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Privacy browser Brave busted for autocompleting URLs to versions it profits from
ZDNet ^ | June 8, 2020 | Liam Tung

Posted on 06/09/2020 6:49:48 AM PDT by rarestia

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I know a lot of FReepers swear by Brave. Not everything is always as it seems.
1 posted on 06/09/2020 6:49:48 AM PDT by rarestia
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To: rarestia

It is autocompleting a URL for you, in a manner that is profitable for them... but you still get to the site you are going to.


2 posted on 06/09/2020 6:53:47 AM PDT by ican'tbelieveit
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To: rarestia

I could use Mozilla Firefox 77.0.1 (the current version), but its own web layout engine is a tad slow at times.


3 posted on 06/09/2020 6:58:12 AM PDT by RayChuang88 (FairTax: America's Economic Cure)
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To: rarestia
I know a lot of FReepers swear by Brave. Not everything is always as it seems.

I'm one of them. Dang, this doesn't make me happy. Yesterday I learned that Ubuntu 20.04 installed an empty chromium package and some issues with snap installing by default w/o user knowledge or consent, now this.

This after I made the very conscious decision to kick Micosoft all the way out of my house and convert everything I had to Ubuntu Linux.

Just damn.

What's a privacy minded luddite like me to do to protect my privacy and security? It's damn' near impossible.

4 posted on 06/09/2020 6:59:00 AM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: rarestia

Lately I have been using the Avast browser and it seems pretty good. It’s chrome based, it has some privacy features and it’s stand alone so you don’t have to install Avast anti virus to use it.


5 posted on 06/09/2020 7:00:17 AM PDT by gibsonguy
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To: RayChuang88

Better Brave than Google keeping tabs on you...


6 posted on 06/09/2020 7:00:53 AM PDT by CondorFlight
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To: ican'tbelieveit

It is autocompleting a URL for you, in a manner that is profitable for them... but you still get to the site you are going to.

~~~

I agree with that sentiment. I was thinking the same thing. You are still getting to the same place you wanted to, and the only difference was somewhere else. It’s only a betrayal of trust, in the complete sense, if your actual experience was changed.
I don’t blame them for wanting the referral bonus in this case.

What I do think is wrong is apologizing and calling it “a mistake” when obviously it wasn’t. That’s not an apology in my opinion. It’s a lie.


7 posted on 06/09/2020 7:03:09 AM PDT by z3n
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To: z3n

Brave has been a thorn in my side on win7.

I have found very stable and use Waterfox.

Is there anything wrong with Waterfox ?


8 posted on 06/09/2020 7:10:02 AM PDT by George from New England
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To: usconservative
PCLOS the developer's a good ol' boy from Houston. It's one of the few left where you can build your own system.
9 posted on 06/09/2020 7:18:02 AM PDT by SanchoP (We're passed the biological softening up and beginning the open warfare strategy. WAKE UP!!)
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To: rarestia; rdb3; JosephW; Only1choice____Freedom; martin_fierro; Still Thinking; zeugma; Vinnie; ...

Tech Ping


10 posted on 06/09/2020 7:20:58 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux - The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: z3n
It’s only a betrayal of trust, in the complete sense, if your actual experience was changed.

I disagree.

It's a betrayal of trust of the browser does *anything* you did not ask it to do. That includes re-routing the URL without your knowledge, consent, or active input. Brave is, in essence, making decisions for you--just like Microsoft does with its OS. It is using *your* resources to profit (or attempt to profit), without obtaining your agreement beforehand.

11 posted on 06/09/2020 7:24:10 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux - The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: z3n

agreed! Why do we constantly feel compelled to lie? Admit it. I like the Brave browser (except the few sites I cannot log into using it), and if I want Brave to continue, they have to make money somewhere.


12 posted on 06/09/2020 7:31:00 AM PDT by ican'tbelieveit
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To: SanchoP
I'm not a developer, I wanted a Linux desktop OS that "just works" as a replacement for Windows.

I also wanted a Linux desktop OS that respected my privacy and required my consent to install anything -- including "backdoor channels" to its own snap based software store.

I'm not happy about the Brave browser issue and getting re-directed to its profit making URL's without my consent. Having said that, I recognize "free" software isn't really free and that the developers of the Brave browser should be paid for their efforts. I'd have opted in to the re-direct URL's to help pay them, it should've been my choice to do so. That Brave is issuing a "patch" to enable/disable url re-directs to help fund them I think is the right thing to do and it should be set to OFF by default. Allow the end user to opt in, that's the right thing.

I'm not completely sure the snapd/chromium issue between Mint and Ubuntu is a deal-breaker for me. Still thinking through that. I'm not sure it's going to cause me to migrate my 7 PC's and laptops at home from Ubuntu 20.04 to a different linux flavor. Time will tell. I'm willing to be wrong and be convinced otherwise here.

13 posted on 06/09/2020 7:34:09 AM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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To: rarestia

Funny. I never used it but once was going to try. DDG ive been using since for years now becaause of the anti-tracker feature for privacy which everyone here likes.


14 posted on 06/09/2020 7:38:56 AM PDT by max americana (fired liberal employees at every election since 2008 because I enjoy seeing them cry)
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To: ican'tbelieveit

I agree. What do I care if they get a bonus? I could see Binance being cheesed off at paying for something Brave didn’t help them get but I can’t get too exercised about it.


15 posted on 06/09/2020 8:04:56 AM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: ShadowAce; Abby4116; afraidfortherepublic; aft_lizard; AF_Blue; AppyPappy; arnoldc1; ATOMIC_PUNK; ..
Brave browser privacy ... PING!

You can find all the Windows Ping list threads with FR search: just search on keyword "windowspinglist".

Thanks to ShadowAce for the ping!

16 posted on 06/09/2020 8:30:37 AM PDT by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."`)
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To: rarestia
I know a lot of FReepers swear by Brave. Not everything is always as it seems.

This is just anti-Brave propaganda. Initially it was touted that Brave rewrote links in pages. But it's just doing it in the autocomplete. In what is basically the search bar, and frankly Google does it with search too, benefiting ad programs. Often I catch link shortening services doing the same thing with temporary redirects.

17 posted on 06/09/2020 8:35:23 AM PDT by no-s
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To: rarestia; AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; cardinal4; ...
It's a nice browser, and the auto-complete can be switched off, which isn't a bad idea anyway (my daily driver is so old there isn't any autocomplete anyway; Brave isn't available). Mostly works faster than most, although the load time for the background graphic when opening a fresh window or tab seems to take forever when I'm at work (aging CPUs).

18 posted on 06/09/2020 8:47:30 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: rarestia

I will personally vouch for Brendan Eich as good guy. A fairly conservative, pro-life, family man. He is trying to make Brave work as a business model and that may mean misjudgments along the way. He is human. All things considered this is minor.


19 posted on 06/09/2020 8:53:56 AM PDT by Data Miner
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To: usconservative

You are still a long way to the good.

Don’t let “better” be the enemy of “perfect”.


20 posted on 06/09/2020 8:54:22 AM PDT by absalom01 (You should do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, and you should never wish to do less.)
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