Re: GeoPriv and the geolocation api.

I didn't get any responses publicly from any GeoPriv experts.  Would  
it make sense to work on a privacy recommendation based on the work  
that GeoPriv has done?

Regards,
Doug Turner

On Nov 6, 2008, at 2:17 PM, Doug Turner wrote:

> Mozilla believes that the privacy and security of users is  
> incredibly important.  We believe that the user must always be put  
> in the position to make safe decisions.
>
> GeoPriv extends the user's decision from simply a "yes/no", to being  
> able to express, among other things, retransmit and retention  
> ideas.  This spec clearly outlines how authorization of geolocation,  
> and probably other forms of data, could be transmitted.  However,  
> GeoPriv is not the solution to the problem we have.  There are many  
> other pieces of private data that pass between the ua and websites -  
> some possibly more sensitive than one's geolocation.  We do not have  
> a comprehensive web privacy API that protects these bits.  Adding  
> GeoPriv to the Geolocation API will add more bits on the wire, more  
> complexity for websites and developers, and yield no protection  
> beyond a given site's existing privacy policy.
>
> Mozilla does share the concerns voiced in the GeoPriv charter, but  
> does not share the idea that creating APIs makes this problem smaller.
>
> Instead, we believe that much of what GeoPriv provides could be  
> addressed by a recommended guideline for websites, similar to the  
> Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).  The WCAG W3C  
> Recommendation, backed by Section 508 (in the US), has done much  
> more than any web API could have.  It would be interesting to see if  
> there is interest in developing a similar recommendation around  
> privacy, analogous to WCAG, presented as guidelines to websites.   
> Mozilla may be interested in helping with such a effort.
>
> Regards,
> Doug Turner
> Mozilla Corporation
>