Microsoft Edge privacy and fingerprint test
Edge's Tracking Prevention blocks many trackers — but Chromium-based browsers still expose rich fingerprinting signals. Find out exactly where Edge stands.
Edge's privacy features and their limits
Microsoft Edge is built on Chromium, giving it the same engine and API surface as Google Chrome. What differentiates Edge is its layered Tracking Prevention feature, which operates at three levels: Basic, Balanced (default), and Strict. Balanced mode blocks trackers that Microsoft's list identifies as harmful without significantly breaking sites. Strict mode blocks all detected trackers and can occasionally disrupt legitimate website functionality.
Edge also integrates Microsoft Defender SmartScreen for phishing and malware protection, and optional InPrivate browsing mode clears session data on close. For enterprise users, Edge includes policies to control data telemetry, sync behaviour, and allowed extensions.
Like Chrome, Edge does not implement fingerprint randomisation. The canvas API, WebGL renderer, audio processing pipeline, and screen dimensions are all readable from JavaScript with their native values. The Edge User-Agent string closely resembles Chrome's — both include the Chromium version — which means Edge blends into the large Chromium pool, providing some crowd anonymity.
A notable privacy concern with Edge is its integration with Microsoft's broader ecosystem: optional sync (passwords, history, favourites) to a Microsoft account, the Copilot AI sidebar, and optional personalised advertising features. These are configurable and opt-in, but the defaults are more permissive than Firefox or Brave. Running Strict Tracking Prevention and disabling optional sync reduces exposure substantially.
What we measure in your Edge session
- User-Agent & Client Hints — Chromium + Edge version, platform, architecture
- HTTP headers — Accept-Language, Sec-Fetch-*, Sec-CH-UA headers
- Screen & display — resolution, color depth, pixel ratio
- System locale & timezone — Intl API, timezone offset consistency
- Canvas fingerprint — raw Chromium rendering output
- WebGL — GPU renderer, vendor string, extension list
- Audio fingerprint — AudioContext processing characteristics
- Font detection — Windows system fonts via glyph metrics
- Hardware signals — CPU cores, device memory, connection type
- IP geolocation — country, region, ISP (local MaxMind lookup)
Run a live privacy analysis on your Edge browser — no account required.
Check my Edge scoreFrequently asked questions
Is Edge's Tracking Prevention better than Chrome's?
Edge's Tracking Prevention is more configurable and arguably more aggressive than Chrome's equivalent settings, because Microsoft maintains its own tracker list and allows Strict mode without relying on extensions. In Strict mode, Edge blocks more third-party tracker domains by default. However, neither browser randomises fingerprint signals, so the canvas/WebGL fingerprint protection gap between them is zero.
Does Edge's InPrivate mode prevent fingerprinting?
No. InPrivate mode prevents Edge from saving browsing history, cookies, and temporary files to disk after the window closes, and it applies stricter Tracking Prevention by default. It does not change the technical signals your browser sends during the session. Your fingerprint is identical in InPrivate and normal windows.
Is Edge trustworthy from a privacy perspective?
Edge collects some telemetry and optional personalised features that connect to Microsoft services. Much of this is configurable or opt-in, but it requires active configuration to disable. For users comfortable with the Microsoft ecosystem and who configure Strict Tracking Prevention, Edge is a reasonable choice. For users who want minimal corporate data collection by default, Firefox or Brave are better starting points.