Yes, the deck needs to be tied to the house. You will want to install a ledge board that's lag bolted to the structure of the house. That means through the brick/sheathing and into the rim joist. And, of course, you should use the appropriate metal hanger to tie the joists of the deck to the ledger board.

If you can get your lateral support from another method (bracing), you certainly do not have to attach a ledger to the house.

We don't have many brick houses around here, but it is my understanding that it is a no no to attach a ledger to brick veneer.

True and True. J.

I agree: don't attach a deck to masonry. Freestanding is fine, you just need to make sure you've got diagonal bracing between the posts and beams. We build a large deck on the back of our brick house and it was low enough rise (1-4 feet) that we didn't need the diagonal bracing, and it's plenty sturdy.