Why does screen sharing require a browser extension?

Hi,

In the WebRTC World conference Justin Uberti mentioned that Chrome (and 
Firefox too?) will be moving screen sharing out of Javascript, requiring 
developers to publish a browser extension per application that wishes to 
screen-share. The logic behind it was that malicious app could be banned 
from the app store.

One thing I didn't understand (and was not explained) is why screen 
sharing is substantially more security-sensitive than webcam sharing? I 
get the fact that someone could use screen sharing to snoop on my 
banking activity, but how is this any more security sensitive than 
knowing what I look like and where I live? If the security dialog is 
good enough for webcam sharing, why is it not good enough for screen 
sharing?

And finally, couldn't you simply require the use of SSL for this feature 
and then ban malicious applications based on their certificate? 
Requiring the download of an extension is almost like requiring a 
browser plugin for WebRTC. I'd like to avoid it if at all possible.

Thanks,
Gili

Received on Monday, 25 November 2013 16:57:01 UTC