TapTechNews May 13th news, Microsoft Edge browser is taking steps to remove a controversial 'following creators' feature to protect user privacy.
According to leaker @Leopeva64, evidence has been found in the latest Edge Canary and Dev versions indicating that Microsoft is about to completely remove the feature that allows users to follow their favorite creators in the 'Collections' panel. This feature was introduced several years ago but is said to have had a negative impact on user privacy.
TapTechNews noted that last year The Verge published a report pointing out serious flaws in the 'following creators' feature of the Edge browser, leading to the browser sending information about every website visited by users to the Bing search engine. This incident sparked strong dissatisfaction among Edge users. Although Microsoft stated that it would investigate the matter, it quietly removed the 'follow creators' button from the address bar. Users could still see the creators they followed in the 'Following' tab of the 'Collections' panel. However, in the latest Edge Dev and Canary versions, this option has also disappeared.
Currently, Edge users can still find the switch to follow creators in the 'Privacy, search, and services' page of browser settings, but enabling it will not restore the related functionality. It is worth noting that clicking the 'Learn more' button in the 'Favorites and following' pop-up window will redirect to a Microsoft support page that explains how the 'Collections' feature works, but completely omits any mention of the follow creators option. All these pieces of evidence indicate that Microsoft is gradually phasing out this feature. However, the possibility of the feature being reintroduced in the future after addressing privacy concerns cannot be ruled out.
If you are used to following your favorite creators to get the latest content, Google Chrome still offers this feature. However, the feature is only available for mobile users. If you are using the Chrome browser on an Android phone, you can enable the 'web-feed' flag to activate the follow creators feature.