Google has abandoned the “Web Environment Integrity” API that was supposed to allow websites to only allow approved and verified browser environments. The plan would allow websites to reject browser or even OS modifications that were “unattested” for the purpose of supposedly stopping bots, piracy, ad-blocking, and other activity Google deemed to be malicious. However, critics of the plan called it corrupt tyranny in which Google flexes it’s muscles to control the entire internet.
The plan was rejected from Firefox and Brave browsers, and could potentially shut Linux users out of many websites as there would be no telemetry company to “verify” the operating system was not modified. Further, some said it was an outright attempt by Google to force people to submit to the API even if they didn’t want to use Chrome browser.
Now this horrible tyrannical plan from Google was abandoned after severe “community backlash”, however it could see a limited version for Android Chrome only when embedded into apps themselves. Some privacy advocates criticize this move as merely a trial testing ground, where they can prove to websites and services that the concept works and then try to push it to a larger audience. These critics call for a boycott of the apps that use this functionality.
We can only hope these rotten Google executives can abandon their plans for world domination and the submission of all knowledge to pass through their ad tracking software.
https://simplifiedprivacy.com/google-abandons-web-environment-integrity/
Taking the win. Celebrating the fact there was a big enough backlash to get Google to pull their head in.
I switched back to Firefox and un-installed any chromium browsers at the news.
I will now be talking all credit for affecting this change and sharing it with nobody else. You’re welcome, internet! 🙏
Thank you for your hard work
I did the same thing you did. I’m sure the numbers were modest but Google must have noticed the trend…
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Unironically, thank you.
Abandoned for now. Maybe.
Of course. You didn’t think that they would take back a user-hostile greed-motivated feature without an alternative, did you?
One can use a different mobile OS if they don’t like Android at least.
You’re right - for the time being. But what I’m not willing to do, is give them the benefit of the doubt. They’re just waiting for all this backlash to blow over. Then they will start extending it to other components and eventually to the net, under some other name.
Sadly with all this evil crap now days, they’ll bring it back in a few weeks or months, rename it to the "won’t somebody think of the children API"with a massive ad campaign saying anyone or any website not using the API are r*ping kids…
Great news, but horribly written article. Feels like AI or someone with a high school writing level.
The original source is much better
https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/02/google_abandons_web_environment_integrity/
The main difference between the register article and this one is the register is optimistic that Google will stop. While as the comments in this chat clearly indicate alternative views.
I mean it probably was written with AI.
It is not written with AI
AI writes better than that.
I’m sorry to hear you did not like the writing
I don’t believe them. They will try to do it again, slightly modified, under a different name, but they WILL try to introduce it again.
And for round 2 they’ll try to be sneakier about it
No. That’s round 3. Round 2 is already announced - they are ‘restricting’ environment integrity to multimedia on Android webview. Of course, what they don’t say is that the feature is going to be developed and tested outside the view of the general public - since this doesn’t need to go through a public standardization like web specifications. Once they get that perfected, they will silently expand its scope outside webview and gradually into browsers with a new name. That’s round 3.
s/abandons/delays/g
GOOD.
While I agree with that sentiment, I really wish people use something other than YouTube. I wish peertube or even paid platforms like nebula take off.
This was an utterly terrible idea to begin with and it’s still a terrible idea for Android apps as well. Apart from messing with ad blockers, this has the ironically “helpful” feature of allowing malware to be force loaded into your browser. If it ends up in Android, some popular app that uses it will get owned and then every user of the app will also end up getting owned as well.
Google is already sort-of imposing similar restrictions on Android trough their near monopoly on the play store and play protect
Great idea for Google, terrible for everyone else
They will tweak the most unimportant detail and say; we listened to you, now take it!
…yet.
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