Can online services preserve users' privacy while verifying their age?

A proposed solution, called zero-knowledge proofs, has potential but also has limits. With zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs), the user can prove they meet verification requirements without sharing personal information.

For example, a user can show that they're above 21 without revealing their exact birthdate or other details.

The security vulnerability we found in Perplexity’s Comet browser this summer is not an isolated issue.

Indirect prompt injections are a systemic problem facing Comet and other AI-powered browsers.

Today we’re publishing details on more security vulnerabilities we uncovered. Indirect prompt injection attacks occur when malicious instructions are hidden in web content like webpages.

When an LLM analyzes the content, it obeys the hidden instructions because it believes they’re real commands from the user.

The .brave Website-Building Challenge is live!

Build an on-chain website using your .brave domain for a chance to win 15,000 BAT, $20,000 in .brave domain credits, premium domains, and more!

Be bold. Be creative. Be Brave. 🧵 Earlier this year, .brave domains started resolving natively in the @Brave browser & Brave Wallet with no extensions or setup required.

Now, we’re taking it a step further by rewarding creators building the next wave of on-chain websites.

AI agents that can browse the Web and perform tasks on your behalf have incredible potential but also introduce new security risks.

We recently found, and disclosed, a concerning flaw in Perplexity's Comet browser that put users' accounts and other sensitive info in danger. This security flaw stems from how Comet summarizes websites for users.

When processing a site's content, Comet can't tell content on the website apart from legitimate instructions by the user. This means that the browser will follow commands hidden on the site by an attacker.

AI assistants collect personal information, store your conversations on their servers and use your inputs to train their models.

Leo doesn't. Here's how we built privacy into every part of the Brave browser's AI assistant... All of the AI models offered through Leo are hosted on our own infrastructure to ensure user privacy.

We don’t retain your conversations with Leo or use them for model training. We also don’t collect any personal data such as your IP address.

New testing confirms that Brave for Android is outperforming the competition. 🏆

It's faster, uses less battery and CPU, and consumes less mobile data and Wi-Fi bandwidth than other major browsers. 🧵 We conducted performance tests with a Google Pixel 6a using our open-source BLaDE infrastructure.

In the tests, we measured Brave against four competing browsers: Chrome, DuckDuckGo, Edge and Firefox.

Here's what we found...

🔥 Big news: Brave is adding @Cardano support!

Brave and @InputOutputHK are teaming up to integrate Cardano's blockchain into our browser's multi-chain wallet. When the integration is live, Brave Wallet users will be able to directly access Cardano to manage native assets like NIGHT, engage in governance, and seamlessly swap tokens.

This update expands Brave's multi-chain capabilities beyond its existing support for networks like Ethereum and Solana.

Users can't trust Google.

Google has lied repeatedly to Chrome users about plans to protect their privacy.

This week, it broke yet another promise. 🧵 In 2020, Google announced plans to remove third-party cookies from Chrome by 2022.

Then Google delayed the removal of these trackers to 2023.

Then Google delayed it to 2024.

Last summer, the company announced it wouldn't block third-party cookies after all.

Did you just download Brave?

Here are a few things you should do right away to get the most out of our browser... 🧵 1) Import settings/bookmarks

When you install Brave on desktop, you’ll be prompted to import your data from previous browsers.

If you don’t do this at setup, you can do it at any time by heading to Settings -> Get Started and clicking “Import bookmarks and settings.”

Google Chrome's proposed "Related Website Sets" (RWS) feature will further undermine Chrome users' privacy.

RWS allows companies to track you across sites without your knowledge. If two sites are owned by the same organization, Chrome will allow third-party cookies between them.

This would let Google link YouTube videos you watch to your Google profile, even when you’re not logged into YT, and even after third-party cookies are deprecated in Chrome.

What is bounce tracking?

Many browsers now block third-party cookies, which are primarily used to track users across the Web and collect data for targeted advertising.

One way that websites get around this privacy protection is with a sneaky method called bounce tracking.🧵 First-party cookies are the key to bounce tracking.

They're set by the site you're currently using, unlike third-party cookies which are set by different websites.

