The Brave browser is focused on protecting your footprint online, and our latest security features reinforce that commitment. Introduced in the latest desktop and Android versions of the browser, “forgetful browsing” automatically logs you out of a site when you close a tab or browser. This is a more granular security setting than completely clearing history and cookies, as you can enable it on the web in general or on specific sites.
Unlike most of Brave’s security tools, this one focuses on first-party tracking (i.e. the site itself) rather than third-party tracking, which advertisers and less savory entities prefer. If you enable Forgetful Browsing in the “Shields up” menu, the local storage (including cookies, cache and DNS cache) of a particular site will be cleared a few seconds after you close your browser or close the last tab on the site. open. This setting is a much broader option than most Brave security tools, as it applies to sites rather than domains.
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What is the point? Brave explains the case in a blog post via Bleeping Computer. While being able to return to a website without having to log in again is convenient in most cases, this kind of easy re-identification is used for metered paywalls and general browsing profiles (which may or may not be shared). other sites and advertisers). The example given is that you may not want the site to know that you have two profiles with two logins that you access from the same computer.
When applied universally, the Forgetful Browsing feature isn’t much more useful than the old option of clearing all local data when the browser closes. But when you look at it site by site, you can see how great it can be for users who want to keep their browsing more private.