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"WebGPU availability" ... have you asked your users if you can use their GPU? Have you asked your users if you can query their capabilities? Availability isn't
by inetknght 3y ago
"WebGPU availability"
... have you asked your users if you can use their GPU? Have you asked your users if you can query their capabilities? Availability isn't consent.
- hulitu 3y agoYou are asking too much. Chrome must execute remote code. WebGPU is CIAs wet dream.
- wraptile 3y agoJavascript already brought all 3 letter agencies to climax long time ago. Javascript based fingerprinting is capable of uniquely identifying every single one of us and the reason it's not everywhere because it's too slow for commercial web. I haven't looked into webGPU yet but it seems like this could greatly speed up the fingerprinting process.
- arp242 3y agoThe alternative to webapps in JavaScript are desktop apps. Do you really think the situation would have been better with desktop apps? sha256(/etc/passwd) or whatever the equivalent of that is on Windows and you're done. Even in a sandbox where you don't have access to these files there are still plenty of opportunities, such as just reading the environment, solib versions, testing support for hardware features, etc.
- pjmlp 3y agoYes, when they decided to install ChromeOS on their computer.
- account42 3y agoIt's hardly consent when Chrome or another browser that implements all this shit ends up being required to access your bank, do your taxes, interact with your friends etc.
- jakelazaroff 3y agoI can’t think of a single app — web, native or otherwise — that has ever asked before using my GPU.
- account42 3y agoNative apps ask for consent - not specifically for your GPU, but for compute in genereall. It's called having to explicitly install them before they can run.
- jakelazaroff 3y agoI mean, you explicitly visit the website too, right? It's not like it just spontaneously takes over your browser.
- alkonaut 3y agoWhat about their CPU? And if they don't agree, how would their machines respond? (This question is half joke half rhetorical. The point of it is to argue that there is no material difference between different parts of a modern computer/smartphone. The CPU and GPU are often the same chip and both are and were always part of showing you a web page. The fact that WebGPU uses a different API doesn't change anything)
- account42 3y agoRequiring consent for computation that is not strictly needed would actually be a good thing.
- alkonaut 3y agoThat's probably a hard line to draw. Just blending some colors or doing a complex layout isn't strictly needed. How complex can something be be before it's unnecessary?
- inetknght 3y ago> How complex can something be be before it's unnecessary? When it's the remote server that's instantly delivering non-static data. Yes, javascript falls under that and yes I have javascript disabled.