Forum Discussion
We're Listening!
Even if you change your search engine to google search, when you open an "incognito tab", microsoft adds a privacy invasive "search privately with bing" that does not respect the default search engine, and does not allow users to customize with a service of their choice.
Hello KeenBowl, I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish going into "incognito mode." That has nothing to do with masking your identity online. All it does is remove evidence of your online activity from the computer you were on. Also, if you're concerned about privacy, Google search is the worst engine to use. Google's business plan is to take all your information and sell it to others. When you use anything Google, YOU are the product. I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think that Microsoft is in the business of mining your information and selling it to others. The most secure search engine is Duck Duck Go, and it is selectable in Edge's settings page. Finally, on the incognito page, if you search in the URL window instead of the search window, it will select your chosen search engine.
Regards,
Dan
- I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish going into "incognito mode.":
I'm trying to "remove evidence of your online activity from the computer i'm on".
Regardless of what I'm trying to do, what i definitely think is intentionally dishonest coming from the edge engineering team is to disrespect user's choice by pushing dark manipulative UI patterns onto unsuspecting users.
THe edge team is doing this with bing search in the sidebar, with all sorts of places that use search, and all sorts of user preferences that try to disable and replace microsoft services and microsoft data collection.
Meanwhile, the difference between google and microsoft is that google literally was founded on the principle of not being evil.
"I don't think that Microsoft is in the business of mining your information and selling it to others"
Microsoft is literally trying to get into that business right now with bing, edge, and all sorts of tracking and privacy violating products. One of the worst in that regard is vscode+github. It collects user's data, and sell's it to others. Linkedin collects user's data, and sell's it to others in the form of ads. Windows 10 and Windows 11 collects user's data, and sell's it to others in the form of ads and "suggestions". And on top of that, microsoft services are designed to make it intentionally hard to enforce user's choices of using other products, in the form of repeated violation's of preferences, and installed software.- An answer me, how is the microsoft edge team trying to improve privacy while at the same time sharing everything with bing, pinterest, linkedin and other services that are notoriously known for being spammy, and privacy invasive?
Literally microsoft edge is the most privacy invasive browser in the market right now. At least google does not pretend to care about privacy, while microsoft is literally lying to user's, saying something and doing the other thing.If you're truly concerned about privacy, focusing on the details will serve you far better than joining in the chorus of ill-informed accusations and conclusions that are so common these days.
On today's ultra-connected Internet, billions are flocking to apps and services that facilitate increasing interconnection as well as syncing across devices and platforms. Furthermore, troubleshooting and reliability at this scale is impossible without at least some anonymous metadata collection.
The idea of returning to the simpler, isolated, and more private Internet of yesterday by complaining/shouting at large corporations is much like the proverbial relieving of oneself into the wind. Businesses are serving an exponentially larger set of customers who are expecting/demanding just the opposite (probably without fully realizing it in many cases, but education is still a more effective antidote).
Getting back to Microsoft Edge, if you push the memes aside for a moment and actually look, you'll see that Edge has an impressive array of settings catering to users who prioritize privacy over interconnectivity. Furthermore, IMO Edge's privacy controls are much easier to access and use as well as being far more powerful compared to Google Chrome for example.
Look beneath the surface to see Microsoft is not pretending. But you'll have to put in the work to take full advantage of Edge (and Windows) privacy features. If you're looking for a simple, private out-of-the-box browser, perhaps Brave, Firefox Focus or using Edge InPrivate Window mode are better options.
