Microsoft may use your Edge browsing history for ads on mobile, insiders spotted

Microsoft is reportedly once again pushing its customers. Now, the Redmond-based tech giant reportedly wants to use your Edge browsing history for services like ads. 

Insiders in the browser’s community have spotted a new toggle in the Settings page for Edge Canary, the experimental channel of the browser, on Android. It says, “Allow Microsoft to save your browsing activity,” and it’s living in the Privacy and Security section ? Personalization & advertising. 

The toggle’s description reads, “Including history, usage, favorites, web content, and other browsing data to personalize Microsoft Edge and Microsoft services like ads, search, shopping, and news.” 

Take a look at the toggle below, as spotted and shared by @Leopeva64 on X (fka Twitter): 

Edge Canary for Android has a new section in Settings to decide whether Microsoft saves your browsing activity or not:https://t.co/s98KIGHCEZ pic.twitter.com/ZZ4Qi6gZMc

— Leopeva64 (@Leopeva64) November 20, 2023

People call it “telemetry,” “spying”, or even “advertising terror although you still have some sort of control over it. And moreover, it’s not the first time Microsoft had ever pushed a dirty trick: they once pushed Bing Chat when users tried to access Google Bard on Edge browser.

The ability to share your browsing activity with Microsoft for personalized ads has been available on the desktop version for a while now. While it’s enabled by default, you can easily disable it by going to Settings ? Privacy and security ? Personalization & advertising.

What are your thoughts on this change?