Brave puts affiliated links in the address bar - Revision history

Mr Pollo at 00:23, 28 March 2026

2026-03-28T00:23:16Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:23, 28 March 2026
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			{{Incomplete}}
	{{IncidentCargo		{{IncidentCargo
	\|Company=Brave Software		\|Company=Brave Software
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	{{reflist}}		{{reflist}}

	~~[[Category: Web Browsers]]~~		[[Category:Brave browser]]
	[[Category: Brave ~~Software~~]]

Tempo123: X -> Nitter and archive

2026-03-21T20:04:55Z

X -> Nitter and archive

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:04, 21 March 2026
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	==Incident==		==Incident==
	In June 2020, it was discovered that when users typed 'binance.us' into the address bar, they were suggested the URL 'binance.us/en?ref=35089877', which included a referral code for Brave Software, Inc.<ref>{{Cite web \|last=CR1337 \|date=2020-06-06 \|title=So when you are using the @brave browser and type in "binance[.]us" you end up getting redirected to "binance[.]us/en?ref=35089877" - I see what you did there mates \|url=https://x.com/CR1337/status/1269201480105578496 \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/~~20200606164737~~/https://~~twitter~~.com/~~cryptonator1337~~/status/1269201480105578496 \|archive-date=~~2020-06-06~~ \|website=Twitter}}</ref>		In June 2020, it was discovered that when users typed 'binance.us' into the address bar, they were suggested the URL 'binance.us/en?ref=35089877', which included a referral code for Brave Software, Inc.<ref>{{Cite web \|last=CR1337 \|date=2020-06-06 \|title=So when you are using the @brave browser and type in "binance[.]us" you end up getting redirected to "binance[.]us/en?ref=35089877" - I see what you did there mates \|url=https://nitter.us.catsarch.com/CR1337/status/1269201480105578496 \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260321195922/https://nitter.us.catsarch.com/CR1337/status/1269201480105578496 \|archive-date=21 Mar 2026 \|website=Twitter}}</ref>

	===Brave Software's response===		===Brave Software's response===
	The issue was later addressed publicly by Brave's founder and CEO, [[wikipedia:Brendan_Eich\|Brendan Eich]], who apologized and referred to the incident as a 'mistake', stating that "autocomplete should not add any code" and that the lack of disclosure was "the big problem".<ref>{{Cite web \|last=Eich \|first=Brendan \|date=2020-06-06 \|title=We made a mistake, we're correcting: Brave default autocompletes verbatim "binance.us" in address bar to add an affiliate code. \|url=https://x.com/BrendanEich/status/1269313200127795201 \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/~~20200701040411~~/https://~~twitter~~.com/BrendanEich/status/1269313200127795201 \|archive-date=~~2020-07-01~~ \|access-date=2026-03-18 \|website=Twitter}}</ref>		The issue was later addressed publicly by Brave's founder and CEO, [[wikipedia:Brendan_Eich\|Brendan Eich]], who apologized and referred to the incident as a 'mistake', stating that "autocomplete should not add any code" and that the lack of disclosure was "the big problem".<ref>{{Cite web \|last=Eich \|first=Brendan \|date=2020-06-06 \|title=We made a mistake, we're correcting: Brave default autocompletes verbatim "binance.us" in address bar to add an affiliate code. \|url=https://nitter.us.catsarch.com/BrendanEich/status/1269313200127795201 \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260321200019/https://nitter.us.catsarch.com/BrendanEich/status/1269313200127795201 \|archive-date=21 Mar 2026 \|access-date=2026-03-18 \|website=Twitter}}</ref>

	The fix was shipped two days after the original incident, in stable release v1.9.80 on June 8, 2020, which set "Show Brave suggested sites in autocomplete suggestions" to off by default.<ref>{{Cite web \|date=2020-06-08 \|title=Release Channel v1.9.80 \|url=https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v1.9.80 \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610221250/https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v1.9.80 \|archive-date=2020-06-10 \|access-date=2026-03-18 \|website=GitHub}}</ref>		The fix was shipped two days after the original incident, in stable release v1.9.80 on June 8, 2020, which set "Show Brave suggested sites in autocomplete suggestions" to off by default.<ref>{{Cite web \|date=2020-06-08 \|title=Release Channel v1.9.80 \|url=https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v1.9.80 \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610221250/https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v1.9.80 \|archive-date=2020-06-10 \|access-date=2026-03-18 \|website=GitHub}}</ref>

