Which browsers are best for privacy?
privacytests.orgAn open-source privacy audit of popular web browsers.
https://privacytests.org rate Brave as the best browser.
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I use Brave as recommendation for my friends still using Chrome, since I tell them it’s built on the same code. Most of them are so scared to leave Google’s toxic ecosystem that they think just installing LibreWolf will get them on a gov watchlist, hell they’re probably right. 🫢
Unless someone wants to disagree with me
All the code is opensource and no one has ever raised a privacy alarm in a merged pull request. There’s nothing to fear
it is not even true that “privacytests.org rate it as the best”, if you look close enough, librewolf is best rated, which is an amazing browser BTW.
There is a summary linked here also: https://lemmy.ml/post/4077614
https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/8/21283769/brave-browser-affiliate-links-crypto-privacy-ceo-apology
Judging by a default browser is also really misleading. Firefox is by far the most private with extensions, no competition.
What extensions would you recommend?
uBlock and the right Firefox settings is good enough in my opinion, you can go really crazy with just those two things but you’ll also break a lot of sites, I found a middle ground that I like.
This is just my personal list
I go pretty hard core while making sure it “just works”. People will mention LibreWolf, but the fingerprint resistance causes too much breakage for me. I install uBlock Origin no matter what, enable every single filter except the language lists. I install Dark Reader and set it to a timed schedule which is comfy for me.
Then I install NoScript then enable “Temporary set top level sites to trusted” and enable media under the trusted tab. This fixed majority of the breakage, but you sometimes need to tweak it. You can just not use NoScript if it’s too much of a hassle, uBlock Origin does basically everything you need anyways.
Also of course if you’re using stock Firefox, make sure to turn off analytics and telemetry in the settings, go to
about:configand setpocket.enabled(or something like that, idr) to false. Then I set my default search to duckduckgo.You can use ublock in advanced mode and replace noscript I think
I’ve had good experience with LibreWolf, but disabling the resist fingerprinting is QoL compromise with privacy easily accomplished in the settings.
Awesome, thank you!
The man who is CEO is a shitter who gave us the blessing/curse that is JavaScript
They’re relying on a cryptocurrency for growth
They use Chromium/Blink
Its the same guy who made firefox though?
He is
Have a gander at the people behind Brave Software. They’re all cut from the same silicon wafer as everyone else in the Silicon Valley executive biome. And the (lack of) readiness of the information about who is behind Brave is another tell in itself.
That’s just browsers with default settings. Firefox doesn’t have a built in ad block, so it will always perform worse in that test. I guess FF + ublock origin + hardened settings (such as arkenfox) would perform like brave, if not better. For example, if you check android browsers, you see that Mull (a hardened fork of Firefox) performs great, even without ublock (that you can install as extension anyway).
Isn’t that enough (default part). The vast majority of people won’t change defaults.
Yes, I think that’s the point. Most browsers can be hardened, easily or not, but only few have actually good defaults.
From the JDLR dept… notice how brave is listed first, and passes every test (except a very few)
This report just looks biased. Even if it is totally legitimate, and many users have pointed out how it isn’t , it looks biased.
It looks like every sales pitch for a product where they list everything their product does and how it’s better than the other things.
I vote librewolf
And under misc. tests, neither Mullvad nor Tor are identified as being Tor enabled? Say what now?
I agree it can look biased, until you check the initial of each browser.
What comes out ? They are listed by name.
No it isn’t. It’s just listed in alphabetical order. It’s not bias lol. People will see evil intent where just to confirm their own biases and beliefs.
Please forgive me, I’m going to keep asking this everywhere I can until hopefully get an answer.
I love librewolf and I want to use it, but I can’t get it to render the symbols that some websites use to make their UI work. I’ve tried downloading fonts but they’re all mapped to private use area. I think they need to be downloaded on a per website basis but librewolf seems to categorically refuse.
I really want to stop using brave and I honestly don’t want to figure out arkenfox.
Since LibreWolf is libre software, it’s likely that a user has freedom to tweak this maybe via about:config. You just need to ask this directly in the LibreWolf community.
I think I know what you’re talking about, though. Perhaps CSS @font-face is forbidden, because many sites use Google fonts, which allows them to track you.
If Tor Browser is acceptable, give it a try. While TB too has very strict font restrictions to avoid finger-printing (so that a remote site may not know which fonts your system already has), web fonts are allowed by default. It’s relatively harder to distinguish/track individual Tor users, since TB hides your real IP & by default cookies are per session only.
LibreWolf shows your real IP, so it’s understandable and reasonable that it wants to be more careful about fonts. Still a user should be given freedom to do whatever, at their own risk. That’s what free software is all about, after all. Just a thought…
I’m not sure I understand… The symbols?
Could you give an example?
Librewolf has stuff cranked down for a reason putting privacy before usability
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Brave uses Chromium code, but it is not a Google product. And I believe you are conflating security and privacy. The Chromium codebase is in fact more secure than Firefox in many areas. There is only so much hardening you can do security-wise before you are limited by its codebase. From a privacy perspective, though, you can definitely make the argument against Google. Brave, however, removes/replaces most of the Google stuff.
Brave itself is not a Google product, but does heavily rely on an engine controlled by Google, which is unfortunate. This is a distinct difference though, there are things Google cannot force brave to do like chrome’s new found ability to send ads based on browsing history, and there are things brave can do that Google doesn’t want them to, like integrated advanced ad blocking.
Still though, Google controlling the browsing view experience for so many browsers is not great and I’m sure it won’t be long before they figure out how to do something we wouldn’t want them to that brave won’t be able to stop because of their reliance on chromium.
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Brave is Chromium based…what are you talking about?
Apparently I’m just lying because I swore I read somewhere it was based on Gecko. My bad.
Just install Librewolf
Why not Firefox?
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Librewolf has privacy defaults and a few features that are different.
Looks scam to me. Tooooo much X on chrome, some even hardly possible.
No chrome is just that much of a spyware tool.
No broooo noooo
Chromium, Crypto, Trash UI