Brave (BAT) Browser Launches Firewall and VPN for iOS in Partnership with Guardian
Privacy-centric firm Brave announced its partnership with internet security provider Guardian on July 27. The effort will see the launch of Brave’s Firewall and VPN product for iOS in the coming weeks.
Privacy and VPNs Come to iOS
The announcement said both companies will integrate their existing technologies – namely privacy, security, and browsing – to enable the “fastest, safest, most private Web browsing experience.”
The “Brave Firewall + VPN” is currently available for download on the App Store. Users can use control their own data, browse the Web, and use their apps more safely and securely with the application.
The Firewall + VPN product will be built-in in the Brave iPhone and iPad browser app. The latter is known for combining privacy with a blockchain-based digital advertising platform. Users can also use BAT tokens – Brave’s native digital currency – to gain rewards based on the attention to privacy-preserving advertisements.
When it comes to online privacy, users are being abused by surveillance capitalists and data miners with arsenals of trackers, invasive ads, and device fingerprinting. In particular, ad-tech intermediaries track – in recent years – almost everything a user does and everything they go.
But Brave’s solution works towards the privacy cause:
“With this launch, we are offering users a firewall and VPN that work system-wide, not only in Brave for iOS but also in any other app they use on their iPhone and iPad, protecting users from data, location, and mail beacon tracking.”
It added the partnership “empowers users to take action at the network level over unwanted surveillance.”
Brendan Eich, CEO, and co-founder of Brave Software said the firm had evaluated over a dozen VPNs and chose Guardian because of the shared focus on user privacy of our two companies and the technical capabilities of Guardian.
He added:
“The Firewall + VPN is a crucial part of the Web experience that our users have wanted, and we’re thrilled to bring this capability to Brave.”
Not Like Other VPN Providers
Brave noted its Firewall + VPN product is unlike other browsers that simply mask a user’s IP address. The former provides enhanced security and privacy by encrypting all data during a user’s internet session – preventing unauthorized tracking and blocking ads in the process.
After today’s partnership, all encrypted VPN data will be further sent to Guardian’s servers, allowing the firm to “instantly spot which apps are secretly broadcasting tracking data, and block the offending activity while still ensuring app functionality works as intended.”
Meanwhile, the release noted that Guardian and Brave are emerging leaders in a new privacy movement that is exposing the extent of surveillance capitalism and the massive, shadowy data trading market it feeds.
“Both companies are working to give users the means to control their own data within this environment and shield them from companies that have no right to it,” it concluded.
