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Brave Browser

This browser has made waves thanks to its built-in privacy protections - such as AdBlock, HTTPS everywhere and script blocking - but in the end, they are outclassed by uMatrix. More than that - after checking them out, I can confidently say the Shields are pretty useless - the vast majority of trackers are left alone; in fact, sometimes it seems that a site can have hundreds of them, and yet none of them will be blocked by the Shields. Script blocking option simply blocks JavaScript fully - it's just NoScript revisited. Brave used to be able to install Chrome extensions only from source, but now does it the same as the other Chrome-based browsers. Despite those, it not only spies on you but is actively working against your privacy by whitelisting Facebook and Twitter trackers. Brave has also been soliciting donations in the name of other people without their consent!

Here is a thread discussing the issue. UPDATE August 2020: since I wrote this, more shady shit from these guys has surfaced. For example, not only do they have sponsored backgrounds (recall Mozilla's Directory Tiles?) in their New Tab page but they were also earning big money from the included affiliate links without telling you (this is illegal and they've locked the convo as expected)! More recently, they were caught rewriting typed web addresses to add referrals for various partners. Brave Browser also has auto-updates that cannot be disabled which is extremely malicious (complete with a closed topic, of course - in a Mozilla-esque fashion). The only real reason to use Brave is their so-called "Brave Rewards" program with which you can earn their "Basic Attention Tokens" in exchange for watching ads (displayed as system notifications). Here's the catch: to pay out their BATshit tokens, you need an account on Uphold, whose Privacy Policy states this:

To verify your identity, we collect your name, address, phone, email, and other similar information. We may also require you to provide additional Personal Data for verification purposes, including your date of birth, taxpayer or government identification number, or a copy of your government-issued identification

Facebook tier surveillance. But wait, it's not over:

We may obtain information from affiliated and non-affiliated third parties, such as credit bureaus, identity verification services, and other screening services to verify that you are eligible to use our Services, and will associate that information with the information we collected from you.

They will also stalk you all over the Internet to try to find already existing information. There are still more violations coming, so sit back and watch:

Uphold uses Veriff to verify your identity by determining whether a selfie you take matches the photo in your government-issued identification. Veriff’s facial recognition technology collects information from your photos that may include biometric data, and when you provide your selfie, you will be asked to agree that Veriff may process biometric data and other data (including special categories of data) from the photos you submit and share it with Uphold. Automated processes may be used to make a verification decision.

As soon as I thought I've found the biggest privacy violator possible, the cold hammer of reality struck that stupid idea right out of my skull. Anyway - again - the only way to pay out BATshit tokens is by using this service. Even then, you can only do it once a month and Brave still swipes 30% of it - "You’ll earn 70% of the ad revenue that we receive from advertisers." This is portrayed as a way of revolutionizing the Internet ad industry - "the middlemen and platform operators capture most of today’s ad revenue, while creating malware distribution and ad fraud opportunities. Brave Rewards upends this broken system and provides a new way forward for creator support." However, the real revolution will happen when the whole ad business model is dead and buried, or even better - when content creators don't need to worry about "earning a living" because the capitalist monster has been slain or at least put on a leash. For now, you can just support the sites you like directly with Bitcoin, anonymously and on your own terms. All you need is a wallet and a person you want to donate to (I have an address at the top of the page ^_^). Anyway, at the beginning I was way too forgiving for Slave (certainly nothing "Brave" about it) Browser - let it rot along with all the scams they're pulling.