Brave Browser has introduced a new feature called “Forgetful Browsing” that focuses on protecting your privacy from websites that try to recognize you on subsequent visits.
See also: Brave: The Summarizer feature for Search is here!
The new feature will delete cookies and data in local storage and the website cache when you close the website. This feature will automatically log users out of the websites. However, it will prevent users from being re-identified when they return to the website in the future.
Users can enable the “Forgetful Browsing” feature from the software’s settings menu, either for all websites (global option), or for a specific list of sites.
“ When this option is set, Brave will clear the storage for the website a few seconds after there are no longer any open tabs for the website ,” Brave Software’s announcement explains
The Brave Software team explained that while browser offers strong protections against third-party tracking, there are still privacy issues stemming from tracking by the original manufacturer that have not yet been clarified.
Original manufacturer tracking no longer offers reliable protection in mechanical browsers, as users consciously choose the websites they visit and have better control and understanding about where data .
Although first-party cookies improve the website navigation experience, such as maintaining a connection or recording content, the risk of the user being permanently identified by the website remains.
See also: Brave version 1.49: Blocks “open in app” prompts and pool-party attacks
The risks cited include collecting more data and linking multiple visitor accounts to the same person or household, while raising concerns about creating rich user profiles to be used for targeted advertising and the potential for consumer financial information to be compromised, thus violating privacy.
Brave claims that most modern browsers already have built-in features or tools to address this problem. However, the features can be difficult to use, too general, or hidden from the user.
Therefore, the team decided to develop Forgetful Browsing as a tool that would be built-in and easy to use, without requiring any additional attention or action from the user after setup.
To set the global default for “Forgetful Browsing”, go to Settings → Shields → Click “Forget me when I close a website”.
To add an entry or remove an exception from the global settings for a specific website, simply navigate to the website, click the shield icon on the right side of the URL bar, select “Advanced controls,” and then toggle the option “on.”
Brave clarifies that the “Forgetful Browsing” feature will apply to websites and not entire domains, as is usually the case in Shields.
See also: Brave Search lets you customize your results
The new “Forgetful Browsing” feature will be available in the Brave browser for desktop with version 1.53 (the current stable version is version 1.51). Android users will get this feature a little later with version 1.54.
