Next Steps For Browser Privacy: Pursuing Privacy Protections Beyond Extensions

Practically-focused privacy research has disproportionately focused on the browser extension layer. This extension-predilection is a double edged sword. On the positive side, extensions are both simpler to develop and easier to distribute than deeper-reaching modifications, allowing researchers to iterate quickly and share their work with a large audience. On the negative side, an extension focus reduces the privacy improvements that can be achieved, as extensions can only modify a limited set of browser behavior. Researchers exploring modifications beyond the extension layer also lack easy ways of sharing their findings with a broad audience.

As a result, many possible web privacy improvements go under-explored. In this talk, I'll discuss three privacy improvements being developed at Brave that would not be possible at the extension layer. I hope to encourage other researchers and privacy activists to move beyond an extension-focused deployment strategy, and to consider privacy-oriented browser vendors as deployment strategies for getting their improvements in the hands of web users.