Which browser affords the most privacy and security?
FWIW, a new study says Brave...but they didn't test Tor.
Wednesday, February 26, 2020 by DrJBHL | Discussion: Personal Computing
Ghacks is an excellent tech website. It was recently sold, however, the tech content has remained in Martin Brinkmann's extremely capable hands.
So, I was perusing there, as I really didn't want to do an article about MS killing the useless Live Tiles in W10, because Start10 beats anything MS has offered with W8 onward, nor about new icons coming to W10 as I think the icons created here beat them hands down, and always have.
So, Brinkmann discusses the findings of this study, which looked at:
"Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Brave Browser, Microsoft Edge and Yandex Browser...to assess the privacy risks associated with this backend data exchange during general web browsing. Questions we try to answer include: (i) Does this data allow servers to track the IP address of a browser instance over time (rough location can be deduced from an IP address, so IP address tracking is potentially a surrogate for location tracking) and (ii) Does the browser leak details of the web pages visited."
The bottom line result is that out of the box, using default settings (like no autofill), Brave won among them all. In Brinkmann's closing words:
"The researcher analyzed the default state of the browsers and found that Brave had the most privacy friendly settings. At least some of the browsers may be configured to improve privacy by changing the default configuration, e.g. disabling autocomplete functionality."
But, the study left a bit to be desired, at least for me. Vivaldi, Epic browser and (shhh) Tor weren't in this study, and imho, certainly Tor should have been. Interestingly, Bravo has the ability to apply Tor extension to private browsing ("Private Window with Tor: Tor hides your IP address from the sites you visit").
When Tor is put head to head with Bravo, take a look at the results (pros and cons) from users at Slant. It's not the only site which issued a comparison. Truth be told, though, Tor is slower than molasses in January, because of how it's onion layered switching works.
Without starting a browser war or a "mine is better" contest, I'd really like to hear what you all think.
Sources and links:
https://www.ghacks.net/2020/02/25/study-finds-brave-to-be-the-most-private-browser/
https://www.scss.tcd.ie/Doug.Leith/pubs/browser_privacy.pdf
https://www.guidingtech.com/brave-browser-vs-tor-secure-private-comparison/
Reply #2 Wednesday, February 26, 2020 10:36 AM
Well, just downloaded Brave browser, and so far, I'm liking it, will play with it some more. Thanks for the Browser security info, something to definitely consider Doc. 
Reply #3 Wednesday, February 26, 2020 1:52 PM
Whilst Tor would definitely beat Brave it's not really a "daily driver" unless you're a political dissident or something. I think that Brave is a good compromise between functionality and security for power users with concerns. It's become my main browser and with the rare hiccup it has served me very well.
Indeed...I don't think most would trade the speed for the privacy.
Reply #4 Wednesday, February 26, 2020 7:29 PM
Vivaldi is my main browser , Brave is my backup browser. Brave would have been my default browser if it weren't for the fact that it doesn't offer the speed-dial tiles on the start page that I love so much with Vivaldi.
-- Ace --
Reply #5 Wednesday, February 26, 2020 8:32 PM
Brave has been my primary browser for a couple of years now and it's been rock solid, with perfect rendering. Brave plus a VPN should suffice for most people.
Reply #6 Thursday, February 27, 2020 2:39 AM
For those running Firefox, this extension should give really good privacy - uBlock 1.25 or higher https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/
Reply #7 Thursday, February 27, 2020 4:46 AM
For those running Firefox, this extension should give really good privacy - uBlock 1.25 or higher https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/
Doc I just added ublock to my Firefox. Thanks for the tip.
Reply #9 Friday, February 28, 2020 12:04 AM
Reply #10 Friday, February 28, 2020 1:23 AM
I replaced AdBlock Plus with ublock, and so far no breakage with Firefox, and it seems a bit faster. Thanks for the tip!
Reply #12 Friday, February 28, 2020 10:15 AM
You can also use Nano Defender with uBlock Origin.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/nano-defender/ggolfgbegefeeoocgjbmkembbncoadlb
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Reply #1 Wednesday, February 26, 2020 9:58 AM
Whilst Tor would definitely beat Brave it's not really a "daily driver" unless you're a political dissident or something. I think that Brave is a good compromise between functionality and security for power users with concerns. It's become my main browser and with the rare hiccup it has served me very well.