Browsers
Vanadium privacy rating
Hardened Chromium-based browser and system WebView from GrapheneOS, with JIT disabled by default, built-in content filtering and remote services removed. Only available on GrapheneOS.
Summary
Vanadium scores 90 out of 100 (grade A) on the browsers criteria. It meets 7 of 8 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, blocks trackers by default, fingerprinting protection, no calls to big-tech services and timely security updates. It does not meet independent audit. It is based in Canada: Five Eyes member.
Score 90 out of 100. How scoring works
Criteria
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Yes
Open source Weight 3 of 3
Is all the source code needed to run the product public?
Patches are GPL-2.0, on top of the BSD-licensed Chromium code.
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Yes
No trackers or telemetry Weight 3 of 3
Are the website and apps free of third-party trackers, with any analytics anonymous and any telemetry off by default?
Nearly all remote services are disabled or removed, and the browser only connects to GrapheneOS servers by default.
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Yes
No ads or data sales Weight 2 of 3
Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data?
Funded by donations to the non-profit GrapheneOS Foundation. No ads.
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No
Independent audit Weight 2 of 3
Has an independent security or privacy audit been published within the last three years?
No independent audit is published.
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Yes
Blocks trackers by default Weight 3 of 3
Are third-party trackers blocked by default, without installing extensions?
Content filtering with EasyList and EasyPrivacy is on by default, and third-party cookies are blocked.
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Yes
Fingerprinting protection Weight 2 of 3
Does the browser defend against fingerprinting by default?
Standardizes the user agent, client hints and battery status by default, and aims for identical configuration across users.
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Yes
No calls to big-tech services Weight 2 of 3
Does the browser work without background connections to Google, Microsoft or Apple services?
Only connects to GrapheneOS servers by default, for component updates and optional DNS-over-HTTPS checks.
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Yes
Timely security updates Weight 3 of 3
Are security fixes from the upstream engine shipped quickly and automatically?
New Chromium releases are usually tagged the same day or within a few days, and the GrapheneOS app repository installs updates automatically.