Brave: A new browser with built-in adblock and payment solutions

[Deozaan]

The Brave web browser is hijacking links, and inserting affiliate codes

-panzer (June 07, 2020, 12:13 AM)

This seems a bit misleading.

It doesn't hijack links. It suggests links with Brave's refID in the auto-complete for the address bar. So if you click a link, or type a URL into the address bar, it either takes you exactly where you think you're going, or shows you in the auto-complete where it will be taking you if you press enter.

Here's what happens when I start to type in coinbase.com (which I have been to previously):



Notice that the auto-complete suggestion gives preference to URLs I have visited in the past, listing the "suggested" referral URL below my actual history. If I press enter, it takes me directly to coinbase.com with no referral. I have to manually select the bottom suggestion which contains the referral code in order to be taken to the referral link.


And here is what happens when I start to type in binance.com (which I have not been to previously):



Because I haven't typed out the full URL it will do a search for the site if I press enter. If I click the top result, it takes me to the site with no referral ID. No links have been hijacked or modified.


Here is what happens when I type in the full binance.com URL (which I still have not been to previously at the time of testing this):



It shows me that it will autocomplete with a referral ID if I press enter. Or I can select the non-referral link and then every time in the future when I type out the URL it will give preference to URLs in my history over its own suggestions. Or in other words, it will be like my Coinbase example above.


Sounds like making a mountain out of a molehill to me.


Either way, these "autocomplete suggestions" can be disabled from Settings -> Appearance -> Show Brave suggested sites in autocomplete suggestions. And in response to the negative feedback, it will be disabled by default in future releases.

Brave: A new browser with built-in adblock and payment solutions

[Deozaan]

And one more, for completeness:

Here's what happens when I try to search from the address bar for "bitcoin"



If I press enter, I am taken to a DuckDuckGo search page, which doesn't link to Binance on the first page of results. If I instead search for "bitcoin binance" the top result is Binance with several links to various Binance pages, none of which include the referral ID.

I get similar results with other crypto-related terms, such as "ltc" or "litecoin" in the address bar.

So again, there is no link hijacking going on. It seems like the only way to accidentally use a referral link is if you type the full URL in the address bar and have never been to the website before, and press enter without looking at the auto-complete. In other words, it seems the only people who are likely to accidentally use the referral links are the small percentage of people who already know exactly what they're looking for (and would therefore type in the full URL manually, rather than doing a search and clicking a search result) but don't already have that site in their browsing history.

And even though I can't tell if it was an unintentional bug or just a bad decision, they've admitted that revising typed-in domains was a mistake that will not happen in the future even with the feature enabled.

"We will never revise typed in domains again, I promise" - Brendan Eich

[Deozaan]

After further research, my understanding is that it was an intentional feature, but possibly with unintended consequences due to still thinking from a Firefox mindset where the address bar and the search bar are (or were?) two separate things. That is, they think it's OK to suggest/change things that are search queries, but since Chrome-based browsers have a single omnibar, this thinking came back to bite them and resulted in typed-in URLs getting changed. They don't think it's OK to change typed-in URLs and are fixing that.

[ewemoa]

Thanks for the investigation and write-up!

[Deozaan]

I'm not sure when this happened, since I see no mention of it on their blog, but Brave has launched private, encrypted video chat (similar to Zoom or Meet):

https://together.brave.com/

[dantheman]

Then they'll do as in China and oblige all info to be handed over to the FED, NSA, DHS... 

[wraith808]

They've also released a way to convert BAT into gift certs.

https://market.tapnetwork.io/home

[Deozaan]

They've also released a way to convert BAT into gift certs.

-wraith808 (July 09, 2020, 09:03 AM)

That's not officially affiliated with Brave as far as I can tell.

Then they'll do as in China and oblige all info to be handed over to the FED, NSA, DHS... 

-dantheman (July 09, 2020, 07:26 AM)

I understand your cynicism in this regard, but FYI here's their claim on how they handle the data:

Brave Together is a private video conference tool that you can use to call with your friends and colleagues. Nothing that you say or type in the service is logged or saved. See data processing detail.

Note: Your IP address is available to your Internet provider. If your Internet provider requires the use of a TURN server, then your IP address will also be available to a company called 8×8, which operates the TURN server. The content of your call is encrypted between your browser and the Brave server, so your audio and video stay private from intermediaries.

To avoid scams: For the avoidance of phishing attacks, note that we at Brave never contact Brave Browser users in a Together call.

-https://brave.com/privacy/#brave-together-learn

[panzer]

Brave Browser Fork Makes a ‘Bold’ Move Citing Legal Pressure; another potential fork incoming:
https://cointelegrap...iting-legal-pressure

[dantheman]

@Deozaan - thanks!

Appreciate your footwork! 

- - - - -

Testing Brave nightly (on Windows and MX KDE beta1) and it is fairly solid but not yet into that "conversation" piece.
Not many people i know use Brave. At most, they go into Firefox (instead of default Edge).

[wraith808]

They've also released a way to convert BAT into gift certs.

-wraith808 (July 09, 2020, 09:03 AM)

That's not officially affiliated with Brave as far as I can tell.

-Deozaan (July 09, 2020, 03:02 PM)

I learned about it from Brave, and not from an ad but within the browser when I was checking my BAT settings, so I don't know.

[Deozaan]

I learned about it from Brave, and not from an ad but within the browser when I was checking my BAT settings, so I don't know.

-wraith808 (July 09, 2020, 07:50 PM)

Looking into it further, tapnetwork.io seems to be a 3rd party white-label gift card/rewards service. So perhaps Brave have started using that service as you suggested. I haven't seen any mention of it in my version of the browser, and again, no mention of it on their blog that I saw.

[Deozaan]

Brave Browser Fork Makes a ‘Bold’ Move Citing Legal Pressure; another potential fork incoming:
https://cointelegrap...iting-legal-pressure

-panzer (July 09, 2020, 03:21 PM)

In summary: The Brave fork created last month is changing its name from "Braver" to "Bold" and in the future will be based off Chromium rather than Brave.

In other words, the Brave fork won't be a Brave fork much longer.

[Dormouse]

In other words, the Brave fork won't be a Brave fork much longer.

-Deozaan (July 09, 2020, 08:28 PM)

Not so brave then

Or very bold

[Deozaan]

Brave has launched Brave Talk:

Today, Brave launched Brave Talk, a new privacy-focused video conferencing feature built directly into the Brave browser. Brave Talk enables video calls without sacrificing privacy. Video calling is now an important tool for work, school, and social activities, and Brave Talk allows users to collaborate and connect online in a private-by-design environment.

To use Brave Talk, users can initiate a call directly through the Brave desktop browser by opening a new tab and clicking the Brave Talk camera icon, or simply visit talk.brave.com from the Brave browser on desktop or mobile. While calls need to be initiated from Brave, users can invite others to join calls from any modern browser.

Brave Talk, formerly named Brave Together, launched in testing mode in May 2020. Now, Brave Talk is available for free to millions of users for one-to-one video calls, and unlike other video call service providers, Brave Talk features video groupwatch, YouTube livestreaming, and unlimited call times for free version users. For users who are interested in hosting calls for three or more people, Brave offers a premium version of Brave Talk for $7/month, which provides call recordings, hosting tools like participant muting and entry passcodes, and more for calls with hundreds of people. The Brave Android and iOS apps currently feature Brave Talk Premium, and will have the free version as well in the coming weeks.

-https://brave.com/brave-talk-launch/