In the world of internet browsing, two things are of great importance to users: privacy/security and speed. Internet users are in search of browsers that enhance users’ privacy, ensure security, and have good speed. The interests in security and privacy have been occasioned by revelations of massive data breaches and surveillance by government agencies. Especially given the revelations that followed Edward Snowden’s leak of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) massive collection of user data. Concerns about users’ privacy were made even more serious with revelations about Cambridge Analytica’s mining of Facebook users’ data to benefit the presidential campaign of Donald Trump during the 2016 US presidential elections. With the many concerns about privacy and security, people want browsers that protect their privacy. It is within this prism that Brave browser has pitched its services with claims about giving users privacy and not storing users’ data without their knowledge.
Brave Browser is a standard browser that allows users to navigate websites, display online content, and run web apps. Brave browser is free to download and remembers site authentication information and can block online adverts from appearing on sites. the brave browser boasts of two important features: speed and privacy. On desktop computers, Brave claims it loads pages faster than Google’s Chrome by eliminating ads and trackers on websites. Brave can load the website faster. Brave blocks efforts by advertisers to identify users by eliminating add trackers. Brave does not allow its users to be tracked by the websites they visit, thus making it more anonymous. Brave makers argue that it does not track users nor keep records of their logs. The claims that Brave does not, and will not store users’ data on its servers have prompted questions about how Brave functions if it does not, collects such data. Below, we examine this issue.
According to Brave Browser privacy policy, the company does not keep any record of people’s browsing history and does not write any personal data to the blockchain. It points out that the only way a user’s data is stored by Brave browser is if the user has switched on reward or sync. Regarding security and updates, Brave browser privacy policy notes that it automatically checks for updates. Ensuring that users have the latest security fixes. It counts the number and type of the requests and when they are received to produce aggregate statistics. No particular individual can be identified through the statistics it produces. If a user switches on sync on Brave, the user’s bookmarks, password, and data will be saved in an encrypted file in a cloud storage device. Only the user will have the key to decrypt it. The data are inaccessible to Brave and the cloud storage provider.
If a user visits a website that wants to determine the user’s location, Brave asks the user whether the person approves for his/her location to be known. If the user approves, then the website sends an approximation of where the user is, based on the user’s IP address. Brave, it is claimed, does not store the IP address of users. If a user switches on Brave Rewards, the user is assigned a “Wallet identifier” by Brave payment partner Uphold. The wallet identifier is then recorded on servers operated by Amazon and Heroku. Turning on this feature, Brave uses the wallet identifier to determine when to send the user monthly gift of attention tokens (BAT). Every time Brave sends a user a monthly gift of BAT, it takes a record of the user’s IP addresses, which can be analyzed to safeguard against fraud. It is when the Brave rewards feature is turned on that it actually collects users’ personal data.
This feature can be disabled from the preferences or settings. Brave notes that even with the Brave Rewards turned on, it never collects users’ browsing history, and neither can it derive this information from users’ contributions to content creators and sites. It rather aggregates contributions among all users and it cannot trace contributions to individual users or link any of the user’s contributions together. Turning on Brave Rewards automatically enable Brave ads. While the ads user sees are based on their activity, the data stored on users’ devices are not accessible to Brave. When users make use of Brave Talk, it processes information such as the IP address and URL and holds other limited information temporally. Hence, to answer the question asked earlier, Brave does not collect users’ data or logs the way other browsers do.
For instance, though it is a fast browser and offers certain protection, it is not as fast and secure as a privacy app like Hoody.
In conclusion, the Brave browser has features that make it user-friendly and it does not mine users’ data. However, while the Brave browser does not collect users’ information and enhances security, it may not be able to ward off many cyber attacks.
If you want to stay 100% anonymous and secure online, an app like Hoody can come to your rescue. With its revolutionary technologies: Phantom Browsing™ & Bulletproof Privacy Network (BPN), the hoody ensures complete privacy. Hoody’s Phantom Browsing™ ensures that a unique fingerprint is created for every browser’s tab and website. Its advanced caching features accelerate the browsing experience drastically. Hoody’s Bulletproof Privacy Network (BPN) encrypts your traffic and anonymizes your IP through multiple random relays.
