Microsoft Edge is sending your browsing history to Bing, how to turn it off

Microsoft Edge is sharing details about the sites you visit with the Bing search engine by default. This privacy concern is giving us a big reason to avoid using Microsoft's cross-platform web browser. Notably, Microsoft Edge has garnered a lot of attention for the wrong reasons in recent months.

India's CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) recently flagged vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Edge browser, according to a CNBC TV18 report. According to the security agency, the web browser has several security issues that could allow cybercriminals to bypass your device's security and access your personal data.

Microsoft Edge's privacy concern: Here's what we know

Some hawk-eyed Reddit users have brought another privacy concern to light. According to the Reddit post, the problem is caused by the "follow content creators" option, which was added with the Microsoft Edge 112.0.1722.34 update. To make things worse, this option is switched on by default.

The tool offers suggestions for content creators that you can follow in Edge. The goal is to provide the latest updates from the creators in one place, rather than following them on different social media platforms. In other words, the tool is designed to eliminate the need to visit multiple URLs.

However, the tool is reportedly sending information about the sites you visit back to Microsoft through the bingapis.com domain. So, it is safe to say that the newly added tool is tracking you and gradually destroying your browsing privacy. However, this data collection is not an intentional information harvest, but rather a bug.

Developer Rafael Rivera told The Verge that the tool doesn't notify Bing of the sites you want to follow. Instead, it appears to be notifying Bing of the domains you visit. Apparently, the tool isn't working correctly. Reportedly, Microsoft is aware of the problem and is sparing no effort to take "appropriate action to address any issues."

Still, this is a huge privacy problem that could give a lot of Edge browser users a reason to switch to Google Chrome. Microsoft has been leaving no stone unturned in a bid to promote and upgrade its Edge browser lately. For instance, the company started offering the Bing AI Image Creator with its browser for free earlier this month.

Also, the word on the street is that Samsung is planning to replace Google with Bing AI as a default search engine on its Galaxy devices. However, the recently surfaced issue is not a great look for privacy in the Edge browser. Nevertheless, you can stop the Edge browser from sending your data to Bing.

Microsoft Edge is teeming with all sorts of features such as a Sidebar, a password manager, and integration with Bing. However, a significant number of users consider some of these features to be "bloat." They think that these unnecessary features decelerate the browser. Last month, Twitter user Leo Varela shared a gif that suggests Microsoft might add an option to remove some of the browser's features.

However, it is unclear how much "bloat" Microsoft will allow users to remove from its browser. The gif shows a section called "optional features" so the company isn't likely to let users remove something it considers a core part of its browser.

How to stop Microsoft Edge from sending your visited pages to Bing?

Microsoft is reportedly prepping an update to fix the privacy issue. In the meantime, you can stop Bing from acquiring your browsing data by following a few simple steps.

1. Open Edge Browser and go to Settings, and then click on Privacy, search, and Services.
2. Here, simply scroll down to the Services section and turn off "Get notified when creators you follow post new content."
3. The next step involves switching off "Show suggestions to follow creators in Microsoft Edge" and restarting the browser. This will ensure that the Edge browser does not send your visited webpages to Bing apis.