After adequate analyses of its users’ browsing habits and browser settings preferences, Brave decided to remove its “Strict” fingerprinting block mode from the browsers. With this move, Brave intends to provide users with a safer and smoother browsing experience.
Brave Removes Strict Fingerprinting Block Option From The Browser
The privacy-oriented browser Brave seemingly gets a bit lenient towards online tracking as the firm sunsets its strict fingerprinting block mode. But that doesn’t make the users vulnerable, nor does it suggest any change in Brave’s privacy preferences. Instead, Brave decided for it for some good reasons.
As explained in its blog post, Brave simplifies its fingerprint-blocking modes by entirely removing the “Strict,” leaving behind the Standard mode for users.
The firm decided to end this feature after carefully considering how it impacted users’ browsing experience. Specifically, the extensive blocking for web trackers and anti-browser fingerprinting activity with its Strict mode made most users face problems when browsing.
In order to block fingerprintable APIs, Strict mode frequently causes certain websites to function incorrectly or not at all. This website breakage means that Strict mode has limited utility for most Web users.
Consequently, Brave noticed less than 5% of its users using the Strict mode, making them more distinct than the majority who use the Standard mode. While Brave didn’t observe any issues around it, the firm still suspects that the less usage of this feature indirectly made its users more notable (and possibly, vulnerable) instead of protecting their privacy in the way they desire.
Besides, resolving broken website issues with Strict fingerprint blocking mode also became a tedious task for Brave engineers.
Therefore, after considering all these matters, Brave decided to eliminate the Strict fingerprint blocking feature. Users may still use the Standard blocking mode to protect their privacy. Though the Standard mode isn’t as robust as the Strict one, Brave assures that it’s still efficient enough to prevent unique fingerprint ID generation owing to its “innovative farbling of a number of major fingerprintable Web APIs.”
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