Users of one of the popular web browsers should be wary. The application Brave, which is advertised as having a high level of privacy and security, independently installs additional services on Windows computers without informing the user. Furthermore, these services are automatically started in the background, something an average PC user is unlikely to notice.
The Brave browser is used by many people due to its extensive features for blocking user activity tracking on the internet and its high level of security. However, it turns out that it’s not as perfect a product as the developers and the community around the application present it to be.
Reports have surfaced online that Brave automatically installs Brave VPN services on the computer. Importantly, the program does not notify the user of this fact, and the user is not asked for permission. Entries related to the additional software can be found in the Services panel. There, you will find items such as Brave VPN Service and Brave VPN Wireguard Service. They are added with high-level permissions even in situations where you never thought about using Brave’s VPN service.
Importantly, the browser’s manufacturer has addressed the issue, indicating that the Brave VPN Wireguard service is added to the browser from version 1.57.47, which is from mid-August 2023. It is additionally installed only on computers where users have administrator privileges. And there are quite a few of those.
It’s unclear what the creators of Brave intend to do about this issue. In theory, they could remove Brave VPN in a future update, but from the manufacturer’s perspective, this might not be worthwhile. The company behind Brave wants users to use the VPN and pay for it, so removing the functionality could result in even fewer people using it.”
