Chrome and Edge’s Advanced Spellchecker Saves Everything You Type—Including Passwords

Every text field is being watched by Chrome and Edge’s spellchecker.

 

Both Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome include sophisticated spellcheckers: However, all of the processing for the grammar and language suggestions takes place on their servers due to the fact that they are sophisticated (they assist you with more than simply spellcheck). A study by Otto found that these services send practically everything you type in plain text to Google or Microsoft servers, including passwords that are displayed when you click the “Show Password” button, as this video demonstrates:

 

Yes, we are talking about Google and Microsoft. They are significant businesses that value privacy and are not interested in breaking into your Dropbox account. Despite this, it is still an obvious error that compromises user privacy. Password managers like LastPass have already made a fix available, but that doesn’t address the issue with the browser, according to the same Otto report.

 

Since these features aren’t turned on by default, using your browser as it is should keep you safe. However, you need to disable the Microsoft Editor in Edge and Chrome’s Enhanced Spell Check function straight away.

 

To find the correct location on Chrome, type the following into the URL bar: chrome:/settings/?search=Enhanced+Spell+Check

The “Enhanced Spell Check” function should then be disabled.

 

The Microsoft Editor functions as an extension on Microsoft Edge. Go to the “Manage Extensions” section by clicking the Extensions icon in the toolbar. Select “Remove” after locating the Microsoft Editor extension. Once more press “Remove” on the window.

 

We advise you to avoid using these sophisticated spellcheck or grammar tools until Microsoft and Google upgrade their products with a fundamental level of text encryption technology. We advise using Hemmingway Editor or the web editors from Grammarly if you really need assistance with your work.