Here are some of the key benefits of switching to the Epic Privacy Browser:
It doesn’t store your search history. It blocks third-party trackers. It doesn’t create user profiles and does not show personalized ads like Google. It automatically sends you to the HTTPS version of every website. Its search results are unfiltered and not based on your past activities. It has VPN-like encrypted proxy servers.
While Epic Privacy Browser has some remarkable features, it is not as user-friendly as some other privacy-focused browsers like Brave. Epic’s default settings don’t provide comprehensive protection. If you choose to use the Epic browser, we recommend using a VPN to complement its security and privacy. A VPN provider like NordVPN offers superfast speeds, end-to-end encryption, and other advanced security features. However, you could forego all this and download the Epic Privacy Browser for free. Epic is purported to be a privacy-first browser, but how does it protect your data? Is Epic browser safe? And how does it compare to other browsers? In this Epic Privacy Browser review, we’ll answer these questions and more.
An Introduction to the Epic Privacy Browser
Epic is a privacy-focused web browser built on the Chromium codebase. It was released in 2013 by Hidden Reflex, an India-based software company created by Alok Bhardwaj. If you’ve ever used Google’s Chrome browser, the Epic web browser’s interface will feel familiar. To protect your privacy, Epic prevents the installation of plugins and doesn’t store your browsing history. The browser also actively detects and blocks annoying ads. Epic has a built-in encrypted proxy that will hide your IP address at the click of a button. It also blocks all third-party cookies, fingerprinting scripts, and other attempts to track your browsing activity. According to Epic, it stops over 600 tracking attempts in an average browsing session.
Why choose Epic Privacy Browser?
Just like Avast Browser PRO and Opera, Epic’s proxy provides built-in VPN-like functionality, hiding your IP address and encrypting your traffic. The browser’s interface is simple and well-designed. You can customize your privacy settings. Epic is not only a privacy-conscious web browser, but it also supports internet freedom. It allows you to download videos and other multimedia content from different websites, and access blocked sites. Since it blocks trackers and ads from loading, Epic is purported to be up to 25 times faster than most browsers. What really sets Epic apart from other browsers is that its default settings are optimized to protect your privacy. According to the company, “Epic’s default is extreme privacy.”
How Does the Epic Privacy Browser Protect Your Privacy?
The Epic browser comes with an array of useful privacy features. For example, it does not retain your browsing history, web cache, DNS cache, media cache, and other data. The browser also doesn’t save your preferences and login data, and doesn’t support third-party cookies or DNS prefetching. Here’s a breakdown of some key privacy features of the Epic Privacy Browser.
Blocks ads and trackers
Epic provides comprehensive ad and tracker blocking, protecting you from tracking and fingerprinting scripts, URL trackers and other tracking agents, invasive cookies, crypto mining scripts, malvertising, ad networks, and other insidious attempts to compromise your privacy. Epic says it never collects user data and therefore cannot sell or share it with third parties. The browser doesn’t share data with websites about the search terms you click and your browsing habits. It also blocks the websites you visit from tracking you. Epic even blocks WebRTC calls that can potentially leak your IP address.
Deletes browsing data after each session
When you close the browser, Epic deletes all your data, including your preferences, indexed DB, visited links, login data, media cache, shortcuts, and origin-bound certificates, to provide ultimate privacy and protection. Epic allows first-party cookies and storage of HTML5 data for websites to work properly. The company recommends closing your browser regularly for this data to be cleaned out. Epic doesn’t use any web-based services to prevent your personal info from being leaked. It doesn’t transfer data about the URLs you visit to its servers. Instead, to provide services like its address bar autofill feature, this data is stored locally on your device. Epic says it doesn’t log users’ browsing history, and has “relayed as much to every single request by governmental agencies who’ve requested data from us.”
Encrypted proxy
Epic’s one-click proxy — which is said to be faster and safer than Tor — allows you to browse the web anonymously. When you activate this feature, your DNS requests are routed through an encrypted proxy. This ensures you aren’t being tracked and protects your data from prying eyes, including your internet service provider (ISP), employer, advertisers, hackers, and the government. Apart from safeguarding your privacy, Epic’s proxy also allows you to access geo-restricted content. Epic users can access free servers in eight locations, namely Singapore, India, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US, to unblock content.
How Does Epic Make a Profit?
