This might have been discussed to death by now, unfortunately I couldn’t find any discussion on it on Lemmy. Though I would love to be corrected on that!

How does an always on incognito Chromium with uBlock Origin on medium mode (and other hardening/privacy settings enabled) compare to Brave (with e.g. Privacy Guides’ recommended settings) with respect to security and privacy on Linux[1]?

Commonly heard whataboutisms:

  • “With the looming advent of Manifest v3, this discussion might not be very relevant for long.” I’m aware.
  • “Just use Firefox/Librewolf or any other privacy-conscious browser that isn’t Chromium-based.” I already do, but some websites/platforms don’t play nice on non-Chromium-based browsers due to Google’s monopoly on the web. Sometimes I can afford to not use that website/platform, but unfortunately not always.
  • “Brave’s [insert controversy] makes them unreliable to take services from.” Honestly, I think that if both solutions are as effective that a reason like this might be sufficient to tip the balance in favor of one. Because ultimately this all comes down to trust.
  • "Just use Ungoogled Chromium." Some more knowledgeable people than me advice against it. Though, I’d say I’m open to hear different opinions on this as long as they’re somewhat sophisticated.
  • “Just use [insert another Chromium-based browser].” If it has merits beyond Brave and Chromium with respect to security and privacy, I’ll consider it.

Thanks in advance!

  1. I can be more specific about which distro I prefer using, but I don’t think it matters. I might be wrong though*.
  • qwert230839265026494@sh.itjust.worksOP
    23·
    10 months ago

    firefox is a real alternative

    “Just use Firefox/Librewolf or any other privacy-conscious browser that isn’t Chromium-based.” I already do, but some websites/platforms don’t play nice on non-Chromium-based browsers due to Google’s monopoly on the web. Sometimes I can afford to not use that website/platform, but unfortunately not always.

    Thanks for chiming in 😅.

    • Rooki@lemmy.world
      31·
      10 months ago

      Could you elaborate on what specific websites? Firefox i had 0 issues, librewolf has to get some tweaks has few incompatibilities like netflix etc…

      • nick@midwest.socialEnglish
        21·
        10 months ago

        Google cloud consoles require chrome for IAP attention. That is a concrete example of Firefox not working on a site.

        I use Firefox, but I also know it has its issues. Don’t be a zealot.

        • kraniax@lemmy.wtf
          11·
          9 months ago

          Google cloud consoles

          those aren’t Firefox issues. it’s google purposefully using chromium only features and not well-supported web standards.

          • nick@midwest.socialEnglish
            11·
            9 months ago

            Page won’t load in Firefox, making it an issue. I don’t care what the root cause is, and also I already knew all of that.

      • qwert230839265026494@sh.itjust.worksOP
        1·
        10 months ago

        Just a few days ago I tried to pay for flight tickets on flypgs.com. Multiple attempts on Firefox didn’t work, while the first attempt on a Chromium-based one did. It might have been a fluke, but every so often issues like these do happen. And for some reason switching the browser does bear a positive result. YMMV though.

        • Rooki@lemmy.world
          1·
          10 months ago

          Best to do in that case to complain over the email contact. That they fix that shit.

          • njinx@lemmy.world
            2·
            10 months ago

            Yes, that is definitely easier and more effective than opening a different browser for a couple of minutes /s