

Brave now allows users to give sites access to permission-gated capabilities for limited amounts of time. Safari and Firefox allow users to give sites either permanent access, page-length access, or no access.

This is similar to, though more powerful than, protections offered in other browsers. Common examples of permission-protected browser capabilities include web cameras, microphones, location information, and motion sensors, among others. In fact, when Apple found that, when users had the option to limit how long apps had access to geolocation data, users ended up sharing 68% less geolocation data, an enormous privacy improvement.īrave users can now choose to give sites temporary access to permission-protected capabilities to better protect their privacy. There was, for example, no easy way to say “this site can use my webcam while I have the page open, but ask me again next time.” Limited “all or nothing” options encourage oversharing of data, which benefits trackers who would like to record as much information about you as possible (for example, Google Maps, Facebook ,etc.). Previously Brave used the default Chrome behavior for permissions, which limited users to giving access to the relevant capability forever, or never. Since the release of Brave browser version 1.25 (on desktop and Android) a few weeks ago, users now have more control over how long sites can access powerful, but privacy-sensitive browser features, like geolocation sensors, webcams, and microphones.
