Brave Search Help

Anonymous usage metrics

Brave Search is an independent, private and, constantly growing search engine. To help us improve the Brave Search index, we try to learn how people interact with the site, how they use related services (like Ask Brave), and how well the site performs.

We want to make Brave Search faster and more reliable without ever knowing who you are. To do this, we look at broad trends - like how often the site loads correctly or what features people find useful - using anonymous data stored only on your own device.

Why is usage data collected by default?

Anonymous usage metrics help us detect and fix issues for everyone quickly. By sharing these broad, anonymous trends, you help us keep Brave Search fast and functional.

We rely on aggregated metrics to ensure service reliability and product development. Because this data is anonymized and stored in-aggregate, it does not constitute personal data under data protection laws like the GDPR.

You can disable anonymous usage metrics by clicking on the gear icon at the top right --> All settings --> and toggle “Anonymous usage metrics” off.

Here’s more detail on what we collect (and what we don’t):

Category What we collect (anonymous & aggregated) What we do not collect
User & visit volume
  • Daily, weekly, and monthly visit counts
  • Count of returning visits
  • IP addresses or unique identifiers
  • Data that identifies you (PII)
Search behavior
  • Total search queries per day
  • Average query length (character count only)
  • Actual content or text of search queries
  • Personal search or browsing history
Session details
  • Length of time spent on Brave Search
  • Association of time spent with specific users
Features & services
  • “Ask Brave” usage counts
  • Usage of other services (e.g., flight search)
  • Ad click counts (aggregate)
  • Specific queries or searches
  • Ad-tracking or user-behavior profiling
Environment
  • Operating systems (e.g., macOS, Windows)
  • Browser types (e.g., Brave, Chrome, Safari)
  • Device fingerprints that identify individuals
Opt-ins & feedback
  • Feedback submission counts
  • Count of opt-ins for local results
  • Count of opt-ins for usage metrics
  • Links between opt-in status and user identities