Google’s New Plot To Lock Down The Web

Using its monopoly to control the ways browsers and websites interact.

Didi Rankovic

Because of its by now seriously sullied reputation around all things privacy and online freedoms in general, each proposal coming from Google, aimed at making changes on the internet, comes under particular scrutiny.

This time, the giant has come up with the idea, an API, of what it calls Web Environment Integrity (WEI), explained and justified as a way to increase browser security. This would be done by a site obtaining a token from the user, which is next attested by an attester.

Become a Member and Keep Reading…

Reclaim your digital freedom. Get the latest on censorship, cancel culture, and surveillance, and learn how to fight back.

Already a supporter? Sign In.

(If you’re already logged in but still seeing this, refresh this page to show the post.)

Having trouble logging in? Get help here.

Read Next

Bipartisan Lawmakers Propose Federal Digital Identity Agency

Read the story →

More you should know:

Glossy purple circular power icon with a pink-violet power symbol centered on a dark purple gradient background.

The Kill Switch You Forgot to Plan For

Black silhouette of a person in a coat walking to the right while looking at a smartphone and carrying a shoulder bag, set against a large flat red wall above a tiled sidewalk.

A Death, A Lawsuit, and Infinite Surveillance

Large red hand-painted circle with an X over a blurred grid of colorful app icons, conveying apps being blocked or rejected.

Use The Website. Ditch The App.

Stylized circular 'G' formed from red, yellow, teal and green segments with a black center, centered on a cream grid background filled with textured multicolored circles and two gavel-like silhouettes.

Monopoly Confirmed, Monopoly Preserved

A halftone black-and-white hand holds a smartphone aloft beneath stylized concentric wireless-signal arcs on a bright orange background.

How To: Ditching Your Phone Number Might Be the Smartest Privacy Move You Make

Glossy purple circular power icon with a pink-violet power symbol centered on a dark purple gradient background.

The Kill Switch You Forgot to Plan For

Black silhouette of a person in a coat walking to the right while looking at a smartphone and carrying a shoulder bag, set against a large flat red wall above a tiled sidewalk.

A Death, A Lawsuit, and Infinite Surveillance

Large red hand-painted circle with an X over a blurred grid of colorful app icons, conveying apps being blocked or rejected.

Use The Website. Ditch The App.

Stylized circular 'G' formed from red, yellow, teal and green segments with a black center, centered on a cream grid background filled with textured multicolored circles and two gavel-like silhouettes.

Monopoly Confirmed, Monopoly Preserved

A halftone black-and-white hand holds a smartphone aloft beneath stylized concentric wireless-signal arcs on a bright orange background.

How To: Ditching Your Phone Number Might Be the Smartest Privacy Move You Make

Streaming service homepage showing a dark grid of movie thumbnails and category headings like "Audience and critic approved: 7.0+ on IMDb" and "New release movies," with visible posters for films including Superman, Guns Up, Jurassic World, Ballerina, How to Train Your Dragon, The Life of Chuck, Sinners, The Ruse, The Spinal Tap, The Meg, The Phoenician Scheme, and The Last Journey.

The “Buy” Button Is a Lie