Re: [w3ctag/design-reviews] Partial freezing of the User-Agent string (#467)

If GREASE creates more problems than it solves then you are left with the question of what to do about the underlying problem is is trying to solve. This primarily seems to be an issue for browser developers, some of whom advocate removing the User-Agent or Sec-CH-UA entirely. There are also privacy campaigners who want it removed as well.

There are several issues down that road but I think that one of the most critical is that it puts far more power into the hands of the dominant browser. I.e. Google.

The fact that Google themselves have added [additional tracking](https://9to5google.com/2020/02/06/google-chrome-x-client-data-tracking/) into Chrome to go beyond what User-Agent allows shows the value of this kind of information. 
This x-client-data header is only sent to Google websites so only Google have access to that data.

If the browser were not identifiable in the request then it would just mean that Google would be the only ones with a picture of the browser landscape rather than one of many because they are in the unique position of having a huge share of the browser market as well as enough big website properties to funnel data through.

I think that browser developers are just going to have to continue dealing with this problem of incompatible websites as they come up. I'm sure that's a very frustrating position to be in but the alternatives seem far worse for everyone else. 

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