Is it safe to install and use Brave web browser?
Brave Browser is safe to install and use.
User preferences may determine which Browser you like best. There have been many talks on this forum debating the Pros and Cons of many different browsers.
But never any conclusions as to the Best Browser.
been using Brave forever , it's safe
and awesome
There's nothing totally egregious about the Brave browser, certainly better than using Google Chrome or Opera GX, but I'd still generally recommend some flavour of Firefox instead.
Firstly, Brave is based on Google Chrome so you're not really out of their clutches, and secondly, Brave the company have some dirty laundry of their own:
- silently redirecting users through affiliate links which earn Brave money without telling users (source)
- still mining personal information and telemtry even when the user explicitly turns off all such things, and uses some particularly shady 3rd parties to profit from it (source)
- endorsing and integrating crypto into the browser, which I'm personally opposed to due to NFTs, money laundering, graphics card scalping, and energy consumption, to name just the key reasons (Brave Rewards)
- installing additional VPN software (that they want to charge you for) without telling users, never mind asking for consent (source)
- collecting "donations" from users for online creators without permission from said creators, including using the creators' names and content to attract donations right on their YouTube pages so it looks official, and due to the nature of how those donations work are anonymous, it was impossible to refund them when they got called out (source)
Not that Mozilla don't have their own skeletons in the closet, but at least using Firefox is not using Chrome. We're nearly at the point where the only browsers are Chrome and Safari, which is not okay.
I know you asked about Brave, but if I may, I personally use Vivaldi on Zorin OS (and my Android phone). Works great and is customizable. They're also coming out with a big redesign soon, so the timing is good for you to explore using Vivaldi if you'd like. I would recommend that you download the .DEB version, though, and not the Flatpak version. It's 100% your choice. If you want to use Brave, OK. Great. But if you're open to Vivaldi, that's great, too. Good luck.
i've used vivaldi before too , and it was great too.
main reason i went back to brave cause no browser blocks adds out of the box like brave ,no need for extensions and whatnots
for example : go to https://www.vipbox.lc/ and try to watch a live game with any browser other than brave , you'll go nuts lol