Brave is a privacy focused browser. So I downloaded it because I wanted to have privacy while browsing the web.
But I have just found out that if I type something wrong in the address bar and hit enter, that misspelled word is immediately sent to the default search engine.
For example, if I type “12345” in the address and hit enter, Brave Browser is going to tell google: “hey google. This guy here wants to search for ‘12345’”. If google or any other company can get all my misspelled URLs then there is no privacy.
I know I can change the default search engine used in the address bar but that doesn’t solve the problem. I don’t want to send misspelled addresses to duckduckgo either.
So here is my suggestion:
Put a new option in the list inside Settings > Search Engine > Search engine used in the Address Bar:
Google.
DuckDuckGo
Bing
NONE.
Or just make it possible to simply disable this feature.
I agree. I downloaded Brave expecting this very basic privacy feature only to find it doesn’t exist! Very disappointing.
It makes me question how committed to privacy Brave really is.
I found an open Github issue. Unfortunately it’s over a year old and was given a priority 5, or simply put - unless more users raise their concerns, don’t expect it implemented soon.
In Firefox, it’s technically possible to modify the browser’s behavior by accessing the about:config page & changing a few settings there
Every few updates, the exact settings get changed by ‘new hipster ideas’ on how to make my life better by taking control away from me & putting that sort of behavior back into place
At any rate, the issue I’m having is that I have a 3-in-1 networking appliance which requires accessing it’s built-in website in order to configure it. Unfortunately, Brave is assuming a unusual website address needs to be sent to google.com, instead of at least trying it once
This is an Edimax EW-7438RPn Mini, which has it’s config page as: http://edimaxext.setup
If I try the typical typing reduction shortcut by entering ‘edimaxext.setup’, then Brave attempts sending that search string out to google.com, which fails because until I configure this device 1st, it will not connect out to the internet
It does work just fine if I use the entire prefix, however I would like to disable searching from the address bar anyways, for the very same reasons described here already
It would be an ‘elegant’ GUI if I were able to swipe left across the address bar & get a search bar instead. A small icon to the right of the address bar, or to the left of the search bar will indicate the alternate choices existence
That approach reduces clutter, avoids confusion & enhances privacy by avoiding sending out a digital fingerprint to the search providers