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

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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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[–] eyr@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I hate Brendan Eich, I hate the constant annoyances of Brave adding cards and sponsored backgrounds, I hate the dominance of Chromium, and I hate cryptocurrency.

But this is a fight I've lost.

I'm one of those insufferable Linux nerds who has spent $50+hours/month setting up a Nextcloud VPS, calling my friends Nazi-adjacent for using Twitter, etc. I'm horribly opinionated about software. I WANT everyone to use Firefox.

But I just don't have the spare time for Firefox anymore.

I've had irreconcilable, breaking issues with vanilla Firefox installs on almost every major desktop and mobile OS (excluding KaiOS and Apple WatchOS) every time I tried to switch to it during the past few years. This is not exaggeration.

From crashing because it can't handle keyboard-arrow down on iPadOS, lacking good built-in adblock controls (like Brave Shields) on Android and iOS, to being unable to load hCaptcha on desktop even after hours of user.js flitching. This is on top of the inconvenience of not having a good alternative to Chromium's Profile UI, the inconvenience of needing to test on Chrome when doing webdev, etc.

Brave is a putrid steaming pile of shit, but it's the best choice I've found. This post exaggerates a lot of the very real issues Brave has. This isn't praise for Brave, but rather an indictment on the state of browsing and personal-computing.

I write here very sparingly. With this comment, I hope someone will tell me I'm an idiot who's missing a wonderful browser out there.

[–] eya@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I've had no instability issues with Librewolf in my time using it. However, how can you be both an insufferable Linux nerd and someone who uses Apple products? And when it comes to Android, you should be able to just install uBlock Origin or a system-wide ad blocker like AdGuard.

[–] eyr@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

how can you be both an insufferable Linux nerd and someone who uses Apple products?

These aren't irreconcilable. Suffice to say I'm an extra annoying person.

you should be able to just install uBlock Origin or a system-wide ad blocker like AdGuard.

Brave on mobile has per-site JavaScript controls that are quick and easy to access within the browser. I don't know of anything nearly as good.

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

uBlock origin should have per-site assuming it works the same as on desktop.

[–] eyr@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's not the same as on desktop, especially for iPadOS and iOS, which doesn't have extensions and does not have an equivalent for Brave Shields (as far as I can tell).

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

For iOS and iPadOS try out Orion Browser by Kagi. Great built-in adblocker and they have (very) experimental support for desktop extensions.

[–] settinmoon@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

I'm sort of a Linux nerd and I have an iPad. The reason being when I bought my iPad not many Android tablets satisfies my needs. The few that sort of do don't support third party ROMs and stock / manufacturer bloated Android imo is even more of a privacy disaster than stock iOS. However that has changed since the release of the new Pixel tablets which supports Graphene. I might try that out when my iPad retires.

[–] combat_brandonism@hexbear.net 4 points 1 year ago

lacking good built-in adblock controls (like Brave Shields)

lmao

[–] SnowdenHeroOfOurTime@unilem.org 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yeah I've used Firefox on several platforms and never had these issues. Sounds like a you thing

[–] the_lone_wolf@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I too use firefox based browser on linux, windows and android with lots of privacy focused extensions installed and don't have any of the problem he is describing.

[–] SnowdenHeroOfOurTime@unilem.org 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I actually think that person is lying honestly

[–] eyr@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, but "doesn't cover edge cases" isn't a good thing for Firefox.

[–] SnowdenHeroOfOurTime@unilem.org 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't think that's an accurate framing. I have had slow and fast machines on several oses and they all ran it fine. You might have been cursed by a witch or something? Shit's not remotely normal

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

I'm not running into issues with performance, I am running into issues with functionality.

[–] SnowdenHeroOfOurTime@unilem.org 2 points 1 year ago

I understand that. You, and you alone have these numerous, numerous (non existent) issues

[–] Helmic@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

I have exactly one use for Brave and that has been Steam Deck's game mode as Firefox's context menus don't work in gamescope, and Brave at the time seemed like the best ad blocking Chromium alternative. Apparently it's not, so fuck it.