Microsoft’s Edge Browser Bug in Windows 10 snoops on your data even in private browsing mode
Microsoft Edge, the built-in replacement browser for Internet Explorer in Windows 10, is not considered dependable in terms of privacy. Most popular web browsers like Safari, Firefox and Chrome proves that none of them stores the private browsing sessions, but the case with Edge is different.
According to a security study carried out last month, Microsoft Edge browser stores all browsing data in a WebCache file, regardless of the fact whether you have used a regular or private mode of browsing, thus exposing the history even when it was not supposed to do it.
This bug was fixed on Patch Tuesday according to Microsoft itself, with a dedicated update for Edge browser. Yet, it turns out that the issue only got worse.
A discussion on the Reddit reveals that, after applying the update, Edge browser not only continues to store information on the websites visited in private mode but it also shows it in the history tab, thus making it easily available to everyone. This new bug makes it easy to view websites visited in the InPrivate mode, unlike in the past, where the web browsing history was stored in a devoted folder that was difficult to reach for.
According to posts in this Reddit thread, what is surprising that the bug only appears to exist on a number of computers, and not all Windows 10 installs seems to be affected.
One Reddit user explains that “Still happening. I just restarted the PC, clear all Edge cache and history, opened up a new InPrivate window, went to reddit.com and there it is in the normal session history dropdown menu. I open up a new tab, go to imgur.com and there it is in the normal session.” The user further added that the test was carried out on a fully up-to-date computer and the history existed even after closing the session and launching the browser again.
Currently, there is no workaround on a PC impacted by the problem. However, the simplest way to figure out whether the problems persists or not is to clear all Edge history, open the InPrivate mode, go to any website, close the browser, and then check history once again. If the visited website appears again, that means that the bug is still there. If it does not, that means it is all clear and you are good to go.
As of now, there are no reports of whether Microsoft is aware of the existing problem. We will update this article once we get any information.
