Brave browser ≠ Privacy. big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

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redlined

Brave browser ≠ Privacy. big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by redlined »

Been away from forums for a bit, redoing home network and overcoming nixish fears (now my daily driver, LM19.1, is UEFI installed, take that secureboot!:P

anyway, recent discussions in LM forums led me back space I was in circa 1998-2010 where I employed a much stricter personal preference for privacy (and encryption) and a couple things I prioritized for this year is remove facadebook, deprecate google to only the free viop number they provide me (everything else is blasted away, except gmail which is to be kept empty and just gather dust) and a more aware approach of softwares/apps used- looking at who is behind it and what is their motivation- at least published. Same goes for any and all services I use, paid and free.

(always follow the money and down the rabbit hole I go).

a recent struggle I had was browser. On one hand I am locking firefox down and have it pretty tight now, limiting use to only sites where money and private comms are concerned (paying for services, banking, webmail, etc).

For everything else I've been giving Brave a trial run alongside Gnu/IceCat (as was reminded of that latter project recently, and chromium-ungoogled looked great but...issues) and was considering Brave and IceCat pretty close in my regards.

That is, until this below article came in over the wire a few minutes ago.

(and the saying "too good to be true" usually holds water for good reason :/

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/s ... e-browser/

the game is trust, how to earn it and maintain it and needless to say I now have Zero trust for the Brave (new) world [order]
goodbye Brave... and via IceCat, hello-world!!

edit to change subject as my concern over Brave browser is that it has lied, basically by whitelisting (selling out to) notorious trackers- facebook and twitter, and not adhering to it's own stated privacy first principle. A compromise that may put food on tables, but not one I am willing to accept nor consent to by using it to surf web. Especially since there are tons of other options available and more trustworthy.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 07, 2022 4:01 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 30 days after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
WharfRat

Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by WharfRat »

Another black eye for Faceboob :lol:
redlined

Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by redlined »

WharfRat wrote: Sun Feb 10, 2019 9:02 pm Another black eye for Faceboob :lol:
indeed... and can Brave ever be trusted again? dismissing the issue as needed for functionality is ludicrous, imo. If they feel such a need to whitelist facadebook for us 1_users then they should get a solid, decentralize/disconnect function, or facebook container or first party isolation enforcement. Brave is on the take is all it boils down to, as far as I am concerned :/
The Brave Browser promotes itself on being built from the ground up to provide enhanced privacy to its users. Yet, users voiced concern today after finding a section of the browser's source code that shows tracking scripts for Facebook and Twitter are whitelisted so that they are not blocked by the browser.

According to the Brave Browser's feature list, unwanted trackers and ads will be blocked by the browser.


....it is a strange tactic for a privacy-oriented browser to whitelist Facebook.com, which could be the most well known abuser of user's privacy and data, and not resolve it quicker.
kinda makes this statement, front and center of Brave homepage seem the worst lie of all:
You are not a product.
Why use a browser that treats you like one? Enjoy private, secure and fast browsing with Brave.
WharfRat

Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by WharfRat »

redlined wrote: Sun Feb 10, 2019 9:25 pm
You are not a product.
Why use a browser that treats you like one? Enjoy private, secure and fast browsing with Brave.
Could it be false advertising :shock:

Have they set a precedent by misleading consumers :?

I wonder, how many other sources of personal information are readily available to Faceboob :?:
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Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by Pierre »

the Dudes over at Brave, whould have Enabled a whitelist for Facebook & Twitter:
- purely for Financial Reasons - - the Brave Project Needed the Money.
:roll:


it's always nice to be evangelical in your goals,, but you still need to be able to Finance Your Project:
& this is where the Reality kicks in & your evangelical ideas get Kicked to the Curb.
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Please edit your original post title to include [SOLVED] - when your problem is solved!
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Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by AZgl1800 »

I installed Brave Browser to look at it, and IMO, it is so crude, and to be a joke.
I won't use it.
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redlined

Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by redlined »

it's the "Big Other"... e.g. Surveillance Capitalism and it appears to be the truth of the road ahead as the internets of (every)thing+ connects and "gets smart" learning and reporting constantly our uses, locations, behaviors, habits and desires... and there will be money paid to those who gather and share that info. Unplugging from that dystopia as fast as I can this year and paying into projects that help keep the road ahead open and honest.

