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.

  • Hot Saucerman@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    That’s fair, but in that case you might just say “they likely profited handsomely off this venture” or something similar, because if you reach for dollar amounts like that, it can kind of undermine your point.

    • Katlah@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
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      1 year ago

      Well the issue I linked to said “making a fortune from its users who will likely lose their money.” and I didn’t want to just copy it word-for-word. I don’t think it hurt my point that much, but it definitely could have been worded better.

      • Hot Saucerman@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Oh for sure, it didn’t undermine your point excessively, just a little, I was mostly just being cheeky, just how it read to me. As I said, I agree with all the things you’re saying. Cheers!