The Brave open source browser, which became famous for its focus on user privacy, was caught adding referral codes to certain URLs that users enter in the address bar.
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 enters the binance.us address in the address bar, the Brave browser automatically fills in the URL with a passcode.
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.
Brave CEO and co-founder Brendan Eich has already answered on Twitter, explaining that this is something that will be resolved immediately, and all affiliate codes will be removed in the next information.
"We work with Binance and this code identifies us," Eich explained.
Earlier this year, the Brave service and crypto exchange Binance signed a partnership that essentially allowed users to trade cryptocurrencies directly on the new tab page without the need for other apps.
“All the big ones programs περιήγησης το κάνουν για τις προσφορές συνεργατών αναζήτησης (εσωτερικές λειτουργίες στην περίπτωση του Chrome, they also track connected 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.