Hi all,
attending this forum is an invaluable source of software and privacy, so I eventually decided to give a try to Brave browser on my smartphone.
Here you are the (partial) results from TC after one week or so.
Are all those trackers (…and fingerprinting not shown here) expected ?
Yes, they are expected. TC uses ClassyShark (related to https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org) to find tracker in brave (or any other app) in the latest versions. There should be none or only few. They are shown on top. Those trackers shown come from the sites you visit. Depending on the lists you use and if you have set TC to strict you will get many trackers form the connections (methinks Disconnect-Blocklist and/or StevenBlack host file).
Brave only has amazon trackers.
It was once recommended by the TrackerControl dev to turn off the monitoring of web browsers (and download managers).
The purpose of the app is to mostly block in-app trackers. With browsers, as noticed, a bunch of items constantly show up. One can spend too much time unblocking things instead of browsing.
With the finer control TC has now, I don’t know if it’s still recommended to exclude browsers.
This is a good point.
There is an entry ‘‘essentials’’, which covers needed hosts and non neede hosts. If one has a constant browsing habit, it might be worth the effort to coustomize it. Otherwise, having TC running all time is impacting the browsing experience a bit to say it politely.
Brave having so many trackers doesn’t surprise me. From what I’ve read online, Brave being privacy-friendly seems to be just marketing, not fact: Brave, the false sensation of privacy | BlackGNU
I confirm the fact described in the site suggested by @TheLastProject: I do not use rewards. But the tracker is there.
In fact I was suspicious from the beginning on “rewards”: another sort of nudging, I thought.
If you check with various tools, included those of the famous EFF (Electronic Frontier Fondation), Brave is not that bad. And is one of the only browser that protect you from fingerprinting. An hardened firefox don’t do that. Worse : a hardened Firefox makes you rather unique. Today, tracking is made by fingerprinting, less and less by cookies since the GPDR. Fingerprinting is the enemy, cookies are dead.
Brave reward is an atempt to monetize internet without giving all the money to the Big Tech. We all want a free internet, but is it even possible ? I don’t think so. Nevertheless, personaly, I opt out Brave Reward, I don’t want advertisement in my browser, of any kind.
About trackers found by TC in Brave, these are the trackers of the website, not those of the browser. Just read and see when they appear.
Thanks for the contribute to the discussion, @XjFred. But now I’m a bit confused: if Brave block/protect from fingerprinting, why I can see this in TC ?
Because Brave doesn’t block fingerprinting, but send a different identification header each time it connects, making you a different user with a different browser every time.
To be discret, it may be better to lie in the middle of the crowd instead of being the only one to wear a camo suit.
Try this : https://coveryourtracks.eff.org
Some more explanation here : Browser Fingerprinting (Explanation, Tests, and Solutions)
Thanks to each of you for clarifying. I see lots of Brave bashing all over. They are disrupting the status quo. It did me well to study up on Brave CEO Brendan Eich (who created JavaScript? Who co-founded Mozilla but was ousted?)
Edit: Something tells me he understands JavaScript fingerprinting exceptionally well 
https://proprivacy.com/privacy-news/how-to-block-canvas-fingerprinting
Edit: Interesting read @TheLastProject . Frustrating for me though… Who do I believe? Who is credible here? Any info you can share on the author/what makes this credible? (Or from anyone else who “
” the post?) Love some additional context/understanding from another point of view. I genuinely want to try and see other’s perspective (because my perceptives have been wrong many times).
Edit: Another thought in reverse of my original…being someone understands JavaScript at an expert level (Brendan Eich) could be a double edged sword…I mean Google was one of, if not the first to index the web and look at what they have done with that beautiful original plan. So crazy!
Well, several people here confirmed that it does talk to these URLs even when that service is disabled, so that part is at very least definitely true.
For credibility, I also often look at what there is to gain.
What does this random person have to gain from saying Brave isn’t private? Maybe some clicks on his weblog.
What does Brave Inc. have to gain from saying Brave is private even if it isn’t? Money.
So, just looking at that, I would trust positive statements on Brave by Brave Inc. less than that of other people, especially because we can confirm some of the negative things said.
Thanks for this good perspective. Greed undoubtedly corrupts to the core.
I have another question. What browser would you (or any others reading) recommend over Brave and why specifically? When I search FDroid’s default repository I see neither Firefox or Brave (EDIT: the two I constantly am fighting with in my mind as to my default) in the results. I see forks but many have wording such as, “…(the listed browser, this case Fennec) It has proprietary bits and telemetry removed, but still connects to various Mozilla and Google services that can track users.”
I guess my point is, why are they choosing the browser they are using? And specifically why over Brave?
Thanks for the collective help understanding.
You’re right. This is often a good way to know who is trustworthy. About the article you post, the author starts by saying he is not sure about what he is writing and need to check some facts. I think before accusing, one need to be sure of its argument.
To make a choice, I often like to use several tools to check the browsers, VPN… (tracker blocking, fingerprinting, IP test, dns leak test…).
These tools are elaborated by trustworthy fondations. I want them to test my browser, my VPN or my phone settings (DNS).
Using these tools, I’ve never found a Firefox settings that make me happy. While Brave do (at least regarding Fingerprinting, which is what I want to avoid the most and with trackers, which Brave seems to block enough to let internet work properly).
I assume what puzzle people with Brave is their Reward stuff, which looks like another way to make money. I agree with that and don’t use it.
Now my own experience : since I use Brave, I don’t have any spam, ads, whatever, in my mailbox.
But I don’t work for Brave and if someone can give me a good alternate browser, I’ll go for it. I don’t want very specific browser (Fennec, /e/ browser,…) because they leave a very unique fingerprint. So, what’s best between hardened chromium, Brave or hardened Firefox ? Each of these browsers have people who are pro or hate them. Please @TheLastProject , can you tell me which browser you use and how do you use it ? (extensions ?)
I’m afraid you won’t find them in F-Droid as they are not totally FOSS, I think. I tried Firefox, now I’m on Brave. I want to try a custom/hardened version of chromium, which is FOSS.
Exactly 
. This is why I asked my question 
.
I use regular Firefox from Aurora Store.
It’s not perfect and not tracker-free but…
I also wish there was something really good on F-Droid 
Thank you !
Regular Firefox without any add-on ?
An interesting test would be to use TC the exact same way for a week or so and see what the results are with another browser (Firefox?). Granted, one would need to have similar browsing habits during this time as well as similar browser settings in place. Curious?
@nottolino (or anyone else) what do you think?
Why not ? Firefox is my browser in my Linux boxes. Of course I cannot guarantee the exact same browsing behaviour.
I’m going to install it and report here.
No extensions ?
The article is so negative that i’m starting to beleive the autor has something to gain by doing so. The links to the whitelist don’t exist anymore. These could have been nessasary to login to FB, Twitter etc. Now there are switches for that in the settings page. Firefox also has “haters”, what do they have to gain? I do see the connections to Brave rewards. Are they evil? i don’t know. Reason i use Brave is the random fingerprint, no other browser offers that as far as i know.
