Privacy Browser

[samcross021]

In the Process of Moving to New Website, I think "Privacy Browser" isn't on New Site anyone.
I'm not sure if Privacy Browser still needs Android Webview. If it needs Webview, then It would be good to include Privacy Browser with "Android Webview" flair again,.

https://github.com/privacytools/privacytools.io/issues/1051

[SkewedZeppelin]

Ping @sorenstoutner for input.

Privacy Browser is one of the best WebView browsers.

Edit: Why was this hidden?
Hiding comments on GitHub prevents logged-out users from reading.
Also stating on a suggestion that the suggestion is good sure seems appropriately on-topic.

[jonaharagon]

For the most part we are trying to shy away from the "worth mentioning" sections of PrivacyTools, either we recommend something or we don't. Are there any benefits to Privacy Browser over our existing Firefox/Bromite/DDG browser recommendations?

[SkewedZeppelin]

DDG should be removed after this malicious non-sense: duckduckgo/Android#527

Privacy Browser is better in every way.

Also see https://divestos.org/index.php?page=browsers

[jonaharagon]

@SkewedZeppelin if you think DDG should be removed please open a separate discussion about it. However, before doing that see duckduckgo/Android#877

[sorenstoutner]

The point being, if you can swallow all of the privacy problems with DuckDuckGo, you should have no problems with the much more private Privacy Browser.

[samcross021]

For the most part we are trying to shy away from the "worth mentioning" sections of PrivacyTools, either we recommend something or we don't. Are there any benefits to Privacy Browser over our existing Firefox/Bromite/DDG browser recommendations?

Yeah, I get it. But Privacy Browser contains an advanced set to tools specifically default and can be customized to protect privacy of user.

It may not definitely for everyone, as messing up settings would lead to unique fingerprint of browser. It would be good to make a specific section for Advanced Users and adding it.

[sorenstoutner]

Oh yes. The fact that you even ask the question indicates that you haven't spent much time using Privacy Browser. As a high-level response, I would recommend you check out https://www.stoutner.com/privacy-browser/core-privacy-principles/.

[samcross021]

Yes, Privacy Browser still depends on Android's WebView.

I see that you have already mentioned this issue 4 years ago. Is there any update on this? @sorenstoutner
https://redmine.stoutner.com/issues/86

And Considering that the browser is being ported to PC in upcoming versions, it would be a good idea to add this under a section for Advanced Users similar to addon for Advanced Users section. @jonaharagon

[sorenstoutner]

While I agree that using Android's WebView is not ideal, I think it is important for people to understand that all their other current options on Android either use WebView or use something that has all the same problems as WebView or is even worse.

For example, DuckDuckGo's browser uses Android's WebView.

https://github.com/duckduckgo/Android/blob/develop/app/src/main/java/com/duckduckgo/app/browser/BrowserChromeClient.kt

Fennic doesn't use Android's WebView. It is built on GeckoView, which includes a massive number of trackers embedded by Mozilla. ClassyShark3xodus 2.0-27 shows that Fennec 91.2.0 contains 203 classes with trackers coming from Adjust, Google AdMob, 2?Sentry, and Mozilla Telemetry.

ClassyShark3xodus shows zero trackers for both Privacy Browser and for Android's WebView.

Now, the people behind Fennec have done a lot of work to try to disable or remove these trackers, but many of them are still shipped in the code even when disabled, and it is difficult to exhaustively test each release to make sure that some of them aren't still doing things. It is possible that Android's WebView contains trackers that ClassyShark3xodus does not identify. However, I find it very difficult to recommend a browser based on GeckoView over one based on Android's WebView for privacy reasons.

For a bit more analysis, I would recommend taking a look at the following two URLs:

https://forum.f-droid.org/t/classyshark3exydus-found-five-trackers-inside-tor-browser/13453

https://www.stoutner.com/geckoview/

After looking at all the information, even though there is a long way to go before it is perfect, I think I can say fairly objectively that there is no browser on Android that currently provides a more private browsing experience than Privacy Browser.

[samcross021]

I think we can finally include Privacy Browser into the list of PrivacyGuides similar to as of PrivacyTools.

If there is still any issue, I would have a look at it.

[dngray]

Thread continued in https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/privacy-browser/11782