The open-source Brave browser, which became famous for its focus on user privacy, was caught adding referral codes to some URLs that users typed into the line addresses.
The revelation was made by the Twitter user @ cryptonator1337 (his findings have gone viral on other social media as well as reddit). The cryptonator1337 he remarked that every time someone manually types the address binance.us in the address bar, Brave browser automatically completes the URL with a referral code.
This may not be a matter of privacy, but it is not suitable for browser users who expect nothing more than full transparency from the application developer.
As it turns out, referral codes are added not only to Binance's address, but also to other sites such as Ledger, Trezor and Coinbase.
The CEO and co-founder of Brave, Brendan Eich has already answered on Twitter, explaining that this is something that will be resolved immediately, and all affiliate passwords will be removed in the next update.
"We work with Binance and this code identifies us," Eich explained.
Earlier this year, Brave and crypto exchange Binance signed a partnership that effectively allowed users to exchange cryptocurrencies directly on the new tab page without the need for other applications.
“All the big ones programs browsers do this for search partner offers (internal functions in the case of Chrome, they also track logged in users). We used typed-in domains, but we've already fixed that," added Eich.
It appears that referral codes are added to the sites listed above on both PC and mobile. According to the developer, a fix has already started, so you should wait for the update that will resolve this issue on all platforms that Brave can install.