All this is also a great argument for just not making browsers capable of conveying this kind of information [if the window is focused] in the first place… // Some might argue that it allows for better web apps, but the delta between how much better in can make web apps and how much poorer it can make the overall web experience is too great to be worth it, and that’s before one gets into the privacy implications of browsers being so eager to share all these little nuggets of info.
That’s, like, 99% of the web IMO. Sites should not be allowed to know:
if the window is focused or not
user agent beyond “it’s a browser, duh”.
installed fonts
full language options (tell the browser which languages you have available, and let it pick one, that’s all info you need)
screen size
WebGL renderer
[…]
Are you noticing the pattern? It’s all shit that might be useful in some corner case, but too easy to abuse. And a lot of those could be handled in a different way. (I’m focusing on fingerprinting instead of this “u not watchin ad come back” dumb Twitch shit because it affects everyone.)
“for a better experience” // Do people writing this type of copy actually believe this?
No, they do not. They just value their silicon valley paycheck over personal integrity.
And really, this isn’t a big deal. It’s a bold lie everyone can see through, but it’s not nearly as consequential as other bold lies society tolerates or is complicit in. Many of these lies make modern society function in the first place - they’re necessary fictions everyone participates in.
This lie is… laughably irrelevant, which is why calling it out won’t make you a pariah. People are jumping at the chance to point and laugh when doing so carries no consequence.
Other examples of inconsequential bullshit: “Your call is very important to us”, “We value your privacy”, “We’re like family here”, and “It’s not about the money”.
tl;dr: “whatever.”
Frame this another way: “you’re such filthy, dumb, disgusting, idiotic trash that I’m smearing obvious lies on your snout, and since you lack human-like reasoning I expect you to swallow them”. That’s effectively what those corporations do dammit, they treat us like cattle.
That’s, like, 99% of the web IMO. Sites should not be allowed to know:
Are you noticing the pattern? It’s all shit that might be useful in some corner case, but too easy to abuse. And a lot of those could be handled in a different way. (I’m focusing on fingerprinting instead of this “u not watchin ad come back” dumb Twitch shit because it affects everyone.)
Frame this another way: “you’re such filthy, dumb, disgusting, idiotic trash that I’m smearing obvious lies on your snout, and since you lack human-like reasoning I expect you to swallow them”. That’s effectively what those corporations do dammit, they treat us like cattle.