Previously I was more critical on duckduckgo but I am converting my opinion.
Their search function may not be as good as google but then they are not also compiling a database of everything you do on-line and then further sharing it with other organizations (including the government) behind your back. Our best hope is that we support this tool so that they can hopefully continue to improve it and to provide a counterbalance to organizations that are not interested in maintaining real user privacy.
For those interested in knowing more about this issue I recommend the following podcast:
https://fs.blog/gabriel-weinberg/