Wait for the full fallout of trackers that are selling real-time infos on your whereabouts gathered from your smart phones, ugh

I Opt Out.
WharfRat

Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by WharfRat »

They will probably have to change that site's statement so I'll offer up this as a suggestion:

Enjoy private, secure and fast browsing with Brave, Twitter, Facebook and any other organization that is willing to help fund our project.
redlined

Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by redlined »

WharfRat wrote: Sun Feb 10, 2019 10:34 pm They will probably have to change that site's statement so I'll offer up this as a suggestion:

Enjoy private, secure and fast browsing with Brave, Twitter, Facebook and any other organization that is willing to help fund our project.
You have my endorsement for BraveBrowserhead of marketing! :wink:

I know folks need to eat and some income helps keep food on the table and in the fridge... but do not lie to me about your ideals and purpose. The rush to distance such 'noble projects' from the big data engine known as M$ Windows, (and big social media, search engines, et al. was a real bad move for those not honestly doing exactly that. NWO is brave enough without more trickery, treachery and doublespeak added into the picture from slimy behind the scenes sell-outs.

double big sigh :cry:
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Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by Moem »

Right. That's Brave uninstalled from the smartphone, and Waterfox installed.
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If your issue is solved, kindly indicate that by editing the first post in the topic, and adding [SOLVED] to the title. Thanks!
Faust

Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by Faust »

I 've come to like Brave since I added it to my stable of browsers a few years back .
I strongly believe in compartmentalizing as a vital part of online security and privacy and using multiple browsers is an important part of it .

I was ready to dismiss this as FUD , Fake-news , or whatever the current buzz-word is , but after many years on Bleeping computer ,
I've come to trust the opinion of Lawrence Abrams , and some further digging around indicates that he's right .
There's no question that it is sneaky and disingenuous of Brave to do this ,
but it's not a deal-breaker for me and I will continue to use it , with Facebook and Twitter locked out .

The main offenders appear to be :-

connect.facebook.net
connect.facebook.com
staticxx.facebook.com
www.facebook.com
scontent.xx.fbcdn.net
pbs.twimg.com
scontent-sjc2-1.xx.fbcdn.net
platform.twitter.com
syndication.twitter.com
cdn.syndication.twimg.com hostnames

I checked , and most of those are already blocked in Pi-hole via the curated block-lists that I've added to it .
My Pi-hole is currently showing 1.2 million blocked domains , without loss of functionality on any website .
The beauty of it is that all of those sites "think" that their task is done on my systems , when in reality
they have entered the black-hole of the Pi , along with the rest of the bottom-feeders .

And just for fun , adding these two hooligans blocks Youtube from serving ads
r2---sn-cu-h5oz.googlevideo.comr
r5---sn-cu-h5oz.googlevideo.comr

You still get an interruption while Youtube shows a static page , whining about how important ad revenue is to them .
.... Gee , you don't say ! .... Who would have guessed ?
:mrgreen:
redlined

Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by redlined »

Faust wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 6:46 am And just for fun , adding these two hooligans blocks Youtube from serving ads
r2---sn-cu-h5oz.googlevideo.comr
r5---sn-cu-h5oz.googlevideo.comr

You still get an interruption while Youtube shows a static page , whining about how important ad revenue is to them
adding those hooligans now, thanks for mentioning!

and on the topic of first party isolation, and a finer-grained approach to separating some youtube wheat from the googol analeyezing chaff, I recently came across this gem: https://github.com/FreeTubeApp/FreeTube
permitting a very simple way to offload video overhead away from browser and have an untrackable and ad-free experience on youtube.
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Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by majpooper »

redlined wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 12:46 pm
Faust wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 6:46 am And just for fun , adding these two hooligans blocks Youtube from serving ads
r2---sn-cu-h5oz.googlevideo.comr
r5---sn-cu-h5oz.googlevideo.comr

You still get an interruption while Youtube shows a static page , whining about how important ad revenue is to them
adding those hooligans now, thanks for mentioning!

and on the topic of first party isolation, and a finer-grained approach to separating some youtube wheat from the googol analeyezing chaff, I recently came across this gem: https://github.com/FreeTubeApp/FreeTube
permitting a very simple way to offload video overhead away from browser and have an untrackable and ad-free experience on youtube.
Have you looked into PiHole?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi-hole
WharfRat

Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by WharfRat »

