Well, there’s a way to frame this as malicious. I’m not a fan of Brave, but it also installs, say, a spell checker without consent, or a Tor client. Sure, the code is there even if you don’t use it, but… What’s the actual harm?
The harm is that it’s installed. There is no reason for doing this. It can be done on demand in one second if the user subscribes to their VPN.
It also shows once once again that they keep on doing their shady shit and still cannot be trusted (or at least that they are a bunch of incompetent developers).
Firefox also installs telemetry and data reporting functions like most browsers, also libraries like libwebp, which are prone to critical vulnerabilities (as seen), encryption systems like Encrypted Client Hello, and software like Pocket, which some users never use, but it’s still there.
Any browser will install many features that probably won’t be used. Saying that a browser that installs a feature like Tor or VPN (which aren’t even hidden, Brave publicly present those features) is automatically bad doesn’t sound reasonable to me.
You’re using the word “install” really loosely. Having a small chunk of code in the browser program is way different than externally adding something as a system service.
And there’s a huge difference between flipping a switch in a browser, versus hunting down the various things the installer has done to your computer.
Brave publicly present those features
Mentioning a paid feature briefly on their website doesn’t excuse them injecting system services for it, does it? Remember installers with bundled malware? They usually mentioned that stuff in the fine print too.
The point I’m making is that it’s not like Brave installed the VPN in secret, hidden away to it’s own devices. The code is there and a service is installed, sure, but it’s dormant until the user activates it.
It kind of is a secret, because there’s no logical reason anybody would expect six system services to be installed for an unused feature. The browser’s adware already promotes this product, and I suppose if they can trick the users into activating it at that point, maybe you could argue the system services could be installed. But it’s really sketchy it installs all six services at once, leaving it to the user to exit the browser and go searching elsewhere to delete the unwanted services.
I mean, yes, it could’ve been differently, and as I understand it they’re going to. But as a user, how is your life worse with this than without this? What’s the impact of something being installed but not running?
Well, there’s a way to frame this as malicious. I’m not a fan of Brave, but it also installs, say, a spell checker without consent, or a Tor client. Sure, the code is there even if you don’t use it, but… What’s the actual harm?
The harm is that it’s installed. There is no reason for doing this. It can be done on demand in one second if the user subscribes to their VPN.
It also shows once once again that they keep on doing their shady shit and still cannot be trusted (or at least that they are a bunch of incompetent developers).
You know Firefox installs a bunch of stuff by default as well, right?
Such as?
Firefox also installs telemetry and data reporting functions like most browsers, also libraries like libwebp, which are prone to critical vulnerabilities (as seen), encryption systems like Encrypted Client Hello, and software like Pocket, which some users never use, but it’s still there.
Any browser will install many features that probably won’t be used. Saying that a browser that installs a feature like Tor or VPN (which aren’t even hidden, Brave publicly present those features) is automatically bad doesn’t sound reasonable to me.
You’re using the word “install” really loosely. Having a small chunk of code in the browser program is way different than externally adding something as a system service.
And there’s a huge difference between flipping a switch in a browser, versus hunting down the various things the installer has done to your computer.
Mentioning a paid feature briefly on their website doesn’t excuse them injecting system services for it, does it? Remember installers with bundled malware? They usually mentioned that stuff in the fine print too.
The point I’m making is that it’s not like Brave installed the VPN in secret, hidden away to it’s own devices. The code is there and a service is installed, sure, but it’s dormant until the user activates it.
It kind of is a secret, because there’s no logical reason anybody would expect six system services to be installed for an unused feature. The browser’s adware already promotes this product, and I suppose if they can trick the users into activating it at that point, maybe you could argue the system services could be installed. But it’s really sketchy it installs all six services at once, leaving it to the user to exit the browser and go searching elsewhere to delete the unwanted services.
I guess they place it in the installer to make it easier to update? Note, I never used Brave in my life, so I don’t really know how it works.
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They don’t want to hear that.
I mean, yes, it could’ve been differently, and as I understand it they’re going to. But as a user, how is your life worse with this than without this? What’s the impact of something being installed but not running?