• Norgur ( Norgur@kbin.social ) 
    69·
    3 years ago

    Okay, this article makes it sound like they found some hidden thing deep in obscure windows settings about brave doing something bad.

    On truth, they just installed Windows Services for their VPN to enable users to use the service. That’s what many apps do for dozens of reasons.

    I dislike Brave as much as the next guy, but let’s stick to things they really fuck up and not make Up issues that aren’t there.

    • whofearsthenight ( whofearsthenight@lemm.ee ) English
      8·
      3 years ago

      Surely you trust them with all of your traffic, though? They sound like good stewards and of course you’d want their VPN installed without your consent and you can definitely trust it’s not doing anything bad, right?

  • IronKrill ( IronKrill@lemmy.ca ) English
    32·
    3 years ago

    Open article -> get prompted for notifications and full-screen cookie consent pop up -> deny notifications -> click through cookie menu, accept -> finally see article for .5 nano seconds -> trending articles popup -> click the x on trending -> tab crashes.

    I think I know why people only read the headline nowadays.

  • Scary_le_Poo ( Scary_le_Poo@beehaw.org ) English
    17·
    3 years ago

    Thank fuck for Firefox reading mode

    full article because this site sucks fucking cock

    www.ghacks.net Brave appears to install VPN Services without user consent - gHacks Tech News Martin Brinkmann 3 - 4 minutes

    If you have the Brave Browser installed on your Windows devices, then you may also have Brave VPN services installed on the machine. Brave installs these services without user consent on Windows devices.

    Brave Firewall + VPN is an extra service that Brave users may subscribe to for a monthly fee. Launched in mid-2022, it is a cooperation between Brave Software, maker of Brave Browser, and Guardian, the company that operates the VPN and the firewall solution. The firewall and VPN solution is available for $9.99 per month.

    Brave Software is not the only browser maker that has integrated a VPN solution in its browser. Mozilla, maker of Firefox, entered into a cooperation with Mullvad and launched Mozilla VPN in 2020. Brave Browser’s installation of VPN services on Windows

    Brave Browser Windows VPN Service

    A post on Privacy Guides suggests that Brave Browser installs its VPN Service without user consent and regardless of whether the VPN is used or has been used in the past.

    You can verify this easily by following these steps:

    Use Windows-R to open the Run box.
Type services.msc to open the Services manager on Windows.
Scroll down until you come to the Brave section there.
Check for Brave VPN Service and Brave VPN Wireguard Service.

    If they exist, Brave has installed the services on your device. If you were never subscribed to Brave Firewall + VPN, the company may have done so without your consent.

    The two services have no description, the startup type Manual and Manual Trigger Start.

    There is no explanation why these services got installed on the system. Cautious users may set the two Services to disabled:

    Right-click on one of the services and select Properties.
Switch the Startup type from Manual to Disabled.
Repeat the process for the second VPN service.

    Deleting the Windows services is another option. The main issue here is that there is no guarantee that a browser update won’t install the Services again. You’d need to monitor the services whenever Brave Browser updates to make sure of that.

    Some users who replied to the discussion on Privacy Guides said that they did not have these services installed.

    Closing Words

    Why are the VPN services installed in first place? Brave made no announcement in this regard. Maybe so that users can start using the VPN immediately on Windows and not after a restart.

    In any event, you now have the tools at hand to check for the services and either disable or delete them.

    Now You: do you use Brave Browser?

    Summary

    Brave is installing VPN Services without user consent

    Article Name

    Brave is installing VPN Services without user consent

    Description

    Brave Software appears to be installing VPN services on Windows devices without user consent during Brave Browser updates.

    Author

    Martin Brinkmann

    Publisher

    Ghacks Technology News

    Logo Ghacks Technology News

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  • Vincent ( Vincent@kbin.social ) 
    13·
    3 years ago

    Well, there’s a way to frame this as malicious. I’m not a fan of Brave, but it also installs, say, a spell checker without consent, or a Tor client. Sure, the code is there even if you don’t use it, but… What’s the actual harm?

    • glad_cat ( glad_cat@lemmy.sdf.org ) English
      19·
      3 years ago

      The harm is that it’s installed. There is no reason for doing this. It can be done on demand in one second if the user subscribes to their VPN.

      It also shows once once again that they keep on doing their shady shit and still cannot be trusted (or at least that they are a bunch of incompetent developers).

      • smeg ( smeg@feddit.uk ) English
        4·
        3 years ago

        Yeah, weirdly it shows up as a cross-post to the same community but not every client shows them both at once. I’ve seen it before and I think it was to do with cross-instance syncing then as well.

  • randomaside ( randomaside@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) English
    4·
    3 years ago

    I originally started using brave because at the time it was the most feature complete alternative to chrome. Now I would like to switch but I would still use chrome cast for music streaming (I have quite a few of them).

    Last time I checked casting audio was missing as a feature in most deGooogled versions of chrome. Does anyone have any suggestions for browsers that allow me to stream audio from my browser to Google Chromecast?