webkay
Security and privacy
browser fingerprinting demo
SHOW HN2016
How HN took it
22 positive, 44 neutral or asking, 3 mixed, 39 critical, out of 108 comments about the project. Thread score -0.14.
Privacy: 8 for, 15 againstExecution: 5 for, 17 againstIdea: 4 for, 2 againstPerformance: 2 for, 2 againstDocs: 1 for, 2 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Good educational showcase for non-technical users.
From 2 comments
While it hardly surprises any of HN audience, it's a GREAT showcase for a less technical audience. I see that you removed automatic network scanning due to a comment here; but…
golergka on HNGreat project, actually seeing some pretty interesting stuff I didn't know was available. Thanks for this
JonMuzy on HN
Surprising how much data is exposed, such as battery and GPU.
From 2 comments
I found it interesting that it could read my battery level and discharging time. As for device orientation, I think I've seen that before but I had forgotten about it being…
yxlx on HNI had no idea this laptop had a GPU! Thanks!
ppod on HN
Objections
Network scanning without consent is intrusive.
From 1 comment
Scanning the visitor's /24 without notice, warning, or opportunity to opt out is a dick move. Our IDS probably just lit up like a Christmas tree.
throwanem on HN
Geolocation and results were often inaccurate.
From 3 comments
> Geo Coordinates: [lat,lng about 90 miles from the correct location] I find that error hilarious, because I setup correct in-addr.arpa and ip6.arpa reverse DNS entries for my…
pdkl95 on HNGot my location wrong by about 50 miles
taf2 on HNSafari on iOS doesn't leak anything out of the ordinary for me. The geolocation was way off, identifying my iPhone as being in London (likely due to me accessing the page over a…
ahrs on HN
Requests
Add a way to disable or control WebRTC and network access.
From 2 comments
Not sure why battery is exposed; I guess that's the result of making browsers more like OSes. The only really annoying thing is the idiotic WebRTC settings. Their love for "data…
MichaelGG on HNI didn't realize that browser would spill my local IP address, or might be able to scan local devices in the same network. Shouldn't browsers have settings to enable/disable…
strooper on HN
Use a smaller or more reliable speedtest image host.
From 2 comments
The speedtest http://webkay.robinlinus.com/scripts/speedtest.js downloads a 5mb file from http://www.kenrockwell.com/contax/images/g2/examples/31120037-5mb.jpg. You might want to…
mjs on HNThanks for the nice demonstration. Looks like the speed test is running of a very random source image that might not be yours. If it isn't, you might want to look at hosting your…
dustinlakin on HN
Questions
How are the various data points detected?
From 1 comment
I would be interested in reading about how all of these are detected. I know how some of them are, but not all. I predict others are in this boat, and interested in learning!
burkemw3 on HN
Alternatives named
uBlock Origin and uMatrix
From 1 comment
I see NoScript being recommended but if you're not using Firefox this isn't an option. Lukily both uBlock[1] and uMatrix[2] are cross platform and will work on most (any?)…
ryuuchin on HN
NoScript
From 2 comments
And what are methods to prevent browser from leaking all this information? I presume browsing in private mode is not a solution.
butz on HNI see NoScript being recommended but if you're not using Firefox this isn't an option. Lukily both uBlock[1] and uMatrix[2] are cross platform and will work on most (any?)…
ryuuchin on HN
Panopticlick
From 1 comment
https://panopticlick.eff.org/
known on HN