Brendan Eich—Brave browser inserted hidden affiliate referral codes into cryptocurrency URLs
In 2020, users discovered that Brave browser was automatically inserting referral codes into URLs for cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, and Trezor, and into search results for terms like 'bitcoin' and 'ethereum.' Eich acknowledged the practice was a mistake and said it would be made opt-in.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Transparency | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| User Autonomy | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.443 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (medium ×1) × confidence (0.59)
Evidence (1 signal)
Confirms product_decision Jun 6, 2020 verified
Brave caught inserting affiliate referral codes into cryptocurrency URLs
Users discovered Brave automatically added referral codes to Binance, Coinbase, and Trezor URLs. Eich acknowledged it was a mistake and said it would be made opt-in.