Despite earning around $80 billion in the first three months (www.snipca.com/50695), Google hasn’t had a great start to 2024. Its Chrome browser has suffered several serious security flaws, it was ordered by the courts to stop tracking users via its Incognito mode, and a new AI feature in its search results was accused of providing nonsensical and dangerous advice (Google says some of the evidence was faked: www.snipca.com/50696).
While Google gets steadily worse, another company with a browser and search engine is going from strength to strength, and now boasts nearly 79 million users worldwide. Brave (www.brave.com) offers the best way to browse the web privately without being pestered by ads, trackers and other annoyances or sacrificing speed, features and innovation.
Like Chrome and other Chromium browsers, Brave lets you sync your browsing data between its desktop and mobile versions; store passwords, paymentcard details and contact info; translate foreign text into English (and vice versa); and install extensions from the Chrome Web Store. But Brave has lots of other handy tools you may not have discovered yet.
In this feature, we reveal everything you never knew Brave could do, in both its browser and its privacy-focused search engine. We explain why it’s faster, smarter and safer than Google, and will never share or sell your private data.
STRENGTHEN BRAVE’S PRIVACY & SECURITY SETTINGS
Configure Brave’s Shields to block all hidden trackers
Unlike Chrome and Edge, Brave automatically blocks “the creepy stuff that tries to track you across the web”, without you needing to install any privacy extensions. It applies this protection through its powerful Shields system, which by default is set to block trackers and ads, third-party cookies that follow you from site to site, and fingerprinting, which allows websites to identify you from the software and device you’re using.
To tweak these settings and activate further ‘shields’ for the site you’re currently visiting (and on future visits), click the Brave Shields (lion-head) button to the right of the browser’s address bar, then the down arrow next to ‘Advanced controls’ (1 in our screenshot above right). Click the dropdown menus next to ‘Block trackers and ads’, ‘Block fingerprinting’ and ‘Block third-party cookies’ to choose between standard and aggressive blocking, though applying the latter may stop some sites working properly.
You can also switch on the options to block tracking scripts and to ‘Forget me when I close this site’ . As we explained in our Cover Feature in Issue 683 (page
