Privacy considerations around access to camera and microphone

Privacy Interest Group call, 28 March 2013

Dominique Hazaël-Massieux, W3C

dom@w3.org, @dontcallmedom

Access to camera and microphone

getUserMedia API
developed by the Media Capture task force, a joint task force between Device APIs and WebRTC Working Groups
programmatic access to camera, microphone, (screen?)
used both for local-only usage (e.g. photobooth), and for remote usage (e.g. video chat)
by default, the site can access the media streams
private mode allows to make media streams accessible only to well-identified remote parties

Consent

Example of selecting a media capture device from the browser chrome

access only granted after consent by the user
consent is granted through the browser chrome
browser UI determine whether consent is for one or multiple devices

Unique id for media capture device

each device gets assigned a unique sourceId that stays the same across sessions
the said id is expected to be scoped per-origin

Identifying media capture devices

Example of selecting a media capture device from within a Web app

to allow e.g. to change which device is in use during a video chat
need some info on the device, in particular a name the user can relate to
this information needs to be available whether or not the user has granted access to the said device

Screen sharing

same API likely to be usable for screen sharing

Privacy risks

surveillance: spying using microphone or camera
fingerprinting: identifying users through their media capture device characteristics
profiling: e.g. estimating a user purchasing power through their media equipemnt

Challenges

communicating to the user they are potentially being recorded
finding the right balance between privacy and usability in device management

Help needed

Ensuring someone with good grasp of privacy follows this work
we don't have a "privacy considerations" section yet
fingerprinting guidance…

Schedule

hoping to go to Last Call around June/July

WebRTC

media capture work also includes recording captured streams
WebRTC opens the door to P2P communication across browsers, but comes with many other potential sources of privacy risks