this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2023
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Privacy

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I've been using Brave for the past three or so years but I do know that Linux/privacy enthusiasts tend to swear by Firefox. Wanted to get people's thoughts on this topic to see if I should be making a potential switch. Thanks!

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I haven't done an audit of either but here are some points to consider:

  1. Brave is built on top of chromium, so it "by default" exposes lots of new APIs that Google is introducing that make fingerprinting easier if not outright invade your privacy. For example see https://mozilla.github.io/standards-positions/ and look at the "negative" items. Many of them such as Web NFC, Web Bluetooth and WebUSB API are against because they don't have adequate protections against fingerprinting or other privacy or security concerns. Brave seems to do a pretty good job removing or disarming these APIs but they are basically trying to keep their balance on a shaky and antagonistic foundation.
  2. On a similar note Google pushing these APIs work because of the greater market share. Again, derivatives can provide some resistance by disabling these APIs but unless all of them block the same APIs they will still be available widespread. So using a Chromium-based browser harms the entire web over time by allowing Google to have control. Right now Firefox (and derivatives) and Safari are the only browsers that you can use to truly oppose Google's control over the web platform.
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Agreed! Many times I faced the fact that the Chrome developers don't follow the W3C standards, but they require it from Mozilla. Therefore, some functionality will only work in Chrome, but not in Mozilla (it's not their bad!).

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago (15 children)

Brave has tried one scam after another before. I wouldn't trust it for a second for any use.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Is it more private than brave? Normal Firefox: no Librewolf (Firefox Fork): yes Hardened Firefox: yes

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

As hard as it is for me to admit, and based on some tests, Brave had better fingerprinting resistance than Firefox. I don't trust the guys behind Brave, but their product is good.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Iirc isn't it more like Brave is better out of the box, but given sufficient configuration, both are more or less equal?

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Brave isn't more private than Firefox but depending on the platform that Firefox is on, Firefox might be less secure than Brave.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Still waiting for Firefox Android to be secure enough for me to ditch Brave.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

OOL, what's up with firefox android's app?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

IIRC something along the lines of it not having proper site isolation, making it less secure.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

Not the point. Using a chromium browser is a vote for Google domination of the web. Just no.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (12 children)

Short version: Firefox on desktop, something chromium-based on Android. See https://www.privacyguides.org/en/tools/ for the long version!

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