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"Web Environment Integrity" is an all-out attack on the free Internet

Posted by Roy Schestowitz on Jul 29, 2023

Microsoft Mass Layoffs, Lobbying, Security Holes, and Catastrophes

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↺ FSF

Read why "Web Environment Integrity" is terrible, and why we must vocally oppose it now. Google's latest maneuver, if we don't act to stop it, threatens our freedom to explore the Internet with browsers of our choice.

Editorial note: For greater visibility, this article has been published here, on fsf.org. You can also find it on defectivebydesign.org, which also has other DRM-related articles and materials.

Read on

↺ Read On: FSF

Also:

Unpacking Google’s new “dangerous” Web-Environment-Integrity specification

↺ Unpacking Google’s new “dangerous” Web-Environment-Integrity specification

> The spec in question, which is described at https://github.com/RupertBenWiser/Web-Environment-Integrity/blob/main/explainer.md, is called Web Environment Integrity. The idea of it is as simple as it is dangerous. It would provide websites with an API telling them whether the browser and the platform it is running on that is currently in use is trusted by an authoritative third party (called an attester). The details are nebulous, but the goal seems to be to prevent “fake” interactions with websites of all kinds. While this seems like a noble motivation, and the use cases listed seem very reasonable, the solution proposed is absolutely terrible and has already been equated with DRM for websites, with all that it implies.

> It is also interesting to note that the first use case listed is about ensuring that interactions with ads are genuine. While this is not problematic on the surface, it certainly hints at the idea that Google is willing to use any means of bolstering its advertising platform, regardless of the potential harm to the users of the web.

> Despite the text mentioning the incredible risk of excluding vendors (read, other browsers), it only makes a lukewarm attempt at addressing the issue and ends up without any real solution.

Google's browser security plan slammed as dangerous, terrible, DRM for websites

↺ Google's browser security plan slammed as dangerous, terrible, DRM for websites

> Google's Web Environment Integrity (WEI) proposal, according to one of the developers working on the controversial fraud fighting project, aims to make the web "more private and safe."

> Ben Wiser, a software engineer at the Chocolate Factory, responded on Wednesday to serious concerns about the proposal by insisting that WEI aims to address online fraud and abuse without the privacy harms enabled by browser fingerprinting and cross-site tracking.

Google trying to corner browser market, Norwegian firm Vivaldi claims

↺ Google trying to corner browser market, Norwegian firm Vivaldi claims

> Norwegian firm Vivaldi, which produces a browser of the same name, has criticised Google for releasing a specification known as Web Environment Integrity which it claims would be toxic to the Web at large.

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