To encourage you to stay on Edge, Microsoft is now taking the liberty of automatically importing personal data stored on other web browsers on the device, without our authorization.

To encourage you to stay on Edge, Microsoft is now taking the liberty of automatically importing personal data stored on other web browsers on the device, without our permission.

In the fierce war between browsers, Microsoft is desperately trying to steal market share from industry-dominating Google Chrome with Edge. And for this, all means are good! The Redmond firm uses all means at its disposal to promote its browser and encourage Internet users to adopt it. We remember, for example, these anti-Google Chrome pop-ups which appeared on the download page of Google’s browser, or the advertisements in the Start menu encouraging Firefox users to switch to Edge. It even goes so far as to ask Internet users to answer a questionnaire when they try to download Chrome, in order to find out what pushes them to abandon their browser (see our article). But that obviously doesn’t seem enough to compete with the unrivaled Google Chrome. Also, it seems that the company has decided to resort to inglorious tactics. Tom Warren, journalist The Verge, accuses Edge of stealing user data from other browsers. Many Internet users claim that it siphons information from tabs opened in Google Chrome. It’s clean !

Microsoft Edge: simple bug or new setting?

After installing the KB5034204 update, the journalist was surprised to see Edge automatically open upon startup with all the tabs previously opened in Google Chrome. In short: the update appears to have “authorized” Microsoft’s browser to copy all of Chrome’s data in an attempt to replace Google’s software. It seems this behavior is related to a new import function. Zach Edwards, a researcher in the field of privacy and data supply chain, saw an invitation appear after updating, stating: “If you confirm, Microsoft Edge will periodically integrate data from other browsers available on your Windows device. This data includes your bookmarks, browsing history, cookies, autofill data, extensions, settings and more. ‘other navigation data.’ Microsoft says the data import is done locally and is stored locally, but is still sent to the company if one logs in and syncs their browsing data.

Note that the authorization request uses a dubious dark pattern process, since the screen pushes users to accept by displaying a large button ” Accept “in blue, while the option “Later” is displayed in gray next to it. But even having taken care to deactivate the option upstream, it seems that Edge still uses Chrome data. For his part, the journalist from The Verge explains that the pop -up is“appeared then disappeared in less than a second”and that this crash may have been interpreted as consent on Edge’s part. It remains to be seen whether this was a bug or whether he experienced a problem that others have been complaining about for months. Because yes, Tom Warren and Zach Edwards are not isolated cases. A thread on Reddit dated three months ago raises the exact same problem and many Internet users explain about having encountered the same situation when installing several updates offered by Microsoft.

Still, it seems obvious that Microsoft is deploying a function to automatically import data from Chrome, Firefox or other browsers to Edge. Luckily, Windows 11 will finally let European users remove Edge, Bing, and MSN News Feed from their device. A great step forward which will simply require a button in the start menu. Microsoft had to resolve to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the new European legislation, under penalty of incurring the wrath of the authorities and being inflicted with heavy fines.