1675
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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[-] cybervoid@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

I understand why people don't like Brave, but for me it's the least shitty out of all of them, I dislike Mozilla (not Firefox) way more than I dislike crypto, and Firefox has awful out of the box privacy, and before you leave all of the comments about user.js, know that isn't ideal because it leaves you with a more identifiable fingerprint because all of the specific modifications.

The day Firefox has good defaults and leave all unnecessary crap with tracking (google default, pocket, etc) is the day I'll switch.

[-] ZeroTHM@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

What should I use on android?

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[-] PlatypusXray@feddit.de 10 points 1 year ago

Oh no, a shady, unknown neocities site is telling me to not trust my browser! Yes, I can use Firefox, uBlock and uMatrix, except on iOS, where I can’t do that, and that is where Brave does a good job. I am really tired of those „Brave baaad“ posts. Look guys, unless you are using Linux you might want to direct your attention at the huge, morally flexible company that does collect your data, no matter what browser you choose.

[-] eya@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 year ago

a shady, unknown neocities site is telling me to not trust my browser

Spyware Watchdog has been a resource for checking browser's for a very long time. It's not longer maintained, which is why I said "in the past".

uMatrix

The fact you even bring up this dead extension...

except on iOS, where I can’t do that

You can use AdGuard and Safari, but if you're on iOS you've already given up any semblance of privacy in the first place.

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[-] HKayn@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 year ago

How about we just let users use what they want? I don't use Brave, but it has some legitimate anti-fingerprinting tech.

[-] eya@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 year ago

This comment is just confusing. Sure, go ahead and use whatever you want, but at least be informed about what you're using. As for the anti-fingerprinting tech, Firefox has had that for a very long time.

[-] Ozzy@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 year ago

Firefox + Startpage is really cool. I like how their searched don't include the search parameters in the url + the built in proxy

[-] fl42v@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 year ago

Startpage is "cool" as long as you're not using a proxy/VPN, and otherwise they tell you to GTFO (without an opportunity to complete a capcha or smth). Even more, they can tell you the very same thing if you're sharing a connection with lots of ppl (e.g. a dorm or a public WiFi, probably). Finally, (heard it from surveillance report, but didn't care to check myself since I've stopped using them 'cause of proxies long before) they don't interact with journalists, and there's not much known about their parent company

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[-] FrostKing@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

Used to use Brave, but it became more and more bloated as time went on. Also, I realized that I wasn't opposing Google as I wanted, but choosing an alternative of Google, as brave is still based on chromium. I enjoy Firefox very much now (don't know about the performance issues people talk about at all cause it seems better than all chrome, brave, opera, and opera GX I used in the past) although I'm looking into even further simplifying and privatizing that. Any suggestions for modified Firefox browsers that keep the functionality would be appreciated.

[-] eya@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 year ago

I use Librewolf, I've enjoyed it and it's very privacy-centric.

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[-] NabeGewell@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Lol isn't eTrash considered a scam anyways? They are the reason i got ad blocker - dumbest ads on youtube 24/7.

Anyways sounds like you gotta be quite brave to use Brave lol

[-] black_mouflon@beehaw.org 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

What is the issue exactly with their search engine?

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[-] gatelike@feddit.de 9 points 1 year ago

thanks for the links and info. I use brave as well as firefox and other browsers depending on what device I'm using. The spyware link is worth a quick read to understand any risks. It's great to see some analysis done there. I actually feel a little better about brave now, I'm ok with those risks for most cases and brave blocks ads better for me than what I've seen in other browsers. I'm always willing to switch though, I have no loyalty to any browser.

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[-] nautilus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 year ago

Current Brave user here.

Is Firefox the way to go at this point? I considered switching back to just plain Chrome or even Chromium more broadly

[-] eya@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 1 year ago

Most people agree that Firefox (with something like arkenfox's user.js) or a fork of it is the way to go. Don't use stock Firefox, it manages to be worse than Brave out of the box when it comes to privacy.

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this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2023
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