Like Chrome, Edge has a good number of features to customize and make the browser easier to use. make it more convenient and personalize the user experience. However, although these functionalities are very interesting, on many occasions they are accompanied by a loss of privacysince for them to work it means, as a matter of fact, sending browsing data to Google or Microsoft.
One of those especially useful Edge features is built-in image enhancement, which Microsoft says can use “super resolution to improve clarity, sharpness, lighting, and contrast in images on the web.” Especially interesting for those images with low quality or resolution, also pose a problem for those who are more concerned about their privacy.
And it is that the problem with this function (and many other options of modern browsers) is that the browser sends the images to a Microsoft server instead of performing those enhancements on the device using local processinghe. This means that Edge sends information to Microsoft about all the images we see in the browser if we have this function activated.
How to stop Edge from sending the images you see to Microsoft
This “super resolution” feature of Edge is enabled by default. Therefore, many unknowing users automatically grant the browser permission to send images to Microsoft for processing and enhancement. However, there is a very simple way to disable this function and protect our privacy:
- Start Microsoft Edge and open the main menu
- Settings > Privacy, Search and Services.
- Turn off the option Enhance images in Microsoft Edge.
With these simple steps you will prevent Edge from sending Microsoft the images to see in your navigation. The company, yes, has plans to improve this function and make it more transparent. In fact, future Edge updates will allow you to specify which Edge websites should not process, so it will be up to the user when to use it or not.
The version canaries of Microsoft Edge already allows, taking into account that it is in tests, customize how this option works. If you have the beta version of the browser, you just have to go Settings> Privacy, search and services> Improve images in Microsoft Edge and click on the blacklist option so that the sites we choose do not process images remotely: Never enhance images on this site.
Please note that this only applies to images. Microsoft Edge has another AI-based feature called Video Super Resolution, which enhances low-resolution videos to make them look sharper and less pixelated. Nevertheless, it uses on-device processing instead of sending the content to Microsoft.