Privacy-focused web browser Brave has announced its websites will now be available directly from the dark web, which will provide a greater pool of users with secure access to its service.
Built upon the notion that advertisements should be optional and web browsing private, Brave is committed to allowing its users to protect their metadata, shield activity from internet service providers (ISPs) and block ad trackers.
In support of this mission, Brave-operated websites have been made available via Tor, the portal to dark web .onion addresses. Although the dark web is renowned for the illegal activity it facilitates, many of these addresses provide a legitimate option for netizens without full access to the public internet.
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Via Tor, Brave.com can now be accessed at Brave.onion (a dark web URL), which gives even those with censored internet access - e.g. citizens of China or India - the chance to download and use the Brave browser.
Anonymous browsing
Brave announced its first integration with Tor back in 2018, in the form of a Tor-powered private browsing Window, described as “a new mode that helps protect users’ privacy not only on device but over the network.”
During the same period, Brave also began contributing to the Tor network by operating a handful of relays, through which internet traffic is ricocheted in order to conceal the identity of the individual making the original request.
The move to make Brave websites available via Tor marks yet another step in the relationship between the two organizations, whose objectives so often overlap.
“We are, and always have been, hugely thankful for the work and mission that the Tor team brings to the world,” wrote Ben Kero, DevOps Engineer at Brave.
“To continue our support, we wanted to make our website and browser accessible to Tor users by creating Tor onion services for Brave websites. These services are a way to protect users’ metadata, such as their real location, and enhance the security of our already-encrypted traffic,” he added.
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