
Brave Open-Source Browser Caught Adding Referral Codes to Typed-In URLs - BerislavLopac
https://news.softpedia.com/news/bravo-open-source-browser-caught-adding-referral-codes-to-typed-in-urls-530198.shtml
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jnxx
I was always wondering why that browser is in Arch. That finding merits a good
look what else is in Arch Linux repositories that has stealth behavior or is
otherwise against users interests.

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mixedCase
That browser is not in Arch Linux repositories. It's in the AUR and I maintain
the main binary package.

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atombender
Dupe:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23442027](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23442027)
(586 points, 352 comments)

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lern_too_spel
Are there any de-Braved forks of Brave Browser? Some of its features seem
useful, but I wouldn't want any of the BAT nonsense or this.

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Nuzzerino
The article says it is being fixed. They admitted to making a mistake here. I
would cut them some slack rather then running for the hills looking for a
fork. Projects make mistakes, they are run by humans after all.

As far as BAT goes, that was what they came up with as an alternative to the
ads and to help fund the project. Calling it nonsense is a bit of a stretch
when we still are able to see threads about the browser on front page of HN
every now and then. The browser is clearly still relevant in some way.

What would you propose as a solution to fund such a project?

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lern_too_spel
> What would you propose as a solution to fund such a project?

Not my problem, just like it's not Brave's problem to fund Chromium
development. BAT and the infrastructure within Brave Browser to support it
provide no benefit to me as a user, so it is reasonable for me to want to
remove it.

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killthesand
The BAT generated from Brave's advertising system goes to your personal crypto
wallet. It does benefit users. You literally get paid for simply browsing the
web.

In all honesty, you don't get paid very much. It's not going to replace your
day job. Yet it's a non-zero amount of income for doing something you would
normally be doing anyway.

~~~
lern_too_spel
There are many other services that will pay me more to look at ads. If I don't
use those, I certainly don't want to look at Brave's ads. The only people who
have the possibility of getting any meaningful amount of money out of those
systems are the people who get paid for the ads that all users view, like
Brave Software Inc.

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pixxel
>whenever someone manually types binance.us in the address bar, Brave browser
auto-completes the URL with a referral code.

>referral codes are being added not only when Binance, but also other websites
like Ledger, Trezor, and Coinbase.

>Brave CEO and co-founder Brendan Eich has already responded on Twitter,
explaining that this is something that’s being resolved as we speak, with all
referral codes to be removed in the next update. “We partner with Binance as
an affiliate. That code identifies us, not you,” Eich explained.

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hndamien
How is this different from declaring the user agent from the browser? Brave
don't do this anywhere (they say they are Chrome). I fail to see how this is
different in any meaningful way. Can somebody enlighten me??

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vikramkr
They make money from it. Those are referall codes, the kind you give to your
friend so you get a $10 discount on whatever the service is for convincing
people to sign up. Furthermore, its messing with the actual URL you type out.
This isn't declaring a user agent I. The background. This is intercepting and
changing what you type to further their profit goals, which is unacceptable
behavior from the browser.

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hndamien
So where is the problem? It isn't costing you anything - even in the most
liberal sense - ie privacy/time etc.

