Atlas private server os requirement code#

When you start your device, they can watch the boot-up process and check each phase of it to ensure that you're running the manufacturer's unaltered code, and not a version that's been poisoned by malicious software. These security systems have lots of uses. These days, many devices use a 'secure enclave' - a hardened subsystem that is carefully designed to ensure that it can only be changed with the manufacturer’s permission. Originally, secure computing relied on a second processor - a 'Trusted Platform Module' or TPM - to monitor the parts of your computer you directly interact with. Secure computing is designed to be a system for monitoring your computer that you can't modify, or reconfigure. Most modern computers, tablets and phones ship from the factory with some kind of 'secure computing' capability. That's where remote attestation comes in.

That way, services can't discriminate against you for choosing your own integrity over their business models. Instead, privacy and anti-tracking tools send plausible, wrong information about your device. After all, a service that has so little regard for you that it would use your configuration data to inflict harms on you might very well refuse to serve you at all, as a means of coercing you into giving up the details of your device and software. These tools don't just let you refuse to describe your computer to nosy servers across the internet. There are lots of plug-ins, privacy tools and esoteric preferences that you can use to send information of your choosing to sites that you don't trust. Your browser can send accurate information about you, but it doesn't have to.

Thankfully, the information your browser sends to websites about itself and your device is strictly voluntary. Some sites make inferences about you from your browser and device in order to determine whether they can charge you more, or serve you bad or deceptive offers. Many sites use ' browser fingerprinting ' - a kind of tracking that relies on your browser's unique combination of characteristics - to nonconsensually identify users who reject cookies and other forms of surveillance. That server can make sure it only sends you file formats your device understands, at a resolution that makes sense for your screen, laid out in a way that works well for you.īut there are also downsides to this.

The web server that receives this information can tailor its offerings to you. When your web browser connects to a web server, it automatically sends a description of your device and browser, something like, 'This session is coming from a Google Pixel 4, using Chrome version 1.61.' The server on the other end of that connection can request even more detailed information, like a list of which fonts are installed on your device, how big its screen is, and more. This is pretty abstract! We’ll unpack it a little below - and then we’ll explain why this is a bad idea that Google should not pursue. If you’re scratching your head at this point, we don’t blame you. It also raises the barrier to entry for new browsers, something Google employees acknowledged in an unofficial explainer for the new feature, Web Environment Integrity (WEI). In practice, it reduces your control over your own computer, and is likely to mean that some websites will block access for everyone who's not using an 'approved' operating system and browser.

Atlas private server os requirement code#

Google is adding code to Chrome that will send tamper-proof information about your operating system and other software, and share it with websites. The piece of string says, “Not me! I'm a frayed knot.” The bartender says, “Hey, you aren’t a piece of string, are you?” The second string ties a knot in his middle and messes up his ends.

The first piece of string asks for a drink.