Brave is a great internet browser, but one of the company’s practices is now causing a stir as it turns out that the browser installs its own VPN service on Windows PCs without users’ consent.
The privacy-focused Brave web browser silently installed VPN services on some users’ Windows computers. This could have been good news, but it seems that way The company acted without the consent of its users.
This initiative, launched in 2022, attached Brave’s VPN service, known as Firewall + VPN Service, to the browser installation on Windows devices without taking users’ preferences into account. Although the VPN service remains inactive unless explicitly subscribed to by the user, this approach has caused problems Concerns about the transparency of a browser company that prides itself on privacy.
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Brave does not solicit user feedback when installing services
This strange behavior only seems to occur on the Windows version of the Brave browser at the moment. According to Brian Clifton, the company’s vice president of engineering, who explained in a post on GitHub, users can check the presence of VPN services on their Windows machines through Service Manager wherever they are located listed as “Brave VPN” and “Brave Wireguard”.
However, the company recognizes thisA more ideal approach would be to download these services after the user has actively used and subscribed to these servicesThis ensures a more transparent and consensual process.
It is currently unclear whether Brave will change its policy to seek user consent in the future. While it is possible to remove the VPN manually, it could be reintroduced through future updates unless Brave changes its installation process.
For the more concerned among you, there is an alternative solution suggested on GitHub: Uninstall Brave and then reinstall it without administrator rights, which would prevent the program from installing additional services. In fact, Clifton claims that starting with version 1.57.47, the browser started integrating the Brave Vpn Wireguard service, but only for users with administrative privileges.