Blog: “Failure to enforce the GDPR enables Google’s monopoly” by Brave’s Dr. Johnny Ryan

Brave has filed a submission with the UK Competition & Markets Authority that shows that failing to enforce the GDPR enables Google’s monopoly. Brave’s submission also shows gaps in the CMA’s interim report on “Online platforms and digital advertising”.



A functional “real-time bidding” (RTB) market requires two dimensions of data protection enforcement: internal and external.



Google’s monopoly is based on its “internal” data free-for-all. Enforcement of the GDPR would neutralize Google’s unfair data advantage, and give consumers power tantamount to “functional separation” of Google’s businesses.



Read the full post here: https://brave.com/competition-internal-external/

What’s Brave Done For My Privacy Lately? Episode #2: Third-Party Cosmetic Filtering

This is the second in what will be an ongoing, regular series of blog posts, describing new privacy-related features in Brave. This post describes work done by Research Engineer Anton Lazarev, Performance Researcher Andrius Aucinas, Senior Privacy Researcher Peter Snyder, and Senior Software Engineer Pete Miller.



Brave is releasing a new system for hiding unwanted, privacy harming page elements. These include empty page space caused by blocking trackers, and third-party ads that cannot be blocked at the network layer. Brave’s system uniquely attempts to hide tracking third-party ads, while supporting sites that use privacy-preserving first-party ads. You can help test this system by downloading and using Brave Nightly. If everything looks good from testing, third-party cosmetic filtering will be in Brave’s stable release soon.



Read the full post here: https://brave.com/whats-brave-done-for-my-privacy-lately-episode2/

Fan Art: “Space BAT” — a free mobile wallpaper by Crazy_Unicorn_Music on Reddit!

You can download the wallpaper in high res below (don’t forget to thank Crazy_Unicorn_Music in the comments if you do!)

Community: Upcoming BAT meetups in Indonesia (+ where to RSVP)

Brave x BAT Mini Meetup — Friday, February 28th, 2020 (location TBD)

At the mini meetup, the BAT/Brave Indonesia team will cover the latest announcements and news from Brave and Basic Attention Token (BAT). The meetup will have a more laid-back flow than BAT Indonesia’s traditional BAT Cafe. Open to the public.



RSVP here: https://www.meetup.com/BasicAttentionToken/events/268675861/



BAT x Content Creator Workshop — Saturday, February 29th, 2020 (Ambon, Maluku)

Geared toward digital content creators, the BAT x Content Creator Workshop takes a deep dive into the Brave Rewards Creator program—its features, benefits, and how to sign up!



RSVP here: https://www.meetup.com/BasicAttentionToken/events/268676721/



BAT Cafe 26.0 — Saturday, February 29th, 2020 (Ambon, Maluku)

BAT Indonesia’s BAT Cafe is a recurring monthly meetup for new and existing users of Brave and Basic Attention Token. During the session the BAT Indonesia team will do an introductory presentation for newcomers, cover the latest announcements & news from the project, and end with a Q&A period.



RSVP here: https://www.meetup.com/BasicAttentionToken/events/268676100/

Brave sends congrats to Microsoft Edge in the form of a yummy cake!

This brave cake sender wanted to remain private… but you know who you are. 😉Thanks! pic.twitter.com/TWYusnkT22 — Microsoft Edge Dev (@MSEdgeDev) February 19, 2020

Creators: The Asahi Shimbun, one of the largest news agencies in Japan, becomes Brave verified. Alexa rank #1,186

The Asahi Shimbun (朝日新聞, ‘morning sun newspaper’) is one of the five national newspapers in Japan. Its circulation, which was 7.96 million for its morning edition and 3.1 million for its evening edition as of June 2010, was second behind that of Yomiuri Shimbun.

Creator Spotlight (in partnership with Everipedia)

YouTube star, Keemstar! 📹🌟

Keemstar is the creator of #DramaAlert, an online news & entertainment source that has been dubbed the “TMZ of YouTube” by fans. Since its launch in 2014, #DramaAlert has gained over 5M subscribers!



Read about Keemstar on Everipedia: https://everipedia.org/wiki/lang_en/keemstar



Subscribe to #DramaAlert on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/user/NewDramaAlert

Spinnin’ Records

Founded in 1999 Spinnin’ Records, is now the world’s leading electronic dance music label and community.



Channel description: The Spinnin’ Records YouTube channel is the home for all music videos of the world’s leading dance record label!



We feature the latest music videos by Spinnin’ artists like Oliver Heldens, Sam Feldt, KSHMR, Ummet Ozcan, Blasterjaxx, Merk & Kremont, Timmy Trumpet, Tujamo, Alok, Curbi, Mike Williams, Lucas & Steve, Throttle and many, many more! Expect daily uploads of official music videos, lyric videos and official audio across genres like dance, house, electro house, future house, deep house, big room and trap.



Read Spinnin’s Everipedia entry: https://everipedia.org/wiki/lang_en/Spinnin’_Premium



Official website: https://spinninrecords.com/



Spinnin’ Records on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SpinninRec

Client Updates

Dev Channel v1.6.47

https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v1.6.47

Beta Channel v1.5.97

https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases/tag/v1.5.97

Brave Team Tweets

Yeah, but whatever ids one gives, the problem is linkability. We fight this today in Brave, including 1st party collusion cases. — BrendanEich (@BrendanEich) February 13, 2020 Brave fights first and third-party ad collusion.

