Skip to main content

Chromium-based Edge gets tracking prevention for better online privacy

Chromium-based Edge has now got tracking prevention functionality, so those testing Microsoft’s revamped browser can give it a whirl.

Tracking prevention is now available to Edge testers on the Canary channel, meaning the earliest preview version of the browser, specifically build 77.0.203.0 which was released yesterday.

So what does it do? As the name suggests, it means that your progress around the web can’t be monitored or tracked, and more specifically, that you aren’t tracked by websites or services you aren’t actively visiting.

This happens more often than you might think when surfing the web, and third-party trackers can build up a considerably detailed picture of your preferences going by which websites you visit.

Microsoft explains: “Whenever a website is visited, trackers from other sites may save information in the browser using cookies and other storage mechanisms. This information may include the sites you’ve visited and the content you’re interested in, building a digital profile which can be accessed by organizations to offer personalized content when visiting other sites.”

The argument that the ad-peddling firms will push on the flipside is that without tracking, you will still see ads (unless you’re blocking them), just less relevant ones. There can also be issues whereby if you enable a strict level of tracker blocking, this may cause problems with some websites.

At any rate, Chromium-based Edge offers three different levels of tracking protection. Basic protection blocks any malicious trackers, but lets any others through, so your web adverts will still be personalized (and your preferences monitored, of course).

The recommended setting is 'Balanced' which blocks malicious material, and also some third-party trackers. Turn on Strict protection and almost all third-party trackers will be blocked, but as noted, this has the potential to interfere with and possibly break some websites.

Enabling tracking prevention

As tracking prevention is in such an early stage of testing, you’ll have to manually enable it. To do so, in the browser’s URL bar, enter the following:

edge://flags/#edge-tracking-prevention

This opens a settings page, where you can select to enable tracking prevention in the drop-down menu. After that, click ‘Relaunch Now’ to close and reopen the browser, in order to register your change in preferences.

Tracking prevention will now be on, and you can choose your preferred level in Edge’s privacy settings (edge://settings/privacy).

Note that Mac users haven’t got this feature yet, due to an unspecified issue, although Microsoft assures us that tracking prevention will be available for macOS via the next build that arrives from the Canary channel.

For more details on how tracking prevention works in Chromium-based Edge, check out Microsoft’s blog post here.



from TechRadar - All the latest technology news https://ift.tt/2xh7FkL

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The future of Magic Leap's promising AR efforts dim after layoffs

The Magic Leap Two is now further away than ever, unfortunately. Today in a blog post the augmented reality pioneer announced major layoffs and has decided to cut up to half of its workforce, according to some reports. The original Magic Leap One was supposed to be one of the first mainstream augmented reality headsets when it launched in 2018, but a high price point and lack of interest from developers left the headset high and dry after launch. According to the blog post, Magic Leap says it will be focusing its efforts on enterprise solutions (a statement HTC has made recently as well) and shift its focus away from consumer technology… at least for the time being.  The company has been open about creating a second headset that would offer improved specs for some time, but how that work will now have to go forward without half of the team , according to some estimates, remains to be seen. Is the window closing on augmented reality?  Although it’s just one company, Magic...
Post a Comment
Read more

Du offers new roaming bundle for summer

UAE-based telecom operator du is offering roaming bundle for travelers valid for seven days. The summer bundle features unlimited calling and 2.5GB of data to 174 destinations - all from their own UAE number. Priced at AED 300 (per week) this latest addition to du’s roaming bundles will be available for customers travelling to 174 countries, including GCC countries, UK, US, European destinations, and Egypt, starting from May 30. The postpaid mobile subscribers can subscribe to the roaming bundle by sending the SMS U to 5102. Fahad Al Hassawi, Deputy CEO – Telco Services at EITC, the parent company of du, said that the roaming bundle will enhance the subscribers’ connectivity while travelling overseas and minimise their current pain points. Etisalat doubles internet speeds for eLife Unlimited subscribers from TechRadar - All the latest technology news http://bit.ly/2KbK1O8
Post a Comment
Read more

Airship acquires SMS commerce company ReplyBuy

Airship is announcing that it has acquired mobile commerce startup ReplyBuy . The startup (which was a finalist at TechCrunch’s 1st and Future competition in 2016) works with customers like entertainment venues and professional and college sports teams to send messages and sell tickets to fans via SMS. It raised $4 million in funding from Sand Hill Angels, Kosinski Ventures, SEAG Ventures, Enspire Capital, MRTNZ Ventures and others, according to Crunchbase . Airship, meanwhile, has been expanding its platform beyond push notifications to cover customer communication across SMS, email, mobile wallets and more. But CEO Brett Caine said this is the first time the company is moving into commerce. While sports and concerts tickets might not be a booming market right now, Caine suggested that the company is actually seeing increased purchasing activity “in and around the Airship platform” as businesses try to drive more in-app purchases. He also suggested that both the COVID-19 pandem...
Post a Comment
Read more