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Let's guess what Google requires in 14 days or they kill our extension

blog.pushbullet.com

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Re: Let's guess what Google requires in 14 days or they kill our extension

#301
post #259

I'm in the same boat. My open source chrome extension[1] has just been taken down[2] after several years of no complaints because it apparently violated content policies related to nudity and pornography. Say what? Well, I guess you could view _any_ image using my extension, including nudes. Isn't that the problem with most other extensions which could be used on porn sites, like editing cookies, etc? I've submitted…

Only perverts use binoculars

Re: Let's guess what Google requires in 14 days or they kill our extension

#302

As much as we can criticise Google's handling of this situation, the fact that the developer was able to reduce permissions from accessing data on _all websites_ down to _their website_, as well as tighten up a few other permissions, shows that Google is correct that the extension is asking for more than it needs. I hope the developer finds another load of permissions they can tighten up, resubmits, and is approved.…

> I hope the developer finds another load of permissions they can tighten up, resubmits, and is approved. You're missing the point here. The developer isn't given any guidance on what needs tightening. This shouldn't be guess and check. These rules impact this developer's livelihood. They should be well defined, documented, and communicated.

Well they did give details on what needs tightening, it's just that those details are in the form of policy points not being hit.

What do you think they should be providing? Honest question, I have some ideas but they all feel very tricky/error prone to implement.

Re: Let's guess what Google requires in 14 days or they kill our extension

#303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They aren't solving this problem, they're killing off extensions. And I say this having received many unsolicited attempts to "purchase" Chrome extensions.

I disagree. I think this practice could be seen as anti-developer, but it is pro-consumer.

The bit that improves user’s privacy is pro-consumer. The bit that removes user’s access to products is anti-consumer.

Re: Let's guess what Google requires in 14 days or they kill our extension

#304

As much as we can criticise Google's handling of this situation, the fact that the developer was able to reduce permissions from accessing data on _all websites_ down to _their website_, as well as tighten up a few other permissions, shows that Google is correct that the extension is asking for more than it needs. I hope the developer finds another load of permissions they can tighten up, resubmits, and is approved.…

Disagree that G's motivation here is to reduce permission footprint, because: - if G has the ability to automatically audit necessary permissions, they'd do it when you upload to the plugin store - if they're doing this manually for popular plugins, then (1) they'd publicly certify safe plugins and (2) the interaction would be way more high touch Plugins are inherently unsafe + require trusting the developer. Could b…

> - if G has the ability to automatically audit necessary permissions, they'd do it when you upload to the plugin store

If they added it more recently then they are just back-applying it to an already existing extension.

Alternatively, you can report plugins as requesting incorrect permissions – I've done this. Perhaps that's what's happened here, lots of reports triggering an investigation.

Re: Let's guess what Google requires in 14 days or they kill our extension

#305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I'm naive but what if pushbullet.com was just running a server-side fetch and returning the result? That would bypass CORS, essentially acting as a proxy server.

That's a great question, and it's not limited to Chrome extensions. In general, for any resources that don't require credentials to access, pushbullet could hypothetically serve them at like pushbullet.com/proxy/gmail.com/favicon or something. But resources requiring credentials are another thing entirely. In general, the thing that prevents a third-party server from MITM'ing your interactions with a target server is…

Thanks for the explanation! I guess I was looking at it more from the perspective of merely making requests (without creds).

My understanding is that if an extension has a wildcard 'https://*' origin listed in its manifest, then it can make cookie-populated requests to any domain that matches the wildcard. That's actually pretty scary from privacy and security perspectives. But I suppose that's part of the reason CWS has moderation in the first place.

Re: Let's guess what Google requires in 14 days or they kill our extension

#306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen cases where Apple will actually decompile/debug your app and point you the exact feature / method / line that they find unacceptable. Despite all of my other complaints about iOS ecosystem, they _do_ keep their App Store walled garden fairly well tended.

Out of curiosity, where those big name apps, or small ones? I assume that level of service is reserved or more important apps?

Not a tiny app by any means, but we were definitely small enough that we were surprised at the level of depth in their analysis.

Re: Let's guess what Google requires in 14 days or they kill our extension

#307

Another long-term PushBullet customer here. Anyone at Google who is listening- this kind of behavior kills my desire to continue using your products dead. I need functionality, of the type PushBullet has provided for years, to do my work. The recent nerfing of ublock origin has already had me feeling iffy on things. Behavior like this is simply unacceptable. If you want people to use your services, you need to have s…

They blocked ublock origin?! Really?! What was their stated rationale (I assume they didn’t admit it is because they want people not to block ads)? Might I suggest using Firefox? I use it and don’t have any trouble with it.

Re: Let's guess what Google requires in 14 days or they kill our extension

#308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen cases where Apple will actually decompile/debug your app and point you the exact feature / method / line that they find unacceptable. Despite all of my other complaints about iOS ecosystem, they _do_ keep their App Store walled garden fairly well tended.

Out of curiosity, where those big name apps, or small ones? I assume that level of service is reserved or more important apps?

Small ones. Most are free.

Over the years, I've had over twenty apps in the store, but most are retired.

I'm down to seven: https://littlegreenviper.com/AppDocs/

Re: Let's guess what Google requires in 14 days or they kill our extension

#309

Another long-term PushBullet customer here. Anyone at Google who is listening- this kind of behavior kills my desire to continue using your products dead. I need functionality, of the type PushBullet has provided for years, to do my work. The recent nerfing of ublock origin has already had me feeling iffy on things. Behavior like this is simply unacceptable. If you want people to use your services, you need to have s…

It would be interesting to hear Google's actual reasoning but I don't expect that we will. I will speculate that it is exactly the clipboard permissions as there have been apocryphal reports of Android apps and web extensions that use this to steal passwords that password managers put there for users to "paste" into their pages.

If that is the case, then a much better solution would be for Chrome to implement a secure channel for password managers to use for just that purpose and make access really really explicit. But again, without them saying anything we won't know.

My advice is to watch for a CVE regarding sniffing sensitive data off the clipboard to surface in the next 30 - 90 days.

Re: Let's guess what Google requires in 14 days or they kill our extension

#310
Is that why universal cut & paste has been flakey? I am dropping all Google stuff. They recently killed my Alexa Skill on Android (Samsung S9). With everything google deleted or permissions denied on my phone, they still hijack the word "contact." Try saying, "Alexa launch Contact Ski Man." Still works with Alexa on iPhone, but how do you use a smartphone without back button? We have reached the point where it is time to throw the baby out with the dirty water. Say, "Hey FireFox!"
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