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Thanks to all the creepy adtech and malware on the net, webUSB/webBT would be a terrible thing to add to the browser. I understand that it would enable many go

by mikl 5y ago

Thanks to all the creepy adtech and malware on the net, webUSB/webBT would be a terrible thing to add to the browser. I understand that it would enable many good things, but the world’s just too full of assholes to trust random web applications with such power. The amount of security exploits and spyware they would enable is just too great. Putting them behind additional permission-prompts is not a solution. The amount of such prompts is already too high, and too many users can be tricked into saying yes.

whywhywhywhy 5y ago
There isn't a "Yes allow" prompt, it pops up a list and you have to select something specific. Do you have an example of how these technologies have been used for ad tracking? I hear this as justification for Apples actions a lot but haven't seen it myself anywhere.
- mikl 5y ago
  > There isn't a "Yes allow" prompt, it pops up a list and you have to select something specific. And once hackers figure out a device they can use for attacks, they’ll tell the user some nonsense reason why they need to allow access and then pop a dialog for that device and hey presto you have a massive security mess. I don’t know any concrete exploits, but the theoretical application is not complicated. Any information you can access about the user’s system (like what USB or Bluetooth devices are visible) will be used for fingerprinting purposes, just like they’re already using screen resolution, fonts, canvas tricks, etc.