Brave is a privacy-focused web browser built on the Chromium engine that offers built-in ad-blocking, tracker prevention, and other privacy features. While it’s from a US-based company, its strong privacy protections and transparency make it a medium-risk alternative to mainstream browsers.

Why Choose Brave

Brave stands out for its aggressive approach to privacy protection right out of the box. Unlike Chrome or Edge, which collect user data by default, Brave blocks ads, trackers, and fingerprinting methods by default through its “Shields” feature. This means you get a faster, more private browsing experience without having to install additional extensions.

The browser also offers a unique opt-in advertising model called Brave Rewards, where users can choose to view privacy-respecting ads and earn Basic Attention Tokens (BAT) cryptocurrency, which they can keep or use to support content creators.

Data Residency and Privacy

While Brave Software is based in the US, the browser’s architecture is designed to minimize data collection:

• Brave doesn’t collect or store your browsing data on its servers
• Brave Shields blocks third-party cookies and trackers by default
• Private browsing with Tor integration routes traffic through the Tor network
• Search queries can be routed through privacy-respecting search engines by default
• The browser includes fingerprinting protection to prevent tracking across sites

Security Features

• Built-in HTTPS Everywhere functionality
• Automatic blocking of malware and phishing attempts
• WebTorrent integration for secure peer-to-peer file sharing
• Strong password manager integration
• Private browsing with Tor for enhanced anonymity
• Regular security updates (based on Chromium)
• IPFS integration for decentralized web browsing

Limitations

• US-based company (though with strong privacy focus)
• Chromium-based, so still has some Google dependencies in the codebase
• Brave Rewards and some advanced features require creating an account
• Some websites may break due to aggressive tracker blocking
• Smaller market share means less testing across the web