Now if you go to https://t.co/he9FCWWFsQ to verify your Twitter handle, you'll have your first tip from @brave waiting for you: https://t.co/B6YcCJ6OH6



Welcome aboard. 🙂 @AttentionToken $BAT @BAT_Community — Luke Mulks | lukemulks.eth (@lukemulks) February 20, 2020 All aboard the tipping train! 🙂

No clicks needed to earn; as always, Brave believes attention (not action) is enough to merit rewards. Users who opt-in to Rewards earn 70% from Sponsored Images (which are displayed on every 4th new tab). — Sampson (@BraveSampson) February 18, 2020 Sampson clearing up a common misconception—clicking ads is not necessary to earn!

Why do you think aggressive script blocking speeds up Brave vs Chrome? And this trend is not just about JS: https://t.co/nk0daxS6Pq.



On the other hand, waiting for a server to respond is worse, so why do we do it? So the server can see your keystrokes? That’s a business model. — BrendanEich (@BrendanEich) February 19, 2020 Someone seeing your keystrokes is important to some businesses.

Brands pay for performance these days. The smart ones do. Collecting personal data quickly becoming a liability and risk. We have a platform that bypasses that and performs without needing to leak data to 3rd parties. — Luke Mulks | lukemulks.eth (@lukemulks) February 14, 2020 Customer data = liability. Brave doesn’t need that.

Do you all just wait up in the morning and think "How can I make Sampson feel amazing today"? 😊 The Brave community is incredible! https://t.co/jbqNpB6CH4 — Sampson (@BraveSampson) February 13, 2020 Sampson feeling some Twitter love! <3

Now in Brave Nightly, Estimated Bandwidth Savings! Coming soon to a Brave near you 😉 Download Brave Nightly, and see the future of Brave: https://t.co/gkSwWpwNMY



Disclaimer: Nightly is expected to be less stable than other builds. pic.twitter.com/tleHaBLhKy — Sampson (@BraveSampson) February 13, 2020 If you like seeing new features, check out nightly… included is estimated bandwidth savings!

A brand receives campaign reporting, but neither Brave or a advertised brand can receive data about an individual -unless a Brave user wishes. Example: it is at a Brave user's discretion to accept a car test drive offer, and to pass on necessary details for that. (Ask @lukemulks) — Johnny Ryan (@johnnyryan) February 14, 2020 Brave doesn’t receive user data.

I just tipped @flatbushcats (I love their YouTube channel, which shows how they rescue street cats and help find foster homes for them) using the Brave Browser. Check it out at https://t.co/VLkZSUEnB5. #TipWithBrave https://t.co/Eegs51SxLY — BrendanEich (@BrendanEich) February 16, 2020 Save the kitties!

I absolutely love that @samlustgarten has been rallying people to give to the many causes that have joined our @Brave Ad Grant Program.



A very excellent way to use accumulated @AttentionToken rewards. $BAT https://t.co/VwzctocoqR — Luke Mulks | lukemulks.eth (@lukemulks) February 15, 2020 Keep donating that BAT!

News You Should Know

Ring to tighten privacy amid concerns it shares customer data with Facebook and Google

Ring, the Amazon-owned maker of smart-home doorbells and web-enabled security cameras, is changing its privacy settings two weeks after a study showed the company shares customers’ personal information with Facebook, Google and other parties without users’ consent.



The change will let Ring users block the company from sharing most, but not all, of their data. A company spokesperson said people will be able to opt out of those sharing agreements “where applicable.” The spokesperson declined to clarify what “where applicable” might mean.



Read the full text here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ring-facebook-google-personal-information-privacy-settings-change/

Why Amazon knows so much about you

You might call me an Amazon super-user. I’ve been a customer since 1999, and rely on it for everything from grass seed to birthday gifts. There are Echo speakers dotted throughout my home, Ring cameras inside and out, a Fire TV set-top box in the living room and an ageing Kindle e-reader by my bedside. I submitted a data subject access request, asking Amazon to disclose everything it knows about me.



Scanning through the hundreds of files I received in response, the level of detail is, in some cases, mind-bending. One database contains transcriptions of all 31,082 interactions my family has had with the virtual assistant Alexa. Audio clips of the recordings are also provided. The 48 requests to play Let It Go, flag my daughter’s infatuation with Disney’s Frozen. Other late-night music requests to the bedroom Echo, might provide a clue to a more adult activity.



Read the full text here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/extra/CLQYZENMBI/amazon-data

Leaked Document Shows How Big Companies Buy Credit Card Data on Millions of Americans

Yodlee, the largest financial data broker in the U.S., sells data pulled from the bank and credit card transactions of tens of millions of Americans to investment and research firms, detailing where and when people shopped and how much they spent. The company claims that the data is anonymous, but a confidential Yodlee document obtained by Motherboard indicates individual users could be unmasked.



Read the full text here: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/jged4x/envestnet-yodlee-credit-card-bank-data-not-anonymous

Roaring Fans

Look at the @brave browser. It blocks ads, pop-ups, etc… I love not dealing with YouTube ads or pop-ups. — Lin 😷🌺 (@lindalin70) February 20, 2020

@brave Giving me protection From Ads, Trackers but also the gift of #BAT, and some may say the gift of time, 😂 Come along if #BAT is your thing or you fancy claiming a little time back https://t.co/QPcZVPPuqH pic.twitter.com/MXk9DGZD4Z — BR3NN (@BR3NN88) February 20, 2020

From Reddit: