Why I recommend against Brave
thelibre.news

If you are keen on personal privacy, you might have come across Brave Browser. Brave is a Chromium-based browser that promises to deliver privacy with built-in ad-blocking and content-blocking protection. It also offers several quality-of-life features and services, like a VPN and Tor access. I mean, it’s even listed on the reputable PrivacyTools website. Why am I telling you to steer clear of this browser, then?

  • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    25·
    3 days ago

    He has nothing to gain from funding such a campaign.

    He obviously believes that same sex marriage shouldn’t be performed by the government. If you want to know why, ask him, not me.

    That said, I don’t see this as “betrayal,” it was a private donation. The only reason we’re talking about it is because someone dug through his donation history (donations to such orgs are public record) and made a big deal about it. AFAIK, there were no accusations of him treating LGBT people unfairly, only opposition to his donation.

    It’s bad enough that they even got the idea,

    I’d like to see an explanation beyond, “yeah, we screwed up.” Who signed off on it, and what was their justification?

    Your proposed solution sounds fine, though.

    Thanks. The idea is that the browser has a vested interest in protecting the privacy of it’s users, so finding a workable solution for both the user and the website should provide some funding for the browser.

    But yes, either the browser should block ads so nobody gets revenue or work something out where everyone wins. Profiting off someone else’s content without permission will always be wrong.

    Maybe if there weren’t any alternatives, but there are plenty.

    Do you have a better suggestion for a chromium-based browser that’s FOSS and has effective ad blocking and tracking protection?

    I use Firefox (or fork) most of the time, but I need to test on a chromium browser and need a backup for the odd website that fails on Firefox.

    Brave sticks out as the obvious solution here.

    Other CEO’s typically at least keep quiet about politics

    He tried to. He never advertised his political beliefs, donations, etc. Someone just found out and blasted him for it. For an org that supposedly cares about privacy, that’s pretty alarming!

    But under no circumstances will I defend those who downplay or justify Brave’s, and especially Eich’s, actions.

    Nor will I. But I will separate my criticism of them.

    I’m 100% happy to jump on board an Eich’s political positions hate train, and I probably share the resentment. But I will not jump on a Brave hate train just because Eich is associated with it. I’m happy to blast Brave over technical mistakes it makes (I avoided it for a long time until BAT was deemphasized), but I won’t transfer that frustration into a personal attack on Eich. They can and should be treated separately.