4 ms·

I still find it weird that this has no override. I can vaguely understand the security concern, but it's my device, running my OS, why can't I make a simple sc

I still find it weird that this has no override. I can vaguely understand the security concern, but it's my device, running my OS, why can't I make a simple screenshot?

lathiat 4y ago
Probably because it’s also tied in with DRM video decoding / HDCP where the prevailing opinion of those bodies is that it very much isn’t your device.
WhyNotHugo 4y ago
A banking app an Android showed multiple obscure error messages when trying to log in and reporting the error was a PITA because they forbid screenshots. I know sharing a screenshot of my bank statement is a bad idea, but forbidding it completely is a ridiculous extreme.
- Mindwipe 4y ago
  FWIW the concern here isn't you taking a screenshot, it's that an illicit app in the background is screen recording your phone and sending it off.
  - yencabulator 4y ago
    Well prevent that then. That's undesirable outside of banking apps. (On Android, you can only get into that swamp by opting in to "accessibility" features, which specifically need access to screen contents.)
    - Mindwipe 4y ago
      You prevent that by stopping any software in userland from being able to access the video path, which is an all or nothing thing. Accessibility is only required if the app doesn't have system permissions, or if it's not carried out a privilege escalation. Though granted a privilege escalation might also be able to gain root to turn off setting a secure surface too (that's not enough to get past Widevine if that's been used but banks generally are not).
Mindwipe 4y ago
> I can vaguely understand the security concern, but it's my device, running my OS, why can't I make a simple screenshot? It's not about screenshots, the point is that screen recording is blocked because the OS can't see the encrypted video path. As it can't there's nothing to take a screenshot of. (Indeed, you can take a screenshot. It just comes out with all the video data nulled, so it's a black square.)

I still find it weird that this has no override. I can vaguely understand the security concern, but it's my device, running my OS, why can't I make a simple screenshot?

lathiat 4y ago

Probably because it’s also tied in with DRM video decoding / HDCP where the prevailing opinion of those bodies is that it very much isn’t your device.

WhyNotHugo 4y ago

A banking app an Android showed multiple obscure error messages when trying to log in and reporting the error was a PITA because they forbid screenshots. I know sharing a screenshot of my bank statement is a bad idea, but forbidding it completely is a ridiculous extreme.

Mindwipe 4y ago
FWIW the concern here isn't you taking a screenshot, it's that an illicit app in the background is screen recording your phone and sending it off.
- yencabulator 4y ago
  Well prevent that then. That's undesirable outside of banking apps. (On Android, you can only get into that swamp by opting in to "accessibility" features, which specifically need access to screen contents.)
  - Mindwipe 4y ago
    You prevent that by stopping any software in userland from being able to access the video path, which is an all or nothing thing. Accessibility is only required if the app doesn't have system permissions, or if it's not carried out a privilege escalation. Though granted a privilege escalation might also be able to gain root to turn off setting a secure surface too (that's not enough to get past Widevine if that's been used but banks generally are not).

Mindwipe 4y ago

> I can vaguely understand the security concern, but it's my device, running my OS, why can't I make a simple screenshot? It's not about screenshots, the point is that screen recording is blocked because the OS can't see the encrypted video path. As it can't there's nothing to take a screenshot of. (Indeed, you can take a screenshot. It just comes out with all the video data nulled, so it's a black square.)