BAT Utility Redemption: Brave and TAP Network Partnership Connects Consumers and Brands via Blockchain

Brave Software, makers of the innovative Brave browser which combines privacy with a blockchain-based digital advertising platform, and TAP Network, the Rewards-as-a-Service technology company, today announced that Brave desktop users can now redeem Basic Attention Tokens (BAT) for real-world rewards offered by over 250,000 top brands and merchants in the TAP Network. The collaboration makes token utility redemption a reality for Brave users, and connects brands with an engaged consumer audience while respecting their privacy. This is the first implementation following the partnership announcement with TAP at the 2019 MWC in Barcelona.

https://brave.com/brave-and-tap-network-partnership-connects-consumers-and-brands-via-blockchain/

Brave Research: SafeKodi: Researchers Help Kodi Users to Spot Malicious Addons

Researchers from Northwestern University and Brave Software have taken an in-depth look at possible security issues with third-party Kodi addons. They find that most addons are safe. Only a very small number of addons are linked to malicious content, but these tend to be relatively popular. To help users spot these risks, the researchers offer a solution in the form of a Kodi addon

Brave Software researcher Matteo Varvello, “In our study, we discovered 43,308 addons out of which 8,485 were unique and correctly working. Out of these, only a handful was potentially harmful. After we built De-Kodi, we realized that the information we collected was very useful to the average Kodi user, not only the research community. An addon was the easiest way to bring this information to the large Kodi user base”

Blockchain Advertising: What Can Blockchain Really Do for Advertising in 2020?

To get a grip on where blockchain for advertising is headed in 2020, I reached out to the people actually working on real, live projects that are making a difference. You’re probably thinking, “But it’s their job to keep gassing up the hype.” Let me assure you, they kept it totally 💯.

Brave Director of BD Luke Mulks: “As a newer player in the space with a focus on utilizing blockchain-based technology to build alternative models for business to monetize with privacy by default, Brave has been able to separate itself from the supply chain hype that most of the marketing and advertising industry was focused on. We’ve balanced a pragmatic approach to blockchain with a focus on mainstreaming privacy and blockchain-based rewards into the first global private ad platform.”

Transparency: New BAT purchase for Brave Ads posted on the Brave Transparency Report, Largest to Date

Three separate transactions have been posted to the Brave Transparency Report on March 9th. The March 9th total was 534,441, making this the largest set of transactions to purchase BAT to date. It is part of our ongoing purchases to compensate our users with BAT Rewards for the Brave Ads they are opting in to view. We give 70% of ad revenue to users via BAT, and since many advertisers pay in fiat, we buy BAT regularly to reward users. In other words, our ad deal flow is growing.

https://brave.com/transparency

Community: I created a blog where newbies can learn how to use Brave and BAT

Redditor u/SManfroDev, “So since schools are closed in Italy, as a bored 17 years old I had the idea that maybe it could be useful providing some detailed info on how to use Brave and BAT. So a couple of days ago I picked up a web host, bought a domain, installed WordPress and started working.

I then created bravetricks.com, a blog on which I’m writing some simple articles on Brave and the BAT project.”

https://www.reddit.com/r/BATProject/comments/fi6wfm/i_created_a_blog_where_newbies_can_learn_how_to/

This Week in Sponsored Images

We’re excited to introduce a new section to the Weekly BAT, This Week in Sponsored Images. This section will highlight the brands and the Sponsored Images they feature in Brave.

This week, Lokai delivered Sponsored Images in partnership with WWF, Oceana and the Make a Wish Foundation, bringing underwater adventure to the new tab visits in Brave.

Lokai joins the first wave of brands, including Crypto.com, BlockFi and Western Digital to connect with Brave users through Sponsored Images.

Featured Creators

Tomasz Kordylewski

Poland-based Tomasz Kordylewski is a Celtics fanatic known for his dedicated news coverage

Brave Contributor of the Day: Poland-based Tomasz Kordylewski is a Celtics fanatic known for his dedicated news coverage of the team. For over a decade, he has been consistently posting highlights, news, and analysis🏀@timi_093 @brave @AttentionToken https://t.co/BCDASOjFkn — Everipedia (@Everipedia) March 5, 2020

TheeMonkeyQueen

Twitch streamer @TheeMonkeyQueen is an animal lover with an affinity of monkeys and a following of over 3660 on her Twitch channel.

Brave Contributor of the Day: Twitch streamer @TheeMonkeyQueen is an animal lover with an affinity of monkeys. You can find her streaming games such as Fortnite, Rust, and Dead by Daylight. 🙈 @brave @AttentionToken https://t.co/20VZcvFrSY — Everipedia (@Everipedia) March 10, 2020

TechDeals_16

YouTube channel @TechDeals_16 is known for their videos on hardware reviews and performance.

