Microsoft has apparently decided that a good way to promote Internet Explorer 8 is by attacking Chrome over privacy concerns. Like, say, right here in this video. But something doesn’t add up.
The claims, levelled by IE project manager Peter LePage, sound ominous:
“As I start to type an address into the address bar… for nearly every character I type, Chrome sends a request back to Google. I haven’t even hit enter yet to load the website and Google is already getting information about the domain and sites I’m visiting.”
But as Ars Technica astutely points out that it would be more accurate to say the request gets sent back to your search provider, be it Google or Bing or whoever. Moreover, IE8 does the exact same thing when you type into the search bar.
LePage also mentions how IE8 has an “InPrivate” mode, which allows for private browsing. Which is great! So does Chrome. They just call it “Incognito”.
Are there important questions about Google and privacy that need to be answered? Absolutely. But Microsoft’s attack seems pretty frivolous, on the face of it. And it seems they may have realised that, too; the TechNet Edge page where they originally posted it appears to have been taken down. [Ars Technica]
Darius
Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 9:55 AMi used to be all tinfoil hat with google and them knowing all the whacked sites i go to
but now im like oh well
Shane
Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 12:12 PMI really don’t think any of the browser manufactures can make any claims about security, they all have issues and vulnerabilities, and microsoft especially should be careful about throwing mud, it often comes back with rocks wrapped in ‘em