I just received another angry accusatory email that unfortunately I can do nothing about because it was anonymous. I'd love to get to the bottom of the accusation and correct any bugs if they exist, but I can't because there was not enough information provided to do so.
I get a few of these a week, and a lot more (non-angry not-accusatory) anonymous feedback via the DuckDuckGo feedback page and on the DuckDuckGo forum. We accept anonymous feedback both to maximize the amount of feedback we're receiving and also because it is in the spirit of our privacy policy.
For general suggestions and minor bugs, e.g. spelling corrections, anonymous feedback is fine. The problem is that for anything complex we generally need to correspond with the poster to figure out what is happening.
Many bugs involve the specifics of your browser, such as what extensions you have installed, what DuckDuckGo settings you have turned on/off and in many cases what query you performed. I've lost count at how many anonymous emails I've received where I don't have enough information to do anything worthwhile in response.
I understand the need to vent and that you may not want to associate your identity with your tone, or otherwise reveal your identity at all. However, if you're taking the time to write up this problem presumably you want it resolved (maybe not). Well, if you do, I need a way to contact you, which could be a throw-away email account.
I would suggest to provide as much specificity as possible in the original message, but there always seems to be something missing. And I usually really would like to reply in any case, if only to let you know when it is fixed or provide you with an extended explanation.
