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Microsoft's new Edge browser has such powerful privacy settings that it's triggering the ad blocker popup on some websites, even when I don't have an ad blocker
Microsoft's new Edge browser has such powerful privacy settings that it's triggering the ad blocker popup on some websites, even when I don't have an ad blocker
Antonio Villas-BoasJan 29, 2020, 15:59 IST
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One of the best things about Microsoft's new Edge browser is its intuitive and useful privacy settings.
It's a contrast to my experience with Google Chrome, where privacy settings are comprehensive, but less intuitive, and less effective than Edge, it seems.
Edge's "Strict" privacy setting is so powerful that it triggers pop-ups asking me to disable my ad blocker on certain sites, even though I don't use an ad blocker. Essentially, Edge's privacy settings can act like an ad blocker.
Meanwhile, Google Chrome still showed me ads with the similar privacy settings found in Edge's "Strict" setting.
I switched over from Google Chrome to Microsoft's new Edge browser to give it a shot over a week ago, and I haven't moved back to Chrome yet.
I'm truly enjoying the new Edge, largely because it looks and works a lot like Chrome, and the switch was completely seamless. The new Edge feels as snappy as Chrome, if not snappier, and it's also using up less of my computer's resources.
I've also enjoyed something else about the new Edge compared to Google's Chrome - the privacy settings are easier to understand. I also know they're working because some websites have asked me to disable my ad blocker, even though I don't actually have one.
Edge offers a one-click-to-fix experience that's easy for anyone to control the degree of privacy they want while browsing the web. That's to say, it's quick and easy if you don't really know what to look for, and you're simply looking to be left alone by trackers - a basic method to browse the web without being, well, tracked.
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Unfortunately, that's not the case for Chrome. Check it out:
If you want basic privacy while you're browsing the web, you'll want to prevent websites from tracking you with little invisible tools, aptly named "trackers," that are built into a website.
"Trackers" in websites come in a variety of forms, like cookies or fingerprinters. They all have a common goal — to learn more about you. And they can be used for a variety of different things. Some can be useful, like remembering your preferences on certain websites and services.
Others aren't so useful, and are designed to track things like your behavior on the web to create a profile about you in order to serve ads based on what you've been searching and doing on the web.
The new Edge makes it very easy to stop trackers from, well, tracking you.
The privacy menu is clearly visible on the left under "Profile," and I'm presented with three options: Basic, Balanced, and Strict.
The new Edge's "Strict" privacy setting is blocking ad trackers so well that it's acting like an ad blocker in some cases.
Despite the "Strict" setting on the new Edge, I haven't experienced any extra difficulties or obstacles in the websites and services I normally use. It seems to be doing a good job of keeping trackers and cookies that are useful and blocking those that aren't.
Chrome has similar settings against trackers, but it's not as intuitive as it is in Edge, and it involves more clicks.
Everything I need to prevent trackers is built into Chrome, too, but it's more complicated to get there than it is on Edge, and you don't get a sense of how strict you're being against trackers. Instead, you get individual settings like allowing sites to save and read cookie data, and blocking third-party cookies.
You click Settings, Advanced, Privacy and security, Site settings, then, finally, Cookies and site data.
And Chrome's privacy and tracker settings don't seem to be as potent as Edge's. With all the relevant privacy settings enables in Chrome, an ad was still displayed on this website.
For once, it's Google that can learn from Microsoft, at least when it comes to privacy settings.
Mozilla's Firefox should also get a mention, as it has intuitive and simple privacy settings similar to the new Edge.
