Browsers, Search Engines, and VPNs — What They Actually Do

Most people think of a web browser as a transparent pane of glass: type in a URL, see a page. The reality is that a browser is active software making dozens of decisions per page load — decisions that determine what data is collected, by whom, and how much of your behaviour can be linked across the sites you visit.

Four major browsers dominate desktop and mobile use: Google Chrome (with a dominant global market share as of the time of writing — figures vary by region and device; check current tracking services for the latest data as of 2024), Apple Safari (around 18%), Microsoft Edge (around 5%), Mozilla Firefox (around 3%), and Brave (under 2%). Each takes a meaningfully different approach to data collection and user tracking (StatCounter, 2024).

Google Chrome: built-in and deeply integrated

Chrome is developed by Google, whose primary business is advertising. When you use Chrome and are signed into a Google account, your browsing history, search queries, and page interactions are associated with your Google profile. Chrome's Privacy Sandbox initiative — intended to replace third-party cookies with a less invasive targeting mechanism — has been both welcomed as an improvement and criticised by privacy researchers for keeping targeting within Google's own ecosystem rather than eliminating it (EFF, 2021).

Chrome also collects telemetry data — information about browser performance and crashes — which is enabled by default. Users can reduce but not entirely eliminate data collection from Chrome.

Apple Safari: privacy as a differentiator

Safari is Apple's browser and is only available on Apple devices. Apple's business model is built around hardware and services rather than advertising, and the company has positioned privacy as a product feature. Safari's Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP) uses machine learning to identify and block cross-site tracking cookies. It does not send browsing history to Apple by default (Apple, 2023).

Safari is not fully open-source, which limits independent verification of its privacy properties. And because Safari is tied to the Apple ecosystem, users outside that ecosystem cannot use it.

Mozilla Firefox: open-source and configurable

Firefox is developed by Mozilla, a non-profit organisation. Its source code is publicly auditable. By default, Firefox blocks many third-party trackers and offers Enhanced Tracking Protection in three levels. Firefox does collect some telemetry by default, but this can be disabled in settings. Firefox supports a wide range of privacy-enhancing extensions, including uBlock Origin for content blocking.

Firefox's market share has declined steadily since its peak, but it is a strong option for users who want open-source software and configurable privacy controls on non-Apple hardware (Mozilla, 2024).

Brave: privacy-first with a commercial layer

Brave is a Chromium-based browser built on the same engine as Chrome but with aggressive default privacy settings: it blocks ads and trackers by default, includes fingerprinting resistance, and does not send data to Google (beyond what is inherent in using Chromium). Brave also includes an optional cryptocurrency-based advertising system (Brave Rewards), which is opt-in and separate from the privacy protections.

Brave scores well on independent fingerprinting tests, including the EFF's Cover Your Tracks tool (EFF, 2023). Independent researchers have noted that the default settings are strong, though the Brave Rewards system and its business model warrant attention for users particularly focused on privacy.

Microsoft Edge: Chrome with Microsoft telemetry

Edge is also Chromium-based. It shares Chrome's core rendering engine but replaces Google's telemetry with Microsoft's. Edge has added some tracking prevention features, but it integrates heavily with Microsoft services and by default sends browsing data to improve Bing and Microsoft's advertising products. It is the default browser on all Windows installations.

Fingerprinting: the tracking mechanism that cookies can't fix

Beyond cookies, websites can identify users through browser fingerprinting: combining information about your browser version, installed fonts, screen resolution, graphics hardware, timezone, language settings, and dozens of other attributes into a near-unique identifier that persists even if cookies are deleted (Englehardt & Narayanan, 2016). Brave offers the most robust default fingerprinting resistance of any major browser; Firefox offers some resistance with further hardening available through configuration.

The EFF's ssd.eff.org browser guidance recommends considering both what a browser does by default and what it sends to its developer — a useful dual lens for evaluating any browser choice.