You are part of the problem. People should not have to give up their privacy and expose their devices to the evil of the advert companies just to get online. Ads are almost the number one vector for malware. Ad servers are rarely, if ever, equipped with decent security and are frequently compromised.
Ads are a poor method for making money and the system is horribly gamed at every opportunity. Anything worth having is worth paying for. Google and their ilk have ruined the Internet and the general online landscape by dint of offering "free" services that are not really free; people pay for them dearly with lack of privacy and security and the return of a "free" service is not worth what is given.
I have happily paid for Fastmail since 2002. They are security conscience, responsive, and give a damn about their customers. I will use no one else. They are very transparent with their issues and enjoy providing their use base with information regarding their running of the company. Good luck with Google or Microsoft giving even paying customers this level of service and transparency.
Google have become too powerful. Way too powerful. They have their awful ads, beacons, and trackers on most websites and people just blissfully go along with it. I use zero Google services and block all of their tracking with a Pi-hole and other software tools. Ditto allowing no Android devices on my network. Getting into bed with Google in any way, shape, or form is literally giving away your privacy for a few trinkets that are worth nothing. If it's worth having, it's worth paying for. It's all an electronic leash...
Brave is ad friendly, something that doesn't sit well with me. I want it all blocked. No ads, beacons, trackers, bad JavaScript. It's my browser, I call the shots as to what is allowed through. Ad companies have proven themselves to be evil and untrustworthy. They are now one of the main vectors of malware. I owe it to myself and my family to block everything like ads, beacons, and tracking my our network. I'm not interested in helping other people make money, generate crypto currency, whatever... My computers, my rules. Ads are a bad way to make money anyway and I've been blocking them since 1998. No way would I use Brave or any other software that actually encourages the advert companies to continue down their dark path.
It is basic tracker blocking. You can and should be doing more.
I run a Pi-hole on a Raspberry Pi and highly recommend it. It's blocks ads, beacons, trackers all at the DNS level. The crap never even has a chance to come down to your PC because it's never called. Easy to set up, takes about 30 minutes from start to finish. I couple this with my finely-tuned Firefox with uBlock Origin, Dencentraleyes, Privacy Badger, Webmail Ad Block, and No Coin. This is defence in depth. I never see anything resembling ads, beacons, or trackers.
The Pi-hole is highly configurable. You can add lots of blacklists to the already very capable list that is on by default. In addition, you can watch, in real time, all the calls being made and tune as you see fit. I was shocked to learn that my router, as well as other software, was phoning home. I nixed this behaviour on the Pi-hole immediately. It's a real eye opener to see what the software and devices on your network do and to whom they talk. The Pi-hole blocks bad crap for all devices on your network. You can even set up a free VPN on your router and use it for your mobile devices whilst your away from home.
The Pi-hole has become an indispensable tool on my network and I really think every person who cares about security should employ one for no other reason that it truly allows you to monitor your traffic in an easy-to-follow set of charts and traffic logs that are configurable. Well worth the time and little money involved.
Roxy Music were smooth, they sounded a bit more upscale than other bands, even bands they were supposed to have drawn influence from. Bryan Ferry knew what he was doing. Avalon was a brilliant album, and I discovered it at 13. I went on to acquire most of their catalogue.
I live in America now and most Americans have never heard of Roxy Music. Granted, I grew up on bands like The Jam, New Model Army, Style Council, The Clash, etc. With the exception of modern EDM artists like Shingo Nakamura and Roger Shah, I still gravitate to Roxy Music and the aforementioned artists.
I don't use anything but web mail (Fastmail) since 2002. I do my banking and email in one browser and my general browsing in a very locked down Firefox (Many about:config hacks, uBlock Origin, Decentraleyes, Webmail Ad Block, Privacy Badger, and No Coin) that blocks about everything save the actual content. I also run a Pi-hole. Keeping your actions compartmentalised keeps your privacy better controlled. Nothing is perfect, but keeping things separated is generally a better idea than not doing so.
Ads are a poor method for making money and the system is horribly gamed at every opportunity. Anything worth having is worth paying for. Google and their ilk have ruined the Internet and the general online landscape by dint of offering "free" services that are not really free; people pay for them dearly with lack of privacy and security and the return of a "free" service is not worth what is given.
I have happily paid for Fastmail since 2002. They are security conscience, responsive, and give a damn about their customers. I will use no one else. They are very transparent with their issues and enjoy providing their use base with information regarding their running of the company. Good luck with Google or Microsoft giving even paying customers this level of service and transparency.
Google have become too powerful. Way too powerful. They have their awful ads, beacons, and trackers on most websites and people just blissfully go along with it. I use zero Google services and block all of their tracking with a Pi-hole and other software tools. Ditto allowing no Android devices on my network. Getting into bed with Google in any way, shape, or form is literally giving away your privacy for a few trinkets that are worth nothing. If it's worth having, it's worth paying for. It's all an electronic leash...