Brave Software—Brave browser caught injecting affiliate referral codes into cryptocurrency URLs without user consent
In June 2020, Brave browser was discovered automatically appending affiliate referral codes to cryptocurrency exchange URLs (Binance, Coinbase, Ledger, Trezor) typed into the address bar, without user consent or disclosure. This contradicted Brave's privacy-first branding and likely violated FTC affiliate disclosure requirements. CEO Brendan Eich initially defended the practice before promising to make it opt-in.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Transparency | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| User Privacy | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.643 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.57)
Evidence (1 signal)
Brave automatically added affiliate codes to crypto URLs typed in address bar
CPO Magazine and multiple outlets reported that Brave browser was automatically appending affiliate referral codes to cryptocurrency exchange URLs including Binance, Coinbase, Ledger, and Trezor when users typed them in the address bar, without disclosure. CEO Brendan Eich acknowledged the behavior on Twitter.