1P cookies are typically benign. For example, an online store uses them to remember what's in your shopping cart.

It can be tempting to use a free VPN. Why not get the benefits of the service without paying for a subscription?

However, free VPNs can be ineffective or even dangerous.

Here's why... 🧵 1) Privacy risks ⚠️

Free VPN providers aren't making money from users so they have to find other means of revenue. Typically, this means that they're collecting user data and selling it to third parties.

User data stored by VPN providers is also vulnerable to data breaches.

Why did Apple and Google make it hard to switch default browsers for so many years?

Because it's a powerful way to block competitors.

Just look at what happened to Brave installs on iPhone in the EU when Apple rolled out a new default browser choice screen on March 6th: Monopoly defenders argue that the monopolies simply offer better products.

But as you can see, when consumers get a clear choice of iOS browsers, they're choosing alternatives to Safari.

Maybe that's why Google still hasn't implemented a browser choice screen on Android.

Brave's AI Leo can now assist you with a range of tasks with PDFs and Google Drive!

Here are some of the ways Leo can help you... Leo can analyze PDFs, Google Docs, and Google Sheets to provide quick summaries and answer your questions.

The AI can also help you create content. For example, it can suggest alternate terms for your Google Doc or formulas for your Google Sheet.

Brave desktop v1.51 introduces automatic NFT backups in Brave Wallet. Now you can ensure the long-term safety of NFT metadata like images and collection descriptions, just by holding it in (or importing it to) Brave Wallet.

Let’s dive in 👇 First, a quick reminder that NFTs are not images, GIFs, or videos themselves. NFTs are actually tokens with a set of metadata. It’s this metadata that gives an NFT its name, description, collection info, and can link to a particular image, video, or other asset.

.@solana DApp support is now available on Brave for iOS and Android!

In addition to storing, sending, and buying SPL tokens in the wallet, you can now also connect and interact with apps like @MagicEden, @orca_so, and @JupiterExchange, right in your browser app. Brave is a full-featured mobile browser that can explore and connect to DApps, as opposed to the current widespread practice of wallet apps with limited browser functions. But why does that matter?

Today's browser update for desktop (v1.46) makes many improvements to the decentralized and private Brave News:

- More customization options
- Personalized, private suggestions
- Additional regions

Read this blog post for more details on Brave News 2.0: brave.com/brave-news-upd… Brave News 2.0 makes it easy to build the news feed you want.

You can add entire channels of content like Music or Gaming to your feed at once.

Later this month, you'll be able to click a "Follow" button on publisher sites or their section pages to include them in your feed.

Brave is launching private search ads today. During this beta test, select users will see them in their search results.

Like all Brave products, these ads respect your anonymity. Your data is not tied to any personal identifying information.

Learn more: brave.com/private-search… The ads support our independent, private search engine as well as our wider mission to build a user-first Internet free of tracking.

If you prefer, you can also keep Brave Search free of ads by signing up for Search Premium : account.brave.com/?intent=checko…

Using Twitter through Brave instead of Twitter's own app lets you take advantage of our browser's privacy protections.

Here's how to add a shortcut to Twitter in Brave on your iOS device's Home Screen for easy access. 🧵 1. Long press on your Home Screen.

2. Hit the "+" button at the top left.

3. Type Brave into the "Search for widgets" field on the window that pops up.

4. Select Brave and swipe over to the "Favorites" widget to add it to your Home Screen.

5. In Brave, log into Twitter.

Today we’re announcing 15 new partners in Brave’s Wallet Partner program. These leading DApps will integrate Brave Wallet to offer more secure and simplified multi-chain Web3 access than traditional browser extension wallets. This month’s new partners include Plaid, 1inch, Cardinal Labs, Coral Cube, Autofarm, and more. Together with these companies we're giving users new ways to interact with the decentralized Web.

Now and again we’re reminded of the benefits of self-custody in crypto. Self-custody means you alone hold the private keys to your crypto, NFTs, and other kinds of assets, and are solely responsible for their safe keeping. When you store assets with a bank, fund, or centralized exchange, you’re handing over the keys—trusting them to safeguard your crypto responsibly. In theory, providing assets to a trusted custodian is convenient and safe.