cause after the ceo came with the following.

"We have always been extremely careful to never promise anonymity when browsing, because that frankly isn’t possible given how quickly trackers change how they work to evade protections and the tools we currently offer. When most other browsers on the market talk about tracking protection, they are usually referring to 3rd-party cookie protection and fingerprinting protection, and our browsers for iOS, Android, and our new Mac beta, impose these restrictions on third-party tracking scripts, including those from Microsoft.

Thats a huge leap in attitude from tracking is tracking..

You are allowed to trust this guy, i see no reason why anyone would and i am gonna continue to get people to remain critical.

On the browser, i legit didn’t know there where 2 products but i don’t think that matters regardless trusting this corporation.