Brave Contributor of the Day: YouTube channel @TechDeals_16 is known for their videos on hardware reviews, performance, and how-to guides. They have garnered over 440,000 subscribers since it was created in February 2016. 💻 @brave @AttentionToken https://t.co/26CVJiXq4N — Everipedia (@Everipedia) March 12, 2020

News You Should Know

Popular VPN And Ad-Blocking Apps Are Secretly Harvesting User Data

Sensor Tower, a popular analytics platform for tech developers and investors, has been secretly collecting data from millions of people who have installed popular VPN and ad-blocking apps for Android and iOS, a BuzzFeed News investigation has found. These apps, which don’t disclose their connection to the company or reveal that they feed user data to Sensor Tower’s products, have more than 35 million downloads.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/vpn-and-ad-blocking-apps-sensor-tower

Australia sues Facebook, alleges breach of user data

The Australian privacy regulator filed a lawsuit against Facebook Inc, accusing the social media giant of sharing the personal details of more than 300,000 people with political consultant Cambridge Analytica without their knowledge.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/australia-sues-facebook-alleges-breach-of-user-data/ar-BB10VGsH

The unlikely cryptocurrency bill that went to Congress – Decrypt

A newly proposed bill has gone to Congress to sort out the status of cryptocurrencies once and for all. Only it’s never going to succeed.

https://decrypt.co/22225/the-unlikely-cryptocurrency-bill-that-went-to-congress

Brave Team Tweets

Brendan drops the monthly numbers!

BrendanEich

RT @BrendanEich: @bpemble @brave 12.2M MAU / 4M DAU — we will put on https://t.co/stKtfDgV01 so I don’t have to remember to tweet ;-). Mar 05 2020

Will Brave consider introducing alternatives to popular services?

BrendanEich

@newanddangerous @CoffeyBlog @brave We aren’t gonna do gmail and YouTube as central services, of course. That would just recreate the problem. For email, there are hard problems decentralizing. YouTube is easier. More to say later, but you should assume we think about these issues at least as much as you do :-P. Mar 07 2020

Could we see pseudonyms on Twitch or something one day?

BrendanEich

@IsJamesAlive @AttentionToken @brave Sorry, busy with existing commitments. Also, I’m not keen on “social”: if human scale, old ways are best; if FB scale, do not want another platform for bad behavior, psyops, etc. Brave basis is anonymous id; farthest we’d go might be opt-in/per-livestream pseudonym. DID some day. Mar 09 2020

We’re paving the way with privacy by default.

BrendanEich

@ergosteur @BloobyZeFrenchy We do not track anyone. https://t.co/ihejxAfbOC Blocking tracking by default as we do is belatedly coming to other browsers including Firefox, although not at the expense of Google search ads or their confirmations. https://t.co/a4J8Cvfjs4 Mar 09 2020

What’s using Brave like?

Luke Mulks | lukemulks.eth

It’s like upgrading to a better car, that’s faster, with better handling and suspension, that rewards you for enjoying it. Free, open source. Available right now, on macOS, windows, linux, iOS, android. Take back agency & control over who & where you share your info with. https://t.co/yKZn72ON7g Mar 06 2020

Looking for an alternative to school? Oh, and Kahn Academy is a Brave Verified publisher.

Brian R. Bondy

As Ontario closes schools for 2 weeks (or longer), just a gentle reminder that @khanacademy is a free, world-class education available for anyone, ANYWHERE. Mar 12 2020

Roaring Fans

Korkut

On mobile I am using Brave (@brave ) 100% for about 6 months now. My experience has been great, I can notice much less targeting in some of the adverts now if I use chrome. Search engine? Duckduckgo. Mar 11 2020

Laurence 🇿🇦🇬🇧🇪🇺

@marknadal @BrendanEich @brave I have decided not to fund my wallet or remove funds from my wallet. I will let @brave ping me a max of 5 times an hour with a private ad I do not even have to click to get paid. I will contribute it to the sites i like. I am a conduit for fixing the internet. Mar 12 2020

Manan Vora

@Flipkart has started advertising on @brave. Just got a Flipkart ad. This is huge for Brave. Finally advertisers are seeing the value of spending their ad monies on Brave! Mar 12 2020

Philippe De Ryck

There is a lot of great academic research on browser tracking and fingerprinting. I love how @brave will put that into practice with browser fingerprint randomization. ‘m excited to have a browser pushing forward on these issues #infosec #privacy https://t.co/VS6Dxp8JtX Mar 12 2020

Posted by Chris Technical Operations Coordinator