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by gpm 55 days ago
I care a good deal that I trust the people who developed my browser. It's about the most critical piece of software in my life. From banking to professionally to personal life.

The people who developed brave used brave to impersonate people and defraud their users out of money by asking for donations using other peoples names [1]. I don't trust them at all. Thus I don't use their browser.

And, unsurprisingly, this is part of a pattern of bad behavior, not a one off criminal act by otherwise trustworthy people, for some examples [2].

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20181221180137/https://twitter.c... / https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18734999

[2] https://github.com/lobsters/lobsters-ansible/issues/45#issue... and https://lobste.rs/s/iopw1d/what_s_up_with_lobste_rs_blocking...

1 comments

Wtaf? Never heard about this. I don't use any of the token stuff but that's scary stuff
You haven't heard about it because it is a lie.

Brave has a tipping service that lets users tip creators with Brave's crypto coin, BAT. When they launched the tipping service, they put out a pool of their own BAT and let users tip with that BAT. Their initial UI for the tipping app was sadly bad, and didn't really properly show which creators were signed up for the program, which weren't. If the tips from the pool were given to someone not on the program, Brave would hold them assigned to that person for 30 days, then return them to the pool. No user's resources were affected.

Tom Scott gave them some harsh criticism for the UI, and Brave improved it within a couple days, resolving Scott's complaints.

Then you haven't been listening, because it's been widely discussed and well publicised.

My personal two favourite piece on Brave are these...

2023:

« Stop using Brave Browser

Seriously.

Corbin Davenport

07 Aug 2023 »

https://www.spacebar.news/stop-using-brave-browser/

And from a couple of years later, with a very apt URL...

2025:

« Why I recommend against Brave

Luca Bramè

March 24, 2025 »

https://thelibre.news/no-really-dont-use-brave/