Users are already tired of Google spying on them through its search engine and its browser, Chrome. All the websites we visit, our tastes, interests, everything we do … Google takes hold of it and uses it for its own benefit. Edge , Microsoft‘s new web browser, was beginning to be placed as an alternative for those who wanted to have a browser as similar to Chrome, but with more privacy. However, is Microsoft’s new browser really legit?
In reality, Microsoft and Google are not that different. Although it is true that the company responsible for Windows does not track the user as aggressively as its rival, since the arrival of Windows 10 it has begun to give much more value to user data, collecting information whenever it can. And that is one of the most criticized aspects of Windows 10.
Edge seemed something different, one more browser that only collected usage information with telemetry to improve the performance and stability of the browser. Later, it began to collect user interests to show personalized advertising through a unique ID , and to use this information to offer suggestions on the online bar.
Now, Microsoft has gone one step further. And the new Canary version of Edge is going to start sharing our data, and everything we do on the Internet, with other Windows 10 programs and services.
Edge shares your data with Windows 10 and other programs
The latest Edge Canary update has added a new option within Edge that users are not going to like. This new option, as described by Microsoft, will connect the browsing data saved locally on the PC (not from the online profile) with Windows. In this way, by activating this function, both Windows and its programs will be able to find information related to our history , favorites, most visited websites and recently opened tabs, among other information.
The Windows 10 search box , for example, will be one of the main system elements that will take advantage of these features. But other programs and services can also take advantage of it, such as Cortana or official Microsoft apps.
At the moment, it has only appeared to a very limited group of Edge Canary users. But little by little this new functionality will reach more users. And when Edge version 91 reaches its stable phase, this will surely start working for all users, opening the door for other programs and services to have access to our data.
Disable this option
Luckily, Microsoft will let us easily disable this option. To do this, what we must do is open Edge, and enter the Settings> Profiles section . Here we will find the new option related to this function called ” Share browsing data with other Windows functions “. Click on it and, in the new configuration page that we will see, we will deactivate the corresponding box.
Once deactivated, the browser will behave as it always has. Of course, it is clear that it is not a private web browser, so if we are concerned about our privacy, it is better to look for other options.
