DuckDuckGo is only anonymous if you use it in conjunction with a secure browser such as TOR and an ONION server.
I mean if you’re going that far you need Tails or another anonymous OS too. TOR isn’t 100% secure, exit nodes have visibility and a lot are run by law enforcement.
You aren’t anonymous at all to your ISP on any website. Duck duck go doesn’t store your search history or track you for ads, that’s all.
Your best bet for total privacy would be something like a private VPN or two on someone else’s WiFi on a clean machine running Tails and using TOR. Even then GCHQ could probably track you if they wanted. Just the fact you’re accessing onion sites is enough to put you on a watchlist of course.
If all you want is to stop hackers and bad actors then just a VPN will do the job.