Privacy and Security Discussion

Marsss 

Disclosures: (1) In my opinion, Google is a data-mining operation, nothing more and nothing less, and I avoid contact with Google and its platforms and services as much as possible. Accordlingly, I do not install Google Chrome, or use the Google search engine, GMail or Google Earth, on my Windows or Linux computers, nor do I use any of those platforms/services on my Android devices. I use EdgeHTML frequently, but my primary browser is Firefox because Firefox is available on Windows, Linux and Android (Edge HTML is not available on Linux), has solid built-in privacy/security features/functions, because Mozilla does not resell browser/user data, and because Firefox offers a level of user-control over browser features/functions that is unavailable in EdgeHTML browsers. I do not use third-party extensions on either EdgeHTML or Firefox. I am testing Edge Chromium with a wary eye but open mind, but will not use Edge Chromium going forward unless I am convinced that Edge Chromium has resolved a number of security issues that I've discussed in other threads. My hope (and belief) is that Microsoft will resolve those issues because enterprise customers will demand the level of security that I think essential, but that is not a done deal at this point.

With that said, I think that it is important to note that your questions deal with issues that are related but distinct. Google Chrome, as a browser, is closely tied to the Google ecosystem, but Google Chrome is not a primary source of information for the Google data-mining operation. Gmail, the Google search engine, Google Earth/Maps, YouTube, Google Docs/Drive and other browser-independent Google-linked platforms/services are the primary sources of information for Google's data-mining operations, and those platforms/services operate unimpeded whether or not launched from Google Chrome.

Now to your questions: The jury is still out on most of your concerns (as is the case with my concerns), but I expect to see technical documents emerge on those issues in response to the concerns of Microsoft's enterprise customers.

But, keeping in mind that Edge Chromium is a work in progress and at an early stage of development, here are my thoughts on a few of your questions:

3.) How does Edge compare to Google Chrome, the most data hogging browser of all that I believe there is?

Chromium (the open-source platform on which Google Chrome and Edge Chromium are based), is closely tied into the Google ecosystem, and that is one of the reasons that Linux users have increasingly turned to Firefox (about 80% to 20%) as the preferred browser. Microsoft has removed/replaced many/most (about 50 by my count) of the services that tie Chromium into the Google ecosytem.

However, "replaced" may be the oprerative term in this case, because Microsoft (as should be expected given the importance of Microsoft's enterprise user base) seems to be closely tying Edge Chromium to the Microsoft ecosystem, and it is not clear yet whether and to what extent users will have control over attaching/detaching from Microsoft's ecosytem when setting up the browser.

It is also worth noting, I think, that a number of the basic security/privacy flaws (e.g. lack of a "delete user data on exit" option) in Google Chrome currently exist in Edge Chromium, and we have been given no definitive answer about whether those basic security/privacy flaws will be corrected before release.

4.) How does Edge compare to Firefox, especially now that Firefox seems to be focusing more and more on user privacy aside from speed?

Firefox is generally considered to stand head and shoulders above other browsers in terms of privacy protection, security and user control over features/functions, although EdgeHTML is reasonably solid in that regard, particularly in terms of security (EdgeHTML is tied into Windows Defender and offers a degree of malware protection). Google Chrome is somewhere between horrible and dreadful on all counts. It isn't clear yet where Edge Chromium will land on that spectrum. I suspect (again because of enterprise customers) that Microsoft will take care to insure that Edge Chromium is as closely linked into Windows security protections at all levels as EdgeHTML, but the jury is still out.

5.) Lastly, can we expect more privacy and security features in the future? Please brief some of these.

I hope so, but this is a question that we will have to look to Microsoft's security/privacy documentation to find out, as that documentation emerges in the future.  I'm glad you raised the questions, and I will be curious to see how the Edge Team responds.