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Brave blocks cookie banners using AI

29.4.2025

Translation: machine translated

If you use the Brave browser, you can surf largely free of adverts. It blocks banners, pop-ups, video adverts and skips YouTube adverts. It has recently become more effective at blocking cookie banners thanks to AI.

Since 2018, cookie banners have been restricting relaxed internet surfing almost everywhere. Most users repeatedly click on «Only allow necessary cookies» or tediously tick boxes to disclose as little data as possible. The Brave browser has put an end to some of this time-wasting since autumn 2022. Since then, the browser has blocked most cookie banners. However, this sometimes broke the layout or functions of the website. This should now come to an end thanks to a new feature called «Cookiecrumbler».

Cookiecrumbler removes and protects using AI and humans

The new function does not interact with the cookie banners - it does not click on reject or anything similar. It removes the banners directly and prevents websites from collecting tracking data from the outset. According to Brave blog post, it remains a challenge not to compromise website functions in the process. Blocks that are too broad can not only ruin the layout, but also lead to checkout problems, for example.

To prevent this from happening, Brave relies on open source language models (large language models) for the cookie crumbler. These not only recognise the consent notices, but also provide error correction suggestions. Humans then take over: filter list managers and Community members review and optimise the suggestions before they are published. This means that no AI models are executed on your smartphone or PC during the blocking process.

To use the new feature, all you need is a current version of Brave for your smartphone or desktop. The function is activated by default. It can be deactivated in the settings in the Shields functions at «Block cookie consent notices». Cookiecrumbler is open source and can be viewed on Github.

Header image: Shutterstock

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