> DDG is my default search engine. I still use the google bang over 80% of the time
Use the Startpage bang !s, or use Startpage itself. Startpage provides results from Google, AFAIK, but Startpage is designed for privacy. Startpage even has a built-in proxy service - there's a link under every search result.
(I don't know how private Startpage really is; I don't know why DDG has more credibility with privacy advocates; I don't know how they get away with providing Google's results. Does anyone know?)