Epic is a for-profit organization. It receives support from “a small group of angel investors,” including Graham Holdings. In the first year of its existence, Epic generated revenue through Google Ads. To protect the privacy of its users, the browser masked users’ IP addresses before sharing them with one of Google’s partners, Bluecora. Epic did this to avoid sharing any personally identifiable user data with advertisers. In 2014, all this changed after Google demanded the IP addresses of every user who views its ads. Epic’s refusal to do this meant the company stopped getting revenue from Google Ads. Google has denied that the changes to its ad policy were particularly directed at Epic. However, Epic claims Google also instructed the company to remove every mention of the words “Google” or “Chrome” on its pages and to avoid displaying images linked to Google Images or videos linked to YouTube on their search results. Since losing its Google ad revenue, Epic has asked users to make donations to support its operations.
Drawbacks of the Epic Browser
Epic blocks ads, trackers, crypto-mining, fingerprint tracking scripts, ultrasound signaling, and so much more. However, it has its limits. “Epic blocks many but not all fingerprinting techniques and scripts,” the company explains on its website.
Default settings don’t block all trackers
Tests with the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s (EFF) Cover Your Tracks tool show that Epic’s default settings only provide partial protection from invisible tracking and tracking ads. You need to enable uBlock and Epic’s encrypted proxy to get comprehensive protection. For people who aren’t tech-savvy, it can be tricky to determine how to navigate the setting to get full protection.
Privacy vs. convenience
When it was launched, the Epic Privacy Browser didn’t support add-ons. According to the company, this was done because “plugins can leak your actual IP address as well as enable others to fingerprint you.” While this is a valid reason to block add-ons, it also meant that users couldn’t access some crucial extensions like a password manager. Epic has addressed this issue by introducing a web store and allowing a limited set of trusted add-ons, including LastPass, Evernote, and Roboform. Generally, the subject of privacy vs. convenience stands out when using the Epic Privacy Browser. For example, unlike other browsers, you need to enter a CAPTCHA and go through other security steps before accessing some websites, like Facebook.
Epic’s encrypted proxy vs. VPN
While the Epic Privacy Browser’s encrypted proxy provides VPN-like functionality, it can’t replace using a premium VPN service. Epic’s built-in free VPN is more likely to slow down your connection compared to a VPN. A VPN provider like NordVPN, which uses diskless, RAM-only servers, offers much faster speeds and has a wider network of servers spread out across the world. NordVPN also provides end-to-end encryption, which makes it impossible for prying eyes to monitor your traffic, even when it’s in transit. While Epic’s encrypted proxy only protects your browser traffic, a VPN protects all the internet traffic originating from your device. Note: If you’re using the Epic Privacy Browser and you visit your Google account, you’ll no longer be anonymous to Google. Epic “strongly recommends” that you do not access your Gmail account using its browser.
The Difference Between Epic and Brave?
Epic and Brave are both privacy-focused internet browsers built on the Chromium codebase. They both provide VPN-like functionality and are designed to block all third-party ads, trackers, fingerprinting, cookies, and other tracking scripts. Epic appears to offer more extensive privacy features, compared to Brave. For example, while Epic blocks all third-party add-ons and cookies to prevent a leak of your IP address, you can install just about any add-on to Brave from the Chrome Web Store. Brave also allows third-party cookies and stores your browsing history. Brave has some unique features that you won’t find on the Epic Privacy Browser, such as its Tor mode as well as malware and phishing protection. Brave also doubles as a crypto/NFT wallet, has its own search engine, and rewards users for viewing ads with its Basic Attention Token (BAT) cryptocurrency token. Epic and Brave are compatible with different operating systems, including macOS, iOS, Windows, Linux, and Android.
How to Install the Epic Privacy Browser
Follow the steps below to install the Epic Privacy Browser on your device:
Epic Browser Alternatives
Epic is not your only recourse when looking for a browser that puts privacy first. There are several other equally remarkable browsers that do a good job of protecting your privacy and blocking prying eyes. We’ve looked at Brave briefly above. Here are some other browsers worth mentioning.
Slimjet
Slimjet is a Chromium-based web browser that automatically blocks all ads by default. It also blocks trackers. Slimjet claims it “doesn’t send any usage data back to Google like Chrome.” The Slimjet browser is relatively fast and has extensions to improve its performance.
Vivaldi
Vivaldi is a Chromium-based web browser with a built-in ad and tracker blocker. It has a highly customizable interface. Vivaldi was created for people who spend a lot of time online. It has useful features like Notes, Screen Capture, and much more. Some other alternatives worth mentioning include the Vivaldi browser and DuckDuckGo’s browser.
Conclusion
The Epic Privacy Browser protects your privacy and offers a level of anonymity online. While it has some shortcomings, it is certainly more secure than using InPrivate browsing on Internet Explorer, Incognito on Chrome, or Private browsing on Firefox. We recommend using a premium VPN, like NordVPN, alongside the Epic browser for complete protection online.
