RE: Why does screen sharing require a browser extension?

I say that it could be a dialog like “the site share.com wants to initiate screen sharing, choose what will be shared”. The user must choose something before accepting. It does not mean that it is a modal dialog. From user perspectives, it seems natural to have some dialog box to select what will be shared, and to let him know that something will be shared (and he will know what).

It seems to me that it is not a “just ask the user” or just a “security warning”.

De : Martin Thomson [mailto:martin.thomson@gmail.com]
Envoyé : vendredi 29 novembre 2013 03:42
À : CAZEAUX Stephane IMT/OLPS
Cc : public-webrtc@w3.org
Objet : RE: Why does screen sharing require a browser extension?


On Nov 28, 2013 9:13 AM, <stephane.cazeaux@orange.com<mailto:stephane.cazeaux@orange.com>> wrote:
> It was proposed in this thread to have a consent box displayed every time an application wants to make screen sharing, where this consent box would force the user to select what will be shared (whole screen, one application, etc …) without possibility to simply accept.

I hope that you mean 'force' in the right sense here. Modal dialog windows are well understood as producing poor outcomes.

[SC]

> After reading the whole thread, I don’t understand what the Chrome Apps model solves that would not be solved by this proposition. Is it possible to have a summary of the main arguments?

For reasons underlying the above, I don't believe that this model would get the desired results. All arguments in favour of any 'just ask the user' don't seem to appreciate the seriousness of the threat when weighed against the difficulty of obtaining truly informed consent.

In discussions I had with the UX designers on IE, they listed several guiding principles, most relevant being: never ask a user any question with consequences that are not immediately obvious.  In this discussion, no proponent of 'just ask the user' has properly addressed this concern.

I remain opposed to any solution that allows an application to put such a question in front of a user.