From a65dc01bdbe2f684d14ca7b8dcfe0305478f6c73 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Daniel Micay Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 17:08:27 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] expand information on Vanadium --- static/features.html | 102 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++- 1 file changed, 101 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/static/features.html b/static/features.html index f36b5c13d..5b2cab22b 100644 --- a/static/features.html +++ b/static/features.html @@ -852,7 +852,107 @@

Vanadium: hardened WebView and default browser

AOSP. The Vanadium browser currently doesn't add many features but there are a lot of enhancements planned in the long term.

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More details are available in the web +

Some of the features added compared to standard mobile Chromium:

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Better default settings, including non-user-facing flags:

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Configurable features such as JS JIT disabling and content filtering are + currently exclusive to the Vanadium browser. Vanadium WebView is currently + excluded from these changes until it has an app setting configuration menu + similar to the standard site setting configuration menu.

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Extension support isn't planned due to being at odds with site isolation and + anti-fingerprinting. We plan to implement more features as part of the browser + with a focus on privacy and security improvements which can be active by default + rather than opt-in niche features. Improvements will generally be opt-out on a + per-site basis rather than opt-in to provide privacy and security by default and + to avoid users making themselves more identifiable by opting into privacy and + security features. Default-disabled JS JIT and default-enabled content filtering + are early examples of this approach we plan to expand upon.

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We plan to add more site settings toggles related to attack surface reduction + such as site setting toggles for WebGL, WebGPU, WebRTC and other features which + are normally always enabled. This will help with both security and improving the + defenses against fingerprinting.

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Anti-fingerprinting depends on having a large userbase with the same browser, + extensions, content filters and other web-facing configuration. Once Vanadium + has more features, it will be made available outside GrapheneOS to expand the + userbase. Our approach to attack surface reduction eliminates fingerprinting + methods in addition to attack surface for exploits and this will be a key part + of how we approach preventing fingerprinting by not having features like WebGL, + WebGPU and WebRTC exposed in the first place. Good defaults and avoiding having + users changing web-facing configuration is an important part of this. Content + filters will remain standard across users and updated together as part of the + Vanadium configuration app. We'll address the need for language-focused filters + by enabling them based on browser language configuration. Fingerprinting based + on hardware differences will become more relevant once Vanadium is available + outside of GrapheneOS which will always support a small set of highly secure + devices.

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State partitioning still needs to be fully completed. The main remaining + hurdle is providing full cookie partitioning. Mainstream browsers with this + feature rely on heuristics bypassing cookie partitioning which can be easily + abused to bypass the feature. We tried deploying full cookie partitioning by + default but had to roll it back and will need to consider how to approach this + particularly with our goal of having most Vanadium users using nearly the same + configuration.

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We plan to move to a better content engine with support for content hiding + and more advanced filter rules in the future. Expanding the standard filters + will depend on having support for the extensions used by uBlock Origin, AdGuard + and other filters.

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Most browser data is currently excluded from OS backups, which will likely be + changed once GrapheneOS has a better backup service included. Export/import for + bookmarks and similar data export/import features are also planned. Sync beyond + OS backup service support which will eventually provide per-app backup and + restore including across devices and via sync services is not planned.

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More information is available in the web browsing section of our usage guide.