The shady world of Brave selling copyrighted data for AI training

stackdiary.com

563 comments

Tried it for a week or two, but since I reinstalled Firefox I really don't understand why I was judging/hating so much in the past years. Yes, Chrome/ium used to be waaaay faster, but Mozilla just has their shit together most of the time. The Debian of browsers so to speak.
- Firefox is GOAT, but I do have Brave installed on my phone specifically for playing YouTube. The Brave browser automatically blocks YouTube ads, allows me to play videos in windowed mode, and allows me to play videos with the screen off.
  I don’t do anything else in Brave, so I’ll probably hang onto it as basically a YouTube app.
  
  You might want to look into NewPipe then. Lets you do all those things with YT, plus you can also download the videos or their audio only
  
  I’m on an iPhone, which I why I don’t use all the other things Android people suggest.
  Brave has been about the only thing I’ve found that works and is easy for iPhone.
  
  That is unfortunate, newpipe is awesome, dare I say better than YouTube Premium.
  
  Yeah, I mean Brave seems to give me all the features premium does, at least the ones I want. I have a Google account specifically for YouTube watching with which I’ve trained/brute-force-hidden-trash to the point the algorithm 99% of the time gives me what I’m interested in, so it’s pretty simple to pop open the browser and put something on to listen to on a drive.
  
  Newpipe doesn't use the algorithm (besides the feed for popular but you don't really contribute to it though) which is actually one of the reasons I like it because it allows me to cut down on my watch time (though I also tend to listen much more than watch nowadays).
  It does have downloads too, admittedly I never use this feature but it is neat because you can choose the format and quality which goes above even premium's choices for quality.
  3rd party solutions for these corporate run apps truly are amazing!
  
  I do download on my desktop with an extension (I think it’s just called “YouTube downloader”) or something.
  Downloading videos is a regular habit not just to bypass ads but because the videos can disappear for everything from corporate to personal to esoteric reasons.
  
  I use Revanced, personally, but also have NewPipe installed.
  
  You could check out uYouPlus then, it doesn’t require jailbreaking or anything but instead works through “sideloading”. I’ve used it for years and it’s honestlygreat:
  https://github.com/qnblackcat/uYouPlus
  
  Or they could keep using Brave? I use Brave on my phone and Firefox on my desktop for the same reasons mentioned, but in general Brave is a great browser on phones. I'm amazed it isn't hugely popular if only for the YouTube features.
  
  “No you MUST uninstall Brave, the company is too shady!” -someone using a phone made by a literal advertising company
  
  Of course they can, I never said they couldn’t. I just personally prefer YouTube’s app UI and UX over the website on mobile.
  
  I’ll look at it further thanks.
  
  If you’re on apple I’d recommend giving Orion browser a try. It blocks all ads by default, including YouTube. It’s become my default browser on all my devices.
  
  On iPhone you are using WebKit no matter what browser you use. Unfortunately it is the same deal with Firefox too. In addition, Apple isn't forgiving when it comes to their customers privacy and security. They actually "sell" this comfort in their adverts. So it would be crazy if they pulled their windows and Android tricks on Apple.
  
  Try 1Blocker and Safari. I’ve had a way better, less buggy experience using that combo as opposed to Brave. I used Brave almost exclusively for ages but found that it was killing my battery life and processor. I have a five year old iPhone 8 and swapping breathed new life into it. It also solved an issue I had where I couldn’t get captions to work while using Brave but there’s no such issue on Safari
  
  Firefox + Ublock origin will do the same for you on mobile.
  
  Firefox + Ublock origin will do the same for you on mobile.
- Iirc the debian of browsers is iceweasle.
  
  IceWeasel EOL'd 6 years ago
  
  I find console text only browsers more effective than iceweasel, when pages break with iw you get no text, at least with links/elinks/lynx you get the text.
- I use Brave occasionally, but Firefox has been my #1 for the past 100 years or so. I stopped using Firefox as my only browser after they overhauled the interface. I really miss classic Firefox with my tabs on bottom, old search engine bar, and endless customizations.
- I still remember why: Mozilla fired Brendan Eich, the man who would go on to found Brave, for donating to Christian charities in the politically polarised climate of 2016. After Eich went, they also quietly purged any other employees that showed even a hint of conservative sympathies in their internet presence. They then went on to "experiment" with pushing browser ads on users, and while they eventually ended the experiment because of massive user backlash, they still made no apologies and didn't abandon the idea. Just made a final public response dripping with PR bullshit with a patronising conclusion along the lines of "internet users just aren't ready for this change yet".
  
  Brandon Eich was fired because he was constantly giving money to politicians and groups that were advocating for the banning of same sex marriage. Also funding the campaign of congressman Tom McClintock, a certified piece of shit, Who denies climate change, is against LGBTQ rights, and was among the republicans trying to overturn the 2020 election.
  
  Yes. That is political affiliation. You might not share it, but whether same-sex marriage should be legal is absolutely a political question, even if it is now outside the Overton window.
  Personally, I'm not sure I support any form of state marriage, but if it exists, it should include same-sex marriage.
  
  If your political affiliation implies creating second-class citizens that may be discriminated against due to innate characteristics or harmless behavior, don't expect me to respect your political identity, to not to discriminate against it, or to give a damn when you find yourself kicked out of places because of it.
  
  So he was fired for his political affiliation.
  
  In OK with that
  
  From an outside perspective, I find it astonishing that those ideas are considered acceptable political positions in the US. With that said, I believe in individuals having the right to support or promote their chosen cause, but also the right of others to choose whether or not they wish to associate with them.
  
  Opposition to gay marriage was fairly common in the early and mid 2010s. It was only legalised 8 years ago in the US, and so, in 2016, it was still a live issue.
  
  Yeah, it just feels so bizarre to me as someone who isn't American.
  
  Same sex marriage is only legal in 34 countries, that's less than 1 in 5.
  
  I hope so. Fascists have no place in democracy

563 comments