STiKyt at 10:48, 18 March 2026

2026-03-18T10:48:56Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:48, 18 March 2026
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	===Brave Software's response===		===Brave Software's response===
	The issue was later addressed publicly by Brave's founder and CEO, [[wikipedia:Brendan_Eich\|Brendan Eich]], who apologized and referred to the incident as a 'mistake', stating that "autocomplete should not add any code" and that the lack of disclosure was "the big problem". <ref>{{Cite web \|last=Eich \|first=Brendan \|date=2020-06-06 \|title=We made a mistake, we're correcting: Brave default autocompletes verbatim "binance.us" in address bar to add an affiliate code. \|url=https://x.com/BrendanEich/status/1269313200127795201 \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701040411/https://twitter.com/BrendanEich/status/1269313200127795201 \|archive-date=2020-07-01 \|access-date=2026-03-18 \|website=Twitter}}</ref>		The issue was later addressed publicly by Brave's founder and CEO, [[wikipedia:Brendan_Eich\|Brendan Eich]], who apologized and referred to the incident as a 'mistake', stating that "autocomplete should not add any code" and that the lack of disclosure was "the big problem".<ref>{{Cite web \|last=Eich \|first=Brendan \|date=2020-06-06 \|title=We made a mistake, we're correcting: Brave default autocompletes verbatim "binance.us" in address bar to add an affiliate code. \|url=https://x.com/BrendanEich/status/1269313200127795201 \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701040411/https://twitter.com/BrendanEich/status/1269313200127795201 \|archive-date=2020-07-01 \|access-date=2026-03-18 \|website=Twitter}}</ref>

	The fix was shipped two days after the original incident, in stable release v1.9.80 on June 8, 2020, which set "Show Brave suggested sites in autocomplete suggestions" to off by default.<ref>{{Cite web \|date=2020-06-08 \|title=Release Channel v1.9.80 \|url=https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v1.9.80 \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610221250/https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v1.9.80 \|archive-date=2020-06-10 \|access-date=2026-03-18 \|website=GitHub}}</ref>		The fix was shipped two days after the original incident, in stable release v1.9.80 on June 8, 2020, which set "Show Brave suggested sites in autocomplete suggestions" to off by default.<ref>{{Cite web \|date=2020-06-08 \|title=Release Channel v1.9.80 \|url=https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v1.9.80 \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610221250/https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v1.9.80 \|archive-date=2020-06-10 \|access-date=2026-03-18 \|website=GitHub}}</ref>

STiKyt: Fixed categories

2026-03-18T10:47:29Z

Fixed categories

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:47, 18 March 2026
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	{{reflist}}		{{reflist}}

	[[Category:~~{{PAGENAME}}~~]]		[[Category: Web Browsers]]
			[[Category: Brave Software]]

STiKyt: Created incident page

2026-03-18T10:38:14Z

Created incident page

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:38, 18 March 2026
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	\|Description=Brave silently injected affiliate referral codes into address bar URL suggestions without user consent		\|Description=Brave silently injected affiliate referral codes into address bar URL suggestions without user consent
	}}		}}
	~~{{Ph-I-Int}}~~
	~~==Background==~~
	~~{{Ph-I-B}}~~

	==[Incident]==		==Incident==
	{{Ph-I-I}}		In June 2020, it was discovered that when users typed 'binance.us' into the address bar, they were suggested the URL 'binance.us/en?ref=35089877', which included a referral code for Brave Software, Inc.<ref>{{Cite web \|last=CR1337 \|date=2020-06-06 \|title=So when you are using the @brave browser and type in "binance[.]us" you end up getting redirected to "binance[.]us/en?ref=35089877" - I see what you did there mates \|url=https://x.com/CR1337/status/1269201480105578496 \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606164737/https://twitter.com/cryptonator1337/status/1269201480105578496 \|archive-date=2020-06-06 \|website=Twitter}}</ref>

