It seems that Brave Browser users are unable to disable a background task "Utility: Bat Ledger Service". It is taking up 200+MB on my system, and I wouldn't have known if I didn't just run out of physical memory on my laptop.
This has already been reported as a bug:
https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/3436
https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/aygxis/how_to_disable_bat_ledger_service/
But I'm trying to decide if this is a breach of ethics on Brave's part worthy of me uninstalling.
1. I don't see any references to BAT processing in the Brave Browser EULA. Am I missing it?
2a. Is this a different situation than when you visit a website that processes crypto in the background?
2b. The tie-in between Brave and BAT is more of a public secret than malware
https://hackernoon.com/why-basic-attention-token-bat-is-a-promising-crypto-investment-435dcb28b6e4
3. If I disable Brave Rewards, should I have to keep giving the BAT network my resources to process their ledger? (Again, why not stipulate in EULA?)
4. I do not recall ever seeing anything about BAT processing in Brave marketing. This seems a lot a more shady. Consider "Come use Brave, we protect your privacy" vs "Come use Brave, we protect your privacy, and you'll be a part of the BAT network"
Nothing illegal happening here that I can see. It just seems shady. Maybe? idk
edit: spelling