Is Brave Browser private in 2026?

Brave is a Chromium-based browser with default tracker and ad blocking, Tor private windows (limited; not a Tor Browser substitute), and the optional Brave Rewards ad/tokens product. As a daily-driver browser it is meaningfully more private than Chrome — defaults block third-party trackers and fingerprinting heuristics, no telemetry-by-default. As a privacy maximalist browser it is not equivalent to Tor Browser (no network anonymity) or to Mullvad Browser (no fingerprint-uniformity work at Tor's level). The operator context — Brave's broader ad ecosystem and tokens product — is a privacy-adjacent consideration users should factor in.