Based on https://privacytests.org
Desktop browsers in their current stable versions, sorted from better (left) to worse (right). These are:
Librewolf, Mullvad, Brave, Tor, Safari, Chromium/Ungoogled, Firefox, Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, Chrome.
Note: Each test is counted with a value of one in this chart, however each test may not have an equal importance in regard to privacy. It still gives an image of which browsers value privacy and which do not.
The maximum (worst possible) score is 143.
Edit: Also FUCK BRAVE. But for other reasons than these points. Read the description before you vote or comment ffs…
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Why does this site smell of marketing by brave listing all the things it can do but ignoring alternative privacy features?
Do keep in mind brave installs VPNs without your consent, solicits donation on behalf of creators and won’t refund collected money, and diverts ad revenue from legitimate sites to themselves.
Have you read the about page on privacytests.org? How is it a Brave ad (and not a Mullvad or Librewolf ad) when it is not even the best ranked?
Let me cite what I wrote above once again, please read it: “Note: Each test is counted with a value of one in this chart, however each test may not have an equal importance in regard to privacy. It still gives an image of which browsers value privacy and which do not.”
I am the OP of this and I do not use Brave and would never touch it because of the scummy crap they have done. But this is NOT what this graph is showing. The website linked is certainly legit.
How is Firefox that high?
The tables in the source shows why.
There are many things measured in those tables around preventing URL tracking, cookies, and storing data in session storage etc which none of the mainstream browsers are doing, including Firefox.
Some of them are decisions made for good reason, because although preventing them would improve privacy it would also massively impact usability, and so only the most all-in privacy-focused browsers are doing that.
OP themselves notes that they have weighted each ‘check’ as a 1 and each ‘cross’ as a 0 in calculating the size of the bars in the chart, without consideration of how relatively important or not those features are against other.
Personally I believe the approach to generating the chart is flawed and does not give a fair measure of browser privacy.
Several months after first publishing the website, I became an employee of Brave, where I contribute to Brave’s browser privacy engineering efforts. I continue to run this website independently of my employer, however. There is no connection with Brave marketing efforts whatsoever.
Also sure, Brave blocking trackers is +13 points, and Tor not leaking your IP adress is +1… Same level of privacy.
But as it clearly says in my description, one test point is not equal to all other points (there is no way to rank, some are obviously more important than others). I just don’t know how to weigh them between each other.
The tests are legit regardless of where the person works, don’t you think so? Or do you think the tests are faked?
If anyone knowledgable in privacy still chooses to use Brave, it’s their problem. Despite Brave ranking with relatively few points here in total, it is not a browser to trust because of their track record.
But as it clearly says in my description, one test point is not equal to all other points (there is no way to rank, some are obviously more important than others). I just don’t know how to weigh them between each other.
Bro, that is a really weird way of saying “I am fully aware that I am purposefully misrepresenting the data”
I am not purposefully misrepresenting the data, I just present the data I found and I explained how they are used. If you have an idea on how to perfectly weigh these points, let me know.
How on earth do you have to measure for Brave to be more private than Tor?
Just read the information and you will understand. See my other comments.
Seems you’re getting frustrated by folks misunderstanding. I think it comes down to the oversimplification of a bar graph. Gotta offer data visualization that says what you mean it to. The bar graph says brave>tor. It’s probably best to avoid the bar graph or accept that people will misunderstand it. I’m a fan of privacytests. It’s a great starting point.
Thank you. I think you are right, both on me being frustrated and also the weakness of the presentation. I appreciate the comment.
People seem to really misunderstand this post. ONE TEST (POINT) IS NOT EQUAL IN IMPORTANCE TO ALL OTHER TESTS. I ask you to read the description and the information on privacytests.org before you vote or comment. If my description is not clear enough, please let me know how I can improve it to make it understandable (I am not a native English speaker).
It’s not a “Brave ad”, geez… I am a strong proponent of Firefox.
If anyone have any sources on the website being a bad source, please send me those. The tests are very reliable, you just need to understand the data points.
If one point is not equal to another, why count the number of points? Why make a graph if not to show data in a meaningful way?
I still think it it interesting to see that for example Librewolf gets a very low score in total and Chrome a very high one. I feel it does show something about all browsers, even though it is not perfect.
Here’s how interacted with this post:
- Title told me that “lower is better”. Assumption: it’s introducing the graph, I should look at it
- Graph shows from left to right the best browsers for privacy. Assumption: they are the best for privacy, the title told me so
Then I read the description. But I’m a data analyst, I’m used to look at the details. Most people do not. They want quick “tell me what’s happening”. It’s something you accept if you work in this field, the best DAs can tell their stories in just a few graphs.
Tip: assume that people won’t read anything. They will just look at the graph. If each point is not equal, then your graph needs to show it. Looking at the source really quick, I maybe would’ve done a graph that shows points per category. It would need some work to look good and not cluttered, but that way you can let the viewer decide for themselves what they consider important and look at the points that matter to them.
Take this as constructive criticism and not as a “gotcha”, I fall for this trap every once in a while too. Try to not be frustrated, it’s just how it is. Next time you’ll do a better job at passing your message
Thank you for your comment, you make some very good points and I appreciate it.
