Disconnect (software)

Disconnect is a partly open source{{cite web|url=https://disconnect.me/opensource|title=Online Privacy & Security|author=Disconnect|publisher=}} browser extension and mobile app designed to stop non-consensual third party trackers, and providing private web search and private web browsing.{{cite web|url=https://disconnect.me/freeprotection|title=Online Privacy & Security|author=Disconnect|publisher=|access-date=2016-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110220235/https://disconnect.me/freeprotection|archive-date=2016-11-10|url-status=dead}} On mobile, it is available for Android and iPhone. It was developed by Brian Kennish and Casey Oppenheim. Disconnect-Search had once been the default search engine of the security-focused Tor Browser, which now uses DuckDuckGo.{{cite web|url=https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/14490|title=#14490 (Make Disconnect Search the default search engine for Tor Browser alpha) – Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki|publisher=}}{{cite web|url=https://support.torproject.org/tbb/tbb-41/|title=Why did my search engine switch to DuckDuckGo? - Tor Project}}

The Electronic Frontier Foundation compared the app to its own Privacy Badger browser plugin.{{cite web|url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/08/blocking-consumer-choice-googles-dangerous-ban-privacy-security-app|title=Blocking Consumer Choice: Google's Dangerous Ban of Privacy and Security App |date=2 September 2014 |publisher=Electronic Frontier Foundation|accessdate=2014-09-05}}

The app was banned from the Google Play Store five days after its release in late August 2014. Google cited a violation of its Terms of Service which prohibit developers from using its store "to distribute apps that interfere with or disrupt the services of any third party".Google Bans Disconnect.me App From Play Store Based On Vague Guidelines This, however, attracted criticism from parties such as EFF (and Disconnect itself) which saw this app as privacy-friendly, and argue that Google's motivations are primarily based on the fact that this app interferes with ad-based revenue models of numerous companies, including Google itself.{{cite web|url=http://www.hngn.com/articles/40959/20140901/google-banishes-disconnect-mobile-app-interfering-lucrative-business.htm|title=Google Banishes Disconnect Mobile App For Interfering with Its Lucrative Business : News : Headlines & Global News|date=September 2014 |publisher=hngn.com|accessdate=2014-09-05}}{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/why-google-banned-connect-mobile-2014-8|title=Why Google Banned Connect Mobile - Business Insider|publisher=businessinsider.com|accessdate=2014-09-05}}{{cite news|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/08/28/why-some-privacy-apps-get-blocked-from-the-android-play-store/|title=Why Some Privacy Apps Get Blocked From the Android Play Store - Digits - WSJ|newspaper=Wall Street Journal |date=28 August 2014 |publisher=blogs.wsj.com|accessdate=2014-09-05 |last1=Albergotti |first1=Reed |last2=Barr |first2=Alistair |last3=Dwoskin |first3=Elizabeth }} The app was restored to the Google Play Store two weeks after its initial banning,{{cite web|url=http://www.tomshardware.com/news/disconnect-mobile-apps-android-google,27619.html

|title=Disconnect Mobile Returns To The Play Store Two Weeks After Google Ban

|date=2014-09-08

}} before being banned for a second time overnight.{{cite web|url=http://www.cnet.com/news/disconnect-mobile-yanked-again-from-google-play/

|title=Disconnect Mobile yanked again from Google Play

|date=2014-09-09

}}

In June 2015, Disconnect filed an antitrust complaint against Google.{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/06/02/disconnect-me-files-antitrust-case-against-google-in-europe-over-banned-anti-malware-android-app/

|title=Disconnect.Me Files Antitrust Case Against Google In Europe Over Banned Anti-Malware Android App

|date=2015-06-02

}}