Brave launches public beta version of its search engine with anti-tracking features

The developers of Brave, a privacy-focused web browser, have been testing their own search engine for a while now with a small number of invited users. Starting today, Brave Search will be available to everyone as a public beta through the official browser apps and also a new website.

As noted by TechCrunch, Brave announced its own search engine in March of this year following the acquisition of Cliqz, an anti-tracking browser with a built-in search engine. Similar to DuckDuckGo, Brave Search is an alternative to major search services like Google and Bing for those who are concerned about data privacy.

The company claims not to collect IP address or use personal data to improve search results, so the user can remain anonymous. Combined with Brave Browser, users can navigate the internet without being tracked thanks to a feature called “Shields,” which blocks most trackers, advertisements, and unnecessary cookies.

However, if you don’t want to download Brave to use the company’s anti-tracking search, you can still use it in Safari, Google Chrome, or other browsers. It is now available through the search.brave.com website. Later this year, Brave Search will become the default search engine for Brave Browser.

Whether they are already Brave browser users, looking to expand their online privacy protection with the all-in-one, integrated Brave Search in the Brave browser, or users of other browsers looking for the best-in-breed privacy-preserving search engine, they can all use the newly released Brave Search beta that puts users first, and fully in control of their online experience. Brave Search is built on top of a completely independent index, and doesn’t track users, their searches, or their clicks.

Privacy has become a top priority for some companies in recent years, and that includes Apple. This year, Apple announced iCloud+ with Private Relay, which masks the user’s IP address to prevent tracking between apps and websites. Interestingly, there are some rumors about Apple investing in its own search engine, but the company has never shown interest in this — at least publicly.

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