Most of us use web browsers (浏览器) out of habit. However, there are a lot of similar apps for us to choose in the appstore. They serve the same purpose: visiting a website. So if the differences are minimal, why bother looking for something else?
As a matter of fact, a new type of internet navigator (导航器) , called a private browser, has emerged over the last three years. What stands out is that they minimize the data gathered about us by blocking the technologies used to track us, when most mainstream browsers, such as Chrome from Google, have been trying to develop a new way to target us with ads.
Private browsers generally rely on something called private mode, which is a browsing session that does not record a history of the websites you have visited. Firefox Focus, DuckDuckGo and Brave are all similar private browsers, but with some important differences.
Firefox Focus, available only for mobile devices like iPhones and Android smartphones, is the basic one. You input a web address and, when done browsing, hit the trash icon to erase the session. Quitting the app automatically purges the history.
The DuckDuckGo browser, also available only for mobile devices, is more like a traditional browser. The company says it is more focused on privacy because its ads do not track people's online behavior. When done browsing, you can hit the flame icon at the bottom to erase the session.
Brave is also more like a traditional web browser. It includes a private mode that must be turned on if you don't want people scrutinizing (仔细检查) your web history. Brave is so aggressive about blocking trackers that in the process, it almost always blocks ads entirely. The other private browsers block ads less frequently.
For most people, not seeing ads is undoubtedly a benefit. Brendan Eich, the chief executive of Brave, said, "If everybody used Brave, it would wipe out the tracking-based ad economy".
Count me in.