If you have the Brave Browser installed on your Windows devices, then you may also have Brave VPN services installed on the machine. Brave installs these services without user consent on Windows devices.
Brave Firewall + VPN is an extra service that Brave users may subscribe to for a monthly fee. Launched in mid-2022, it is a cooperation between Brave Software, maker of Brave Browser, and Guardian, the company that operates the VPN and the firewall solution. The firewall and VPN solution is available for $9.99 per month.
Brave Software is not the only browser maker that has integrated a VPN solution in its browser. Mozilla, maker of Firefox, entered into a cooperation with Mullvad and launched Mozilla VPN in 2020.
Update: Brave plans to address the issue in a future release. The VPN service will only be installed after a user purchases the VPN.
The company notes that the VPN services are set to Manual and that they won’t start unless started by the user. The services will only run when users purchase Brave VPN.
Furthermore, no data is sent to Brave from the VPN services. End
Brave Browser’s installation of VPN services on Windows
A post on Privacy Guides suggests that Brave Browser installs its VPN Service without user consent and regardless of whether the VPN is used or has been used in the past.
You can verify this easily by following these steps:
- Use Windows-R to open the Run box.
- Type services.msc to open the Services manager on Windows.
- Scroll down until you come to the Brave secti
