Open-source web browser Brave has at least two famous fans. Podcast host Joe Rogan and musician Reggie Watts this week revealed that they prefer the privacy-focused browser to avoid tracking and ads.
During an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, the pair swap stories about Big Brother-esque digital spying, both admitting that they favor Brave and partner search engine DuckDuckGo to Google Chrome. “They’re not looking in your underwear. They’re not checking under your fingernails,” Rogan said of the relatively new software, available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS.
Folks have been flocking to Brave and its privacy protection guarantee: The firm in May counted more than 15 million monthly active users—a 50 percent growth since the Brave 1.0 launch in November. The number of daily active users also grew “significantly” from 2 million one year ago to 5.3 million today.
Google, meanwhile, is facing a $5 billion lawsuit accusing the company of tracking users even in “private” (incognito) mode. The potential class-action suit, filed this week in California, alleges that Google “tracks and collects consumer [web activity] no matter what safeguards consumers undertake to protect their data privacy.”
“If you want to use Instagram or if you want to use Facebook, you’re getting tracked,” Rogan said. “There’s so much value in knowing what you’re up to; knowing where you’re going, what you’re buying, what you’re saying.” Watts agreed, adding that he is “going to do everything I can to protect myself … without being paranoid.” As Forbes pointed out, though, The Joe Rogan Experience is, ironically, entirely funded by ads on YouTube and as a downloadable podcast.
