Is Brave really more private than Chrome?

Yes. Brave blocks third-party ads and trackers by default, without extensions. Chrome's business model depends on targeted advertising, so tracking protection is limited. Independent audits confirm Brave makes significantly fewer third-party data requests per page.

What does incognito mode actually do?

Incognito mode prevents your browser from saving your history, cookies, and form data locally. It does not hide your activity from your ISP, employer network, or the websites you visit — all of whom can still see every page you load.

Which browser is fastest?

Brave consistently scores at or near the top of independent browser speed benchmarks, partly because blocking ads and trackers reduces the number of network requests per page load. Chrome and Edge are close behind in raw JavaScript performance.

The 5 Browser Settings Everyone Should Change Today

24 Jun 2026 · 2 min read · Comments

Most browsers ship with settings that favour advertisers over you. These five changes take under five minutes and quietly stop most websites from tracking everything you do.

1. Block Third-Party Cookies

Third-party cookies are placed by advertisers on sites you visit, then read by those same advertisers on every other site you go to. This is how a shoe ad follows you around the internet.
Chrome: Settings → Privacy and Security → Cookies → Block third-party cookies.
Firefox: Settings → Privacy & Security → Enhanced Tracking Protection → Strict.

Chrome · Settings · Privacy and Security

Cookies and other site data

Allow all cookies Block third-party cookies Block all cookies

2. Turn On DNS-over-HTTPS

Every time you type a web address, your browser asks a DNS server to translate it into an IP address. By default, this request is sent in plain text — meaning your internet provider (and anyone on the same network) can see every site you visit.
DNS-over-HTTPS encrypts that lookup so it's unreadable to anyone in the middle.
Chrome: Settings → Privacy and Security → Security → Use secure DNS → With: Cloudflare (1.1.1.1).

3. Enable HTTPS-Only Mode

HTTPS encrypts the connection between your browser and the website. HTTP does not. On a plain HTTP site, anyone sharing your Wi-Fi can read exactly what you send and receive.
Firefox: Settings → Privacy & Security → HTTPS-Only Mode → Enable in all windows.
Chrome: Settings → Privacy and Security → Security → Always use secure connections.

4. Revoke Location, Camera and Microphone Permissions

Websites you visited months ago may still have permanent access to your location or camera. Most never need it again.
Chrome: Settings → Privacy and Security → Site Settings → review Location, Camera, Microphone. Revoke anything you don't recognise.
Set the default for each to "Ask before accessing" rather than "Allow".

Chrome · Site Settings · Location

news-example.com ALLOWED → Revoke

shop-example.com ALLOWED → Revoke

maps.google.com ALLOWED ✓

5. Turn Off "Send Usage Statistics"

Chrome and Edge send usage data and crash reports back to Google and Microsoft by default. This includes URLs of pages you visit and diagnostic information about your activity.
Chrome: Settings → Privacy and Security → toggle off "Help improve Chrome's features and performance".
Edge: Settings → Privacy, search, and services → toggle off all diagnostic data options.

5 min

Time to Complete

~300

Trackers Blocked/Day

Free

Cost

These five changes won't make you invisible online, but they will stop the most common and invasive forms of tracking — for free, in under five minutes.

Sam Feldman

"A good banner has no fixed form and has no inherent meaning."

Austin, TX · https://sams.blog/weekly

✓