Comment by Bloxlord@lemm.ee on Brave browser quietly slips a VPN service onto your Windows PC

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Why is this news?

Yea i don’t get the hate boner for brave. I get it’s sketchy and don’t use it myself, but they aren’t sneakily installing some VPN to redirect all your web traffic without you knowing. They tell you about it right up front because it’s a service they want to sell.

If you don’t like the browser, don’t use it. There isn’t a need to go on some crusade to smear them with bullshit.

It’s a bunch of people upset with the company’s CEO or whatever over personal views. The browser itself wasn’t that bad after you disabled the ad and crypto stuff, which they heavily pushed on you.

I had switched to it from Chrome last year but ended up not caring for it, so I went to Firefox and Librewolf. People can use whatever the hell they want, idgaf. But for those who will eventually end up complaining about YouTube ads and continue to use Chrome, I have no sympathy for if you can’t take the few minutes to download and install a new browser and move your favorites over.

This community has some of the worst biased tech readers.

Because it’s Brave and people like to jump on bandwagons. This is like the 6th time I’ve seen this article posted in lemmybin also.

And since we have the reddit-minded folk here, no, I do not support Brave and never will and I would much rather they disappear from the internet, but using ragebait to complain about the browser installing the necessary files to have one of their advertised services working, like pretty much every other software does, is not the way to move forward.

It’s good users are now aware that Brave includes redundant features that you have to pay extra for to activate. Users browser will update everytime the browser or the VPN software needs an update.

For example Firefox VPN from Mozilla is separate software. They don’t force millions of users to download it even if they don’t want it.

This is yet another example why people should not be using Brave and should be skeptical of its intentions.

brave is basically installing a future minefield with system-wide access waiting to be triggered by them, or an exploitable bug by others, on all brave users’ pcs and not just those who sub to their vpn service.

Whats pocket? And why is it bad that its on the browser?

But its not active unless you turn it on right? Just preinstalled so if you decide to use it its already there?

Cause that does sound like a little bloatware but if thats the only bloat they have and thats its only issue Im not sure Im bothered by it.

Just imagine: using Windows and being concerned about privacy. Big lol.

Why would someone who uses Debian care about Windows?

I don’t, because I have better use of my time than to learn to use someone else’s computer

But you don’t. Because you don’t

Exactly, that’s the point he was trying to make.

You can’t harden windows to the point of an acceptable level of security. That is the inherent nature of proprietary software.

Prove to me that your windows system is actually “hardened” and that you have no backdoors or telemetry broadcasting at all. At the very least, Microsoft still knows what you are doing, you cannot trust your 3rd party firewall because windows can still sidestep it.

I don’t even know who the fuck those people are, all I can tell you is that there is a reason that any professional application that requires legitimate security, runs on foss systems, or at the very least source available. If you are too stupid to realize that, then you really don’t have any say in this matter whatsoever. It doesn’t even just include baremetal Linux either.

I don’t know who you’ve been arguing with on this, but I actually make a living working on Linux machines, I’m not even coming at you from a freetard perspective, solely work experience.

How do you harden windows?

But you don’t. Because you don’t.

Nobody does. Windows is closed source and its inner working is a trade secret. This means you cannot know how to lock down windows. Of course there are best practices based on info from microsoft or people who know a thing or two about info sec but it’s all guess work and/or trusting the developer by its blue eyes.

Thats something Ive never understood about closed source.

The OS, in its entirety, is on your computer. Why are you not able to open it up and root around within it? Is it just encrypted to a degree it cant be cracked? Or is the legal ramifications of unraveling it just not worth unraveling it?

They have a point though.

Windows automatically means you don’t have privacy and you cannot have privacy.

On Linux you at least may or may not, depending on configuration.

Imagine claiming to be technically competent and using Windows, being obliged to “lock it down” to made it a “non spyware”. Take your meds, dude.

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

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