Edge might be sending every URL you visit to Bing’s API by mistake: Microsoft responds
Curating your favorite creators has Bing behaving badly.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
What you need to know
In what could be a particularly embarrassing blunder, it seems thatMicrosoft’s Edge browsermight accidentally be sending a full report of every user-visited URL to its Bing API, excluding only a selection of pages from afiltered list that anyone can view. Noticing the bizarre behavior, an initialpost on Reddittriggered an independent investigation by the community and led to Microsoft offering its responseto The Verge. It’s all linked to an unassuming toggle deep in its privacy settings related to YouTube creators that’s gone awry.
We’re aware of reports, are investigating and will take appropriate action to address any issues.
The intention is to help curate creator content based on websites explicitly linked to that topic and person, but it has generally gone unnoticed by casual users. Rather than sending the correct information to its API,Binghas erroneously sent back almost every URL you visit to its servers. Naturally, this sparks privacy concerns for anyone using Microsoft Edge, but it’s easy enough to disable the faulty feature.
What Microsoft Edge does with the list of visited URLsvia BingAPIsis unknown, and the creator following feature has remained somewhat quietly tucked away in the background. For now, I recommend disabling the option, especially if you’ve never heard of it before today.
YouTube isn’t going anywhere, so your creators will be right where you left them. We’ll keep an eye on updates to Edge to see if this is addressed.
Get the Windows Central Newsletter
All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.
Ben is a Senior Editor at Windows Central, covering everything related to technology hardware and software. He regularly goes hands-on with the latest Windows laptops, components inside custom gaming desktops, and any accessory compatible with PC and Xbox. His lifelong obsession with dismantling gadgets to see how they work led him to pursue a career in tech-centric journalism after a decade of experience in electronics retail and tech support.
