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by smoldesu 1055 days ago
> Computer scientists always consider the worst case scenario because it allows us to edge against the risk—or, well, certainty—that something will go wrong.

> Why are people complaining about WEI and not PATs then?

> Well, Google is simultaneously the owner of the most popular web browser (Chrome) and the most popular mobile operating system (Android) on top of which Chrome runs. WEI is guaranteed to be a recipe for anti-competitive practices.

I don't follow. How is any of this exclusively harmful when WEI does it? Is Apple not also in a position to use PATs for anti-competitive purposes?
3 comments
clhodapp 1054 days ago
It's transformative (in a bad way) for the vast majority of users to be using systems that are capable of attestation, however we get there. Once that happens, it's a slippery slope into a world where you can't use open source browsers for commercial activity and the ladder is largely pulled up on a new browser ever becoming popular again.

At that point, it'll be left as an exercise for the remaining browser makers to slowly enshittify.

What's funny is that this trend could lead to the downfall of Chrome outside of Android and ChromeOS because at the end of the day, attestation is in the control of the OS maker.

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helen___keller 1054 days ago
Attestation is an issue in incentives, particularly on the part of website owners who lose incentive to offer a decent UX to non-attested users when most users are attested.

Apple PATs in isolation cannot achieve this, while google is making a new web standard that will almost certainly achieve this if it is successfully pushed.

That is, apple-only PATs are compatible with an open web. WEI as a standard is incompatible with an open web.

That said, PATs become dangerous in a world where WEI is being pushed - to that end I’ve recently disabled PATs on my iDevice.

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bezout 1055 days ago
It’s not right now but it will be when combined with WEI or if Safari gains more market share. Overall, I agree with the sentiment expressed in this blog post: https://httptoolkit.com/blog/apple-private-access-tokens-att...
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smoldesu 1055 days ago
Safari has absolute market share.
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hooverd 1054 days ago
Submarket share?
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tough 1054 days ago
How many iOS safari users are you forgetting about?
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