Blog: Formal GDPR complaint against Google’s internal data free-for-all | By Brave’s Chief Policy & Industry Relations Officer, Johnny Ryan

Brave has filed a GDPR complaint against Google for infringing the GDPR “purpose limitation” principle. Enforcement would be tantamount to a functional separation of Google’s business. For six months, Dr Johnny Ryan of Brave tried to learn what Google does with his data. Brave has now sought recourse from the regulator (DPC) to force Google to reveal what it does with everybody’s personal data.



Read the full post here: https://brave.com/google-internal-data-free-for-all/

Causes: No Kid Hungry is now a verified Brave Creator! | How you can help children in the US & around the world affected by COVID-19

Millions of children are losing the healthy meals they depend on as COVID-19 closes schools. But No Kid Hungry has a plan to feed them.



By contributing your tokens or donating cryptocurrency, you can make an important difference for hungry kids.



We are pleased to share that you can now send direct tips in BAT to https://nokidhungry.org using your Brave browser!



You can also donate Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Z-cash, or Gemini Dollars (GUSD) at https://www.nokidhungry.org/crypto.

Community: Are you streaming on Twitch or YouTube to earn some extra cash or make up for lost income during COVID-19? | Let’s support one another!

Drop your channel links in the linked thread so that our community can support you! <3

Community: This user just hit 1 MILLION ads & trackers blocked with Brave, and they’ve saved nearly 14 hours of life! Wow! How much time have you saved browsing with Brave?

Jump on into this thread and share a screenshot of your Brave browser stats (you can find them on any New Tab Page) to show off how much time you’ve saved browsing with Brave!



You can also share it on Twitter using the hashtag #BRAVESTATS!



What will you do with all that saved time? 🙂

This Week in Sponsored Images

eToro joins the list of brands running sponsored campaigns in Brave’s New Tab Page. Past campaigns include Lokai, Crypto.com, BlockFi, and Western Digital. This week, look out for eToro’s dusk & nighttime cityscapes whenever you open a new tab.

Join the community discussion about the eToro’s Sponsored Images here: https://www.reddit.com/r/BATProject/comments/fl6q4i/im_amazed_at_these_new_sponsored_images/

Brave Creator Spotlight (in partnership with Everipedia)

Twitch Streamer and YouTuber LexiLikeswFood

LexiLikesFood is an American Twitch.tv streamer, vlogger, and Brave Creator based in Dallas, Texas, who streams games such as Fortnite, Overwatch, & League of Legends. Also, she LIKES food.

Brave Contributor of the Day: Twitch streamer and vlogger @lexilikesfood streams games such as Fortnite, Overwatch, & League of Legends. Also, she LIKES food. 🍕@brave @AttentionToken #streamers https://t.co/koEZFu9U7L — Everipedia (@Everipedia) March 19, 2020

Read Everipedia’s entry on Lexi here: https://everipedia.org/wiki/lang_en/lexilikesfood



Check her out on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lexilikesfood



Subscribe to Lexi on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLJMio63HhMGwnaze5qBK1Q/videos

Twitch Partner Essradi

Essradi began streaming on Twitch back in 2015 in an effort to break her procrastination habit. Today, she is a Twitch partner streaming games like Fortnite, Guild Wars 2 & The Legend of Zelda. She also enjoys cosplaying as Mary Antoinette!

Brave Contributor of the Day: Cosplayer and Twitch streamer @Essradi streams games including Fortnite, Guild Wars 2 & The Legend of Zelda. She also enjoys cosplaying as Mary Antoinette. ♠️♥️♣️ @brave @AttentionToken #Cosplay https://t.co/lsmB6VeMXr — Everipedia (@Everipedia) March 17, 2020

Read Everipedia’s entry on Essradi here: https://everipedia.org/wiki/lang_en/essradi



Check her out on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/essradi



Subscribe to Essradi on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5C9c0crJsV9FGcZ_U__feA

Client Updates

Beta Channel v1.7.67

https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v1.7.67

Dev Channel v1.7.68

https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v1.7.68

Brave 1.5.113

https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v1.5.113

Brave Team Tweets

Really great to see @TheGivingBlock getting involved with this type of work. https://t.co/sLdzVgfaXq — Luke Mulks | lukemulks.eth (@lukemulks) March 16, 2020 Praise to The Giving Block!

Google's internal data free-for-all enabled it to create a cascading monopoly. But it is now acutely vulnerable to GDPR Article 5(1)b enforcement. @Brave has copied EU competition authorities @vestager @EU_Competition @kartellamt @CMAgovUK @Adlc_ @CCPCIreland on today's complaint — Johnny Ryan (@johnnyryan) March 16, 2020 Go get ‘em, Johnny.

