AdminThe makers behind Courageous browser announced that they will start blocking cookie consent pop-ups which negatively affect browsing quality for many users.
In update anonymous browserThe privacy update blog called the cookie consent an “infamous and almost constant annoyance,” citing academic studies (opens in a new tab) it has been found that many browser pop-ups track users on the internet regardless of their choice.
Users of the latest Nightly branch (and version 1.45 when it is released in October) will only have to click “yes” in the dialog box at startup to block all cookie consent pop-ups, using a set of rules and filters that will look familiar to these who use Web browser ad-blocking extensions.
Fighting against Google’s privacy changes
Brave cited the latest series of Google’s proposed changes to Chrome as reasons to fight for an open web and content blocking tools, starting with blocking pop-ups asking for cookie consent.
These changes include his upcoming change to API Manifest V3a plan to consolidate websites into individual files using a new standard called WebBundle (opens in a new tab) and Privacy sandbox initiative (opens in a new tab) is under development.
“The web is open. On the one hand, that’s great: it means online privacy tools like Brave can act on behalf of users and protect them from abuse and inconvenience online. On the other hand, cookie banners show how much worse the web will be if Google (and not only) manages to weaken users’ ability to block such annoyance, “Brave said in his announcement (opens in a new tab).
Brave has long cautioned that these new initiatives are in fact on the way to curtailing user privacy online, thanks to: reducing the effectiveness of existing ad-blocking extensions (opens in a new tab) and limiting the choice that users have in their web browser.
In January 2022, the company was specific released (opens in a new tab) Google’s privacy sandbox as a game of power to perpetuate the tech giant’s power on the web, in part due to the use of Google’s own servers and the promotion of “AppStore-ification” on the Internet.
“[…] a cynical proposal that adopts so much language and colors from the privacy community to keep regulators at bay while benefiting Google’s monopoly, all to the detriment of the entire web, “it wrote.
Brave voices its concerns about Google’s reforms to UK Competition and Markets Authority (opens in a new tab) (CMA), it is clear that the open network dedicated to privacy still has its supporters and will not collapse without a fight.
