Chrome not proceeding with Web Integrity API deemed by many to be DRM
9to5google.com
Back in July, Google's work on a Web Integrity API emerged and many equated it to DRM. The company announced today it's not proceeding...

While WEI is thankfully cancelled, it’s not entirely cancelled… They’re planning on making it available still in WebViews with the intention that websites can check if a malicious Android app is trying to do a phishing scheme.

Seems like such a niche “security” feature… what are they really trying to accomplish here? Something seems fishy to me

    • Onii-Chan@kbin.social
      5·
      1 year ago

      As someone who uses GrapheneOS but knows very little about the technical side of things, what implications does this have for the OS? I’ll actually just not use a smartphone anymore if I’m going to be forced back onto the privacy nightmare that is stock Android.

      • Pantherina@feddit.de
        2·
        1 year ago

        They will strip out the DRM part, maybe. GrapheneOS, other than even Firefox or any Linux Distro, has many DRM packages installed. Widevine and lots of others.

        So it may be that they dont even remove it from the Vanadium Webview. But if they do, Apps may break as the Developers looove the extra control. And then GrapheneOS needs to do annoying work again, to for example have a sandboxed Webview-DRM app that can be enabled per-App.

        • Baut [she/her] auf.@lemmy.blahaj.zone
          3·
          1 year ago

          I’d expect them to support basic integrity. They already do that for apps, so no reason to not expand it. It’d break compatibility.
          Since they don’t (want) to offer a way to circumvent the basic integrity check right now, I don’t see why they would undo the expansion into the webview.

    • redw0rm@kerala.party
      3·
      1 year ago

      I don’t know about graphene, but doesn’t some android roms allow to use custom ( more private Webview implementations) instead of default ?

          • shym3q@programming.dev
            2·
            1 year ago

            if you root, you can install open webview module.

            currently using mulch webview and updating it in f-droid

            • Pantherina@feddit.de
              2·
              1 year ago

              Yeah I did that too. Mulch or Vanadium, I would recommend Vanadium. Bromite is dead. Cromite maybe, but really just use Vanadium its the most degoogled and secure one.

              But apart from that, the developer options make no sense if there is no way to actually install one without root.

              Also, openwebview replaces the installed one, doesnt it?

            • Pantherina@feddit.de
              2·
              1 year ago

              Firefox doesnt provide a webview for some reason.

              Its really shitty, because it could be a better standard for webapps on Linux too. But now we have electron, which is basically compatible with firefox as its web technology

      • Pantherina@feddit.de
        1·
        1 year ago

        Yes, they provide these Webviews, meaning they get a shitload of work probably, to remove that DRM BS. Until random apps (like all those Playstore apps) stop working on non-DRM webview… yay!

        Like, there are already services that just work with apps. If these apps dont work anymore, well…