Anyone here using cloud storage for backups :?:

Does anyone think that these free cloud storage sites have no interest in what you are trying to preserve :?:

Can they be trusted not to glean through documents, spreadsheets etc. to assemble a marketing profile - or worse :?:

Just a thought :?
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Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by all41 »

WharfRat wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 10:22 pm Anyone here using cloud storage for backups :?:

Does anyone think that these free cloud storage sites have no interest in what you are trying to preserve :?:

Can they be trusted not to glean through documents, spreadsheets etc. to assemble a marketing profile - or worse :?:

Just a thought :?
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Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by Pierre »

the principle advice that I've tended to give:
- is to any-one contemplating to use any cloud storage for backups,
is to just buy an 2 Tb ext drive & use that instead :mrgreen:

to reinforce my point - I'll also state, that almost all of these cloud storage companies,
are Located Off-shore & at the end of an Very Long Optic Fibre Cable - - which does break - regularly, too.
& in which case, your "back-up" access could be, most problematic :roll:
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Please edit your original post title to include [SOLVED] - when your problem is solved!
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Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by AZgl1800 »

WharfRat wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 10:22 pm Anyone here using cloud storage for backups :?:
Definitely NOT!!! too damn expensive in terms of DATA costs.
AND, they have access to everything you upload.
Does anyone think that these free cloud storage sites have no interest in what you are trying to preserve :?:
They will inspect every byte you upload, and sell it to the highest bidder.
Can they be trusted not to glean through documents, spreadsheets etc. to assemble a marketing profile - or worse :?:
Absolutely not!
not just a thought, it is a warning.....

Just a thought :?
Last edited by Moem on Tue Feb 12, 2019 3:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Fixed the quotes; please don't type new text inside the quote tags, it gets confusing.
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Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by all41 »

Pierre wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 10:33 pm the principle advice that I've tended to give:
- is to any-one contemplating to use any cloud storage for backups,
is to just buy an 2 Tb ext drive & use that instead :mrgreen:

to reinforce my point - I'll also state, that almost all of these cloud storage companies,
are Located Off-shore & at the end of an Very Long Optic Fibre Cable - - which does break - regularly, too.
& in which case, your "back-up" access could be, most problematic :roll:
+1 on this philosophy---keep it in a private archive
Everything in life was difficult before it became easy.
redlined

Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by redlined »

majpooper wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 7:11 pm Have you looked into PiHole?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi-hole
I want it and have looked into it, and do believe it was you who first brought it to my attention some time back. For now I am using mybase blacklist with dnscrypt-proxy as I couldn't get pi-hole worked in to the setup as resolvconf is a rpita for chaining proxies etc and competing DNS set sources (e.g. NetworkManager, dnscrypt-proxy/DoH, dnssec, dnsmasq and want to move to some bind or unbound config added in). Moving to openresolv to sort this (fingers crossed), which reminds me to open a new topic in LM chat to ask about it..

Definitely want pi-hole added though, need to offload some browser overhead and think it would be nice to get the blacklist loaded for dnscrypt-proxy minimized from it's current 2.3MB size.
redlined

Re: Brave browser...big big sigh... (also in the news: IceCat rocks;)

Post by redlined »

WharfRat wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 10:22 pm Anyone here using cloud storage for backups :?:
Does anyone think that these free cloud storage sites have no interest in what you are trying to preserve :?:
Can they be trusted not to glean through documents, spreadsheets etc. to assemble a marketing profile - or worse :?:
Just a thought :?
I echo the sentiments shared by others this thread and avoid cloud at all costs specifically because I have little to no trust for any of the players I know about so far.

I do admit some cloud use though, namely firefox sign-in which I trust is fully encrypted and convenient (which does always add some measure of risk) for backups and syncing of bookmarks, logins, addons and preferences. To mitigate my concern over passwords it I am migrating to bitwarden (again, cloud encrypted sync and password management) and just started using it online with them as a service until I get my own local version of bitwarden running for the network local.

Also looking into hosted vps or somesuchsimilar for the near future, want to run Streisand, real bad! - Ubuntu server, offload dnscrypt-proxy to that, add in matrix for chat bridging, add in bitwarden, add in file encrypted storage/container(s) to sync things there, and..etc! although that is down the road a bit and after I get it running on a local box to serve local network.

Otherwise, no cloud, and no to cloud...
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