Hi,
I wanted to ask which browser do you suggest for macOS (in terms of privacy)? I’m also using android phone and it would be good to have at least some sort of sync between these devices (not a must but would be nice).
At the same time, on android phone, is brave the best option?
Another question, for desktop version of brave, do you use ublock together with brave shields or is it unnecessary? How to set up shields to have the “best setting” (if not using ublock together)?
Thanks
have you looked at the reccomended mobile and desktop browsers?
Brave shields replaces ublock. Consider using next dns filters (my.nextdns.io) if you want more filtering. Mac can use same browsers as Linux and windows (brave, mullvad, firefox, etc).
Basically yeah, just read those links and you are already good if you are using brave, unless you have more specific needs you haven’t communicated.
Edit: I meant for this to be a top level response but uh, hi anonymous549. I’m not sure how to remove the part pinging you.
You are NOT supposed to use two (browser) adblockers at the same time.
If you want to use uBO you should do this in Shield settings:
It is also of not that official Privacy Guides recommendations state that you should use the default filter lists for Brave:
Brave allows you to select additional content filters within the internal
brave://adblockpage. We advise against using this feature; instead, keep the default filter lists. Using extra lists will make you stand out from other Brave users and may also increase attack surface if there is an exploit in Brave and a malicious rule is added to one of the lists you use.
And be selective in your inclusion of filter lists in UblockOrigin:
Additional filter lists can impact performance and may increase attack surface.
These are some other filter lists that you may want to consider adding:
However, both Brave’s internal adblocker and UblockOrigin share a set of compatible filter lists, and in my opinion there are several extra filters which can be added via either channel which can improve browsing quality of life, and block extra unwanted or malicious content.
I have not used MacOS before so I can not give any recommendations there, but Brave is a good recommendation for Android with cross device(and platform) sync, including MacOS.
With regard to using UblockOrigin vs Braves internal adblocker, I do not belied there is really a direct benefit or draw back to either approach, though since you are using Android also, it may make sense to stick with the internal adblocker over UblockOrigin for more “synchronized” filter and rulesets.
Also as as @Valynor said, if you do use UblockOrigin in Brave desktop, you should disable Brave’s internal adblocking so as to not cause conflicts.
The argument against additional filter lists (as endorsed by Privacy Guides) conflates theoretical fingerprinting risk with concrete tracking harm. Filter-list-based fingerprinting attacks are operationally constrained in two critical ways. They require (1) an adversary who actively deploys crafted probe rules, and (2) control of, or access to, first-party websites the target actually visits. This is a motivated, targeted threat. That is categorically different from the passive, ubiquitous third-party data exfiltration that additional filter lists directly and continuously prevent.
While this tradeoff is actively debated in the literature , the balance of argument favours tracking harm as the primary risk for most users. Therefore, you are right to be sceptical of PG’s recommendation. The appropriate framing should be threat modelling rather than a universal recommendation against additional lists.
As for OP, browser choice on Android is heavily dependent on your OS or ROM. Without knowing your OS, ROM, or threat model, any specific recommendation is difficult to make.
I am not technically knowledged here, but I also think for most the most pressing threat is psychological manipulation, malicious links, and targeted ads you actually see. Extremely sophisticated methods of manipulation are employed by advertisers and other groups, which can influence people without them realizing it.
This is my number #1 “threat model” and the filter lists are excellent at helping here. Someone else may have other priorities. With this taken care of, I do of course prefer tracking to be minimized.
I am using brave nightly on Mac os, with containers enabled, this could in theory be synced to android browser. The nightly browser is very stable from my use even though its supposed to be experimental
Safari with Lockdown mode for most private and secure. Use extensions in the App Store to sync with other devices.
On macOS, I would prefer not signing in if possible, so no app store for me.
OK, different question but related to Brave.
I’ve seen that there is a Brave Origin and I also have seen that it is possible to configure “regular” Brave to be the same (or almost the same) as Brave Origin. How to do that? I’ve been setting up Brave as described in recommendations on privacyguides but not sure if that is the case or maybe there are other differences.
This may be a question which could be more directly answered in one of the following topics, which both extensively discuss what Brave Origin is and what it is not. Including some configuration guidance for brave to achieve a similar result.
Note, for now the Privacy Guides recommended settings may be a good place to stick to if you want a simple answer, but the above links should provide some interesting reading.
Brave origin removes some features people might want, like speedreader. You would have to disable those. Being the same as origin isn’t an inherit benefit and you are good if you followed the guide.
If you dislike a feature and can’t figure out how to disable it then you can still ask, but you are not doing anything wrong in following the guide.
Both work well. Both sync. Both are available on MacOS, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS. Both block Ads and are very private with only minor tweaks in the settings.
If you want more privacy for one off information gathering, adding TorBrowser or Mulvad Browser into the Mix isn’t a bad idea.
I’m using both (Firefox and Brave) on Linux and add other browsers for special purposes (for example Chromium as a YouTube client). The company I work for has the first as a default on Windows.
