3 ms·

This is gross.

FabHK 3y ago
Yeah. Can't believe these guys are proud of it! On the other hand, I did clear my browser cache and switched on the VPN, and they mis-identified me as a new visitor. Still, despicable business model.
mavamaarten 3y ago
Exactly my thoughts. Interesting, but gross. I wonder why audio API's are even available without giving a website permission? It feels like this could easily be fixed with a simple "This site would like to use your sound devices"-dialog.
gorgoiler 3y ago
I assumed a level of irony here, from fingerprint.com. It’s like if a website popped up popularising loopholes to get around tax burdens as an attempt to disgust the world into closing those loopholes. Even if that’s wishful thinking, there’s still immense virtue in publishing this research and getting it out in the open. If an article gets published explaining how a particular brand of green backpack helps with shoplifting do we worry that everyone’s going to shoplift more? I’d err more on the side of knowing shops are more likely to catch on to the tactic.
- shuckles 3y ago
  Unfortunately in this case, the website does content marketing with known, easy to fix vulnerabilities presumably to put competition out of business while keeping unknown, harder to fix vulnerabilities as part of their "pro" products.
IceHegel 3y ago
It raises the question of whether the current networking stack is the one we want to have for the next 100 years. The internet in its current form has ruined a lot of the dream of personal computing because companies (and the state) are so asymmetrically powerful versus individuals. Should it be possible for my technology to send data to a server without my explicit approval?
- matheusmoreira 3y ago
  > Should it be possible for my technology to send data to a server without my explicit approval? Of course not. We should be able to intercept every request, filter them, even modify them to send fake data instead if we wish it.

This is gross.

Yeah. Can't believe these guys are proud of it! On the other hand, I did clear my browser cache and switched on the VPN, and they mis-identified me as a new visitor. Still, despicable business model.

mavamaarten 3y ago

Exactly my thoughts. Interesting, but gross. I wonder why audio API's are even available without giving a website permission? It feels like this could easily be fixed with a simple "This site would like to use your sound devices"-dialog.

gorgoiler 3y ago

I assumed a level of irony here, from fingerprint.com. It’s like if a website popped up popularising loopholes to get around tax burdens as an attempt to disgust the world into closing those loopholes. Even if that’s wishful thinking, there’s still immense virtue in publishing this research and getting it out in the open. If an article gets published explaining how a particular brand of green backpack helps with shoplifting do we worry that everyone’s going to shoplift more? I’d err more on the side of knowing shops are more likely to catch on to the tactic.

shuckles 3y ago
Unfortunately in this case, the website does content marketing with known, easy to fix vulnerabilities presumably to put competition out of business while keeping unknown, harder to fix vulnerabilities as part of their "pro" products.

IceHegel 3y ago

It raises the question of whether the current networking stack is the one we want to have for the next 100 years. The internet in its current form has ruined a lot of the dream of personal computing because companies (and the state) are so asymmetrically powerful versus individuals. Should it be possible for my technology to send data to a server without my explicit approval?

matheusmoreira 3y ago
> Should it be possible for my technology to send data to a server without my explicit approval? Of course not. We should be able to intercept every request, filter them, even modify them to send fake data instead if we wish it.