We also pieced together hundreds of Google processing purposes, and their purported legal bases, from almost 100 documents. The 'Inside the Black Box' PDF from @Brave offers a glimpse inside Google’s data free-for-all. Link –> https://t.co/6717nT01eP pic.twitter.com/rC0GzkTFJH — Johnny Ryan (@johnnyryan) March 16, 2020 Google makes it complex to figure out their business. Why would a company need to do this?

BAT/Brave in the News

WIRED: The Best and Worst Browsers for Privacy, Ranked

Microsoft Edge received the lowest privacy rating in a recently published study, which compared the user information collected by major browsers. Yandex, the less-popular browser developed by the Russian Web search provider Yandex, shared that dubious distinction; Brave, the upstart browser that makes privacy a priority, ranked the highest.



The rankings were revealed in a research paper published by Trinity College Dublin computer scientist Doug Leith. He analyzed and rated the privacy provided by Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari, as well as Brave, Edge, and Yandex. Specifically, the study examined the browsers’ sending of data—including unique identifiers and details related to typed URLs—that could be used to track users over time. The findings put the browsers into three categories with Brave getting the highest ranking, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari receiving a medium ranking, and Edge and Yandex lagging behind the rest.



Read the full text here: https://www.wired.com/story/study-ranks-the-privacy-of-major-browsers-here-are-the-findings/

MediaPost: Google’s ‘Hopelessly Vague’ Privacy Policy Violates GDPR, Brave Browser Alleges

The ad-blocking browser company Brave has alleged in a new complaint that Google is violating Europe’s broad privacy rules by failing to adequately explain its data practices.



“Google’s purposes are so vaguely defined as to have no meaning or limit,” Brave states. “The result is an internal data free-for-all.”

Read the full text here: https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/348533/googles-hopelessly-vague-privacy-policy-violate.html

Cointelegraph: “Brave New World: Browser Challenging Google for the Future of Privacy

On March 16, Brave, a privacy-oriented web browser, filed a formal complaint against Google with the Irish General Data Protection Regulation enforcer — since the multinational tech conglomerate’s European headquarters are located in Dublin.



According to Brave, Google has been quite irresponsible with how it has been collecting and sharing the personal data of its users. Brave’s chief policy and industry relations officer Johnny Ryan went as far as saying that owing to Google’s dubious operational policies, the multimedia giant has created a “free for all” data warehouse that is not only being abused quite blatantly but is also in clear violation of the GDPR rulebook.



Read the full text here: https://cointelegraph.com/news/brave-new-world-browser-challenging-google-for-the-future-of-privacy

News You Should Know

Bleeping Computer: Research Finds Microsoft Edge Has Privacy-Invading Telemetry

While Microsoft Edge shares the same source code as the popular Chrome browser, it offers better privacy control for users. New research, though, indicates that it may have more privacy-invading telemetry than other browsers.



Read the full text here: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/research-finds-microsoft-edge-has-privacy-invading-telemetry/

MacRumors: Israel Passes Emergency Law to Track and Trace Mobile Users With Suspected COVID-19

Israel has passed emergency measures that will allow security agencies to track the smartphone data of people with suspected COVID-19 and find others they may have come into contact with.



The Israeli government said the new powers will be used to identify people infected with coronavirus and make sure they’re following quarantine rules.



On Monday, an Israeli parliamentary subcommittee discussed a government request to authorize the security service to assist in a national campaign to stop the spread of COVID-19, but the group decided to delay voting on the request, arguing that it needed more time to assess it.



The emergency law was passed on Tuesday during an overnight sitting of the cabinet, effectively bypassing parliamentary approval.



Read the full text here: https://www.macrumors.com/2020/03/18/israel-spy-agency-to-track-covid-19-mobile-users/

Roaring Fans

Honestly, there is virtually no downside to being part of the @brave creators' community. The https://t.co/G4KIL84XeE website gave lots of insight! — FlipFloop (@FlipFloop_) March 19, 2020

Study ranks the privacy of major browsers &

Brave Browser gets the highest ranking 😍@bravehttps://t.co/9fa7KWema6 — #HODL BAGS (@hodlminer) March 19, 2020

mobile life in the post-bootloop aftermath – starting afresh with less notifications, better browsing with @brave, faster @Twitter with its Mobile Web App (as a homescreen shortcut) and the buttery-smooth @telegram (Telegram X). — Wil (@wilflare) March 19, 2020