	===~~[Company]~~'s response===		===Brave Software's response===
	{{Ph-I-~~ComR}}~~		The issue was later addressed publicly by Brave's founder and CEO, [[wikipedia:Brendan_Eich\|Brendan Eich]], who apologized and referred to the incident as a 'mistake', stating that "autocomplete should not add any code" and that the lack of disclosure was "the big problem". <ref>{{Cite web \|last=Eich \|first=Brendan \|date=2020-06-06 \|title=We made a mistake, we're correcting: Brave default autocompletes verbatim "binance.us" in address bar to add an affiliate code. \|url=https://x.com/BrendanEich/status/1269313200127795201 \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701040411/https://twitter.com/BrendanEich/status/1269313200127795201 \|archive-date=2020-07-01 \|access-date=2026-03-18 \|website=Twitter}}</ref>


	==~~Lawsuit~~==
	~~{{Ph~~-I-~~L}}~~


	~~==Consumer response=~~=
	~~{{Ph~~-I-~~ConR~~}}

			The fix was shipped two days after the original incident, in stable release v1.9.80 on June 8, 2020, which set "Show Brave suggested sites in autocomplete suggestions" to off by default.<ref>{{Cite web \|date=2020-06-08 \|title=Release Channel v1.9.80 \|url=https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v1.9.80 \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610221250/https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v1.9.80 \|archive-date=2020-06-10 \|access-date=2026-03-18 \|website=GitHub}}</ref>

			The following day, Brave published a blog post with an apology, stating their intention was to offer an "alternative completion is an affiliate-coded URL for a specific Ledger product, which the user is free to select or ignore".<ref>{{Cite news \|date=2020-06-09 \|title=On Partner Referral Codes in Brave Suggested Sites \|url=https://brave.com/blog/referral-codes-in-suggested-sites/ \|url-status=live \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240416011108/https://brave.com/blog/referral-codes-in-suggested-sites/ \|archive-date=2024-04-16 \|access-date=2026-03-18 \|work=Brave Blog: Company News}}</ref>
	==References==		==References==
	{{reflist}}		{{reflist}}

	{{~~Ph-I-C~~}}		[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

STiKyt: Created page with "{{IncidentCargo |Company=Brave Software |StartDate=2020-06-06 |EndDate=2020-06-08 |Status=Resolved |Product=Brave browser |ArticleType=Product |Type=False Advertising, Privacy |Description=Brave silently injected affiliate referral codes into address bar URL suggestions without user consent }} {{Ph-I-Int}} ==Background== {{Ph-I-B}} ==[Incident]== {{Ph-I-I}} ===[Company]'s response=== {{Ph-I-ComR}} ==Lawsuit== {{Ph-I-L}} ==Consumer response== {{Ph-I-..."

2026-03-18T09:41:44Z

Created page with "{{IncidentCargo |Company=Brave Software |StartDate=2020-06-06 |EndDate=2020-06-08 |Status=Resolved |Product=Brave browser |ArticleType=Product |Type=False Advertising, Privacy |Description=Brave silently injected affiliate referral codes into address bar URL suggestions without user consent }} {{Ph-I-Int}} ==Background== {{Ph-I-B}} ==[Incident]== {{Ph-I-I}} ===[Company]'s response=== {{Ph-I-ComR}} ==Lawsuit== {{Ph-I-L}} ==Consumer response== {{Ph-I-..."

New page

{{IncidentCargo
|Company=Brave Software
|StartDate=2020-06-06
|EndDate=2020-06-08
|Status=Resolved
|Product=Brave browser
|ArticleType=Product
|Type=False Advertising, Privacy
|Description=Brave silently injected affiliate referral codes into address bar URL suggestions without user consent
}}
{{Ph-I-Int}}
==Background==
{{Ph-I-B}}

==[Incident]==
{{Ph-I-I}}

===[Company]'s response===
{{Ph-I-ComR}}

==Lawsuit==
{{Ph-I-L}}

==Consumer response==
{{Ph-I-ConR}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Ph-I-C}}