Google? Firefox? Brave? Safari?

Here’s a good update on the continuing browser wars:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/06/21/google-chrome-has-become-surveillance-software-its-time-switch/

TL;DR:

Browsers are tracking your every move.

The bottom line: Switch to Firefox. Not perfect, but less tracking. Safari is also a decent choice. Or consider newcomer Brave Browser. The article gives details on why and how to switch.

(I have not yet explored Brave – in fact, this article is the first I’ve heard of it. But trying it out is now joining my to-do list!)

Like any software, keep your browsers up to date. Most have an auto-update feature, and though it can be a pain having to wait for the update to finish every time you open the darn thing, it’s a better choice than getting hacked. (see: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/mozilla-firefox-6703-patches-actively-exploited-zero-day/. Note that Chrome is not immune, having issued a release in March to take care of its own zero-day exploit as mentioned in the article.)

Update: There have been recent reports (Jan 2020) that the most recent version of Brave is prone to crashing on Mac OS. In my experience it occurs when both a) sites which are constantly updating content (ads, news) are open, and b) lots of tabs are open. Minimizing the number of open tabs and closing sites such as Facebook and CNN reduces the frequency of problems.

Posted in Tip.