Privacy-focused Brave became the most downloaded web browser app in Japan last month, dethroning Firefox and beating out other popular apps like WhatsApp, Viber, and WeChat.

The quest for privacy is quickly rendering traditional web browsers obsolete. With more and more people looking to avoid data tracking, privacy-focused browsers like Brave have seen a surge in adoption over the past couple of years.

According to Redditor ‘Wega58’, Brave was downloaded more than two million times in August, putting it among the top 10 most popular communication apps in the country – a jump of 11 spots from July’s ranking.

By comparison, Firefox (#15) was downloaded just 553,000 times and Opera (#32) was downloaded 1 million times.

A screenshot of AppBrain’s Google Play store download statistics for Japan taken yesterday showed that Brave is among the few third-party communication apps that surpassed one million downloads in August.

Google’s Contacts, Carrier Services, Messages, and Duo apps were downloaded 11, 22, 26, and 41 million times, respectively.

And while many Reddit users pointed out that Brave’s 10 million all-time downloads fade in comparison to Firefox’s 100 million, it’s worth noting that Firefox was launched almost 12 years before Brave.

Japan’s pro-crypto attitude pushes Brave adoption

Japan’s tech-savvy population and its welcoming attitude towards cryptocurrencies have made the country a fertile ground for companies such as Brave.

The company has created its eponymous browser intending to change the online advertising industry.

The browser uses the Basic Attention Token (BAT), its native cryptocurrency, to drive revenue by enabling users to earn money while consuming content.

After introducing its tipping feature, which allows users to tip publishers and individual creators on platforms such as Vimeo, Twitter, and Reddit, the company announced that it was working on a native wallet.

It’s hard to say whether the upcoming features will manage to keep the interest in Brave growing.

However, judging by Brave’s efforts to ensure its users’ privacy, the browser is yet to see its best days.

Blowing the whistle on Google

Last week, the company uncovered evidence that Google might be circumventing the privacy protections mandated by the GDPR.

Namely, one of Google’s advertising systems were found to leak recorded personal data to more than 2,000 companies.

“The evidence we have submitted to the Irish Data Protection Commission proves that Google leaked my protected data to an unknown number of companies,” said Brave’s Chief Policy & Industry Relations Officer, Johnny Ryan.

“One cannot know what these companies then did with it, because Google loses control over my data once it was sent. Its policies are no protection.”