this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2023
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Privacy

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Please, do not use Brave. (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by eya@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
 

I have seen many people in this community either talking about switching to Brave, or people who are actively using Brave. I would like to remind people that Brave browser (and by extension their search engine) is not privacy-centric whatsoever.

Brave was already ousted as spyware in the past and the company has made many decisions that are questionable at best. For example, Brave made a cryptocurrency which they then added to a rewards program that is built into the browser to encourage you to enable ads that are controlled by Brave.

Edit: Please be aware that the spyware article on Brave (and the rest of the browsers on the site) is outdated and may not reflect the browser as it is today.

After creating this cryptocurrency and rewards program, they started inserting affiliate codes into URL's. Prior to this they had faked fundraising for popular social media creators.

Do these decisions seem like ones a company that cares about their users (and by extension their privacy) would make? I'd say the answer is a very clear no.

One last thing, Brave illegally promoted an eToro affiliate program making a fortune from its users who will likely lose their money.

Edit: To the people commenting saying how Brave has a good out-of-the-box experience compared to other browsers, yes, it does. However, this is not a warning for your average person, this is a warning for people who actively care about their privacy and don't mind configuring their browser to maximize said privacy.

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[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 17 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I dont use Brave and will never use it. But this sounds not logical.

Their ad system and affiliate URLs are not anti-privacy per-se. Its not as easy.

I will not use it as its

  • 99% controlled by Google
  • dependend on Google Addon store
  • bad UI
  • bad OS integration
  • not Arkenfox
[–] Steamymoomilk@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not arkenfox, But that about tor browser?

[–] eya@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 year ago

Tor isn't really designed to be used for everyday use.

[–] fit6529@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

dependend on Google Addon store

I think that's 50% true. There are multiple alternative places to host addons:

  • Microsoft Edge Store (or smth like that from Microsoft)
  • add0n.com and other similar "indie" places (but I'm not sure they provide updates)

These alternative places are not popular so Google Addon store is an effective monopoly. But I think it's not impossible to challenge that.

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago

I mean yes, but on Firefox you have no hassle at all. If they have such a great browser, why cant they have an addon store with baked in updates for the basics, Noscript, Ublock Origin and whatnot. Leave out all the Honey and Ghostery crap