this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2023
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[–] [email protected] 46 points 1 year ago (3 children)

It's a bit more complicated than that, unfortunately.

What happens when Microsoft adds something to their web building tools that forces all visitors to websites using these tools to use IE? Or when your bank (or even worse, utilities) start requiring Windows and IE?

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

It'll probably end up worse than that. Turn off secure boot and Windows may still run, but it will no longer verify and all these sites will now refuse to work on your computer. So if you like to run Linux, even dual booting or running Windows in a VM for those things that absolutely require Windows won't be good enough anymore.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It's not just that.

Apples implementation of this doesn't tell the website anything about the device other than "Apples approves".

Google's implementation will give the website direct information about the browser and computer. Which permits them to get granular and targeted on restrictions.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Its a fixed identifier, it can be a replacement for amythimg to forcably identify users:

  • super cookies
  • gpu profiling
  • unwanted cookies
  • IP adress recording (increseingly unusable)
  • phone numbers
  • ...
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

"Apples approves"

This reminds me: If you want to see what happens when a company implements this system where they approve your usage and then warps it into a punishment system later by revoking their approval when youve been naughty, see minecraft chat reporting.