Brave Browser Files GDPR Complaint Against Search Giant Google

Brave, the web browser founded by Mozilla pioneer Brendan Eich and funded through an ICO, has fired two shots across the bow at Google.

The company, whose browser blocks obtrusive and privacy-infringing advertisements by default, has filed formal complaints against its much larger rival in Britain and Ireland, hoping to trigger provisions in the recently-implemented European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that would require an EU-wide investigation into the tech giant’s data policies.

Brave’s chief policy officer Johnny Ryan told:

There is a massive and systematic data breach at the heart of the behavioral advertising industry. Despite the two-year lead-in period before the GDPR, adtech companies have failed to comply.

Google’s practice of using “real-time bidding” to allow companies to purchase personalized ads exposes more user data, including sensitive information such as sexuality, ethnicity, and political views, than is authorized under GDPR.