Brave browser
Brave browser
| Basic Information | |
|---|---|
| Release Year | 2016 |
| Product Type | web browser |
| In Production | yes |
| Official Website | https://brave.com/download/ |
Brave is a free and open source web browser based on chromium[1], privacy focused it is shipped with a dedicated ad-blocker[2] independent from the chromium code base and therefor not subjected to Google's WebExtension update.
Launched in 2016 by the Brave Software company it's business model is based mostly on ad revenue through their brave rewards program but more generally through the use of their own cryptocurrency BAT ( Basic Attention Token ), by opt-in to the brave rewards program the user get occasional ads notification on their desktop and have the possibility to send the BAT they own to verified publisher ( website owners, online creators ... ).
Controversies
Affiliated links in the address bar
In June 2020 it was discovered that when typing "binance.us" in the address bar users were suggested the url "binance.us/en?ref=35089877" which includes the referral code of Brave Software, inc.[3]
The issue was later addressed publicly by the founder and CEO of Brave Brendan Eich who apologized and called this issue a "mistake"[4]
Unverified publishers and BAT Tips
Before 2020 the brave rewards panel was misleading users by not letting them know if the content creator they where going to tip was a verified publisher and therefor able to receive the BAT sent to them, misleading users to think the publisher they sent BAT to did received the funds.[4]
While brave claim that all BAT bought by the user sent are held indefinitely until the publisher claim them it is not necessarily the case for BAT acquired through other means like promotional tokens gifted by Brave.[3]
After the controversy an update was done to clearly indicate in brave that the publisher going to be tipped is not affiliated to Brave and all tips given anyway are sent back to the user after 90 days of not being claimed by the publisher, this policy was later changed to simply not be able to tip unverified creators at all.[1]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Brave browser source code https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/
- ↑ Brave rust based ad blocker source code https://github.com/brave/adblock-rust
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Twitter thread from 6 June 2020 by @cryptonator1337 addressing the binance referral code injection https://web.archive.org/web/20200606164737/https://twitter.com/cryptonator1337/status/1269201480105578496
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Brendan Eich apologizing for the affiliated links issue on twitter https://web.archive.org/web/20200701040411/https://twitter.com/BrendanEich/status/1269313200127795201