Brave markets its browser as improving speed, security and privacy.
Their browser incorporates ad-blocking functionality to prevent disable advertisements and trackers.
Whilst I do support security and privacy, I cannot recommend anyone to use their browser.
Unfair to Website Owners
The marketing team from Brave approached me a year or so ago and asked me to check out their service.
I advised them immediately that I did not agree with what they were doing, but they were polite throughout our correspondence, so I created an account to see how their rewards system actually worked.
I fundamentally disagree with the whole premise of Brave’s reward system.
They have the balls to tell the world that they are helping content creators, but let’s take a step back and think about what they are actually doing.
- They are removing advertisements from your website
- They are replacing them with their own advertisements
- You then need to sign up and claim money in the form of a shitty cryptocurrency token
Yes, you’re reading that right.
Brave browser is decreasing revenue from website owners and then asking for them to claim it back in the form of a cryptocurrency token.
Would you be happy with a platform reducing your income by hundreds or thousands of dollars per month and then rewarding you with a few dollars in return?
I do believe every internet user has the right to use ad-blocking scripts and services, however browsers have no right to replace the advertisements for websites. That’s theft.
And here’s the sticking point.
Brave is a privacy browser, but if you want to actually claim your tokens, you need to provide sensitive information such as your name and address.
A company that truly cared about privacy would not request this.
They Do Not Care About Privacy or Security
Last week, YouTuber Seth Estrada brought it to my attention that they were hijacking websites and inserting their own affiliate links.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Brave has been caught redirecting website addresses so that they can insert their own affiliate code.
“So when you are using the @brave browser and type in “binance[.]us” you end up getting redirected to “binance[.]us/en?ref=35089877”
Source: Cryptonator1337
You gotta hand it to them.
Promoting yourself as a security company whilst hijacking your user’s browser is some scam.
Not the First Time, Not the Last Time
I truly believe that actions speak louder than words.
Brave’s actions over the last few years have highlighted that they cannot be trusted.
In 2019, for example, the company was found to be fundraising on behalf of others, without any consent.
Even their rewards system does not sit right with me. If they truly respected website owners, they would simply have given users the ability to allow website ads to be displayed on legitimate websites.
Mark my words, this company will screw over users again in the future.
All they are interested in is profiting from their users. They do not care about your security or your privacy.
What’s the Alternative?
If you are an existing Brave user, I recommend using something else.
David Gerard recommends Chromium with the uBlock Origin ad blocker extension.
He also recommends Firefox with uBlock Origin.
Thanks for reading.
Kevin