Fingerprinting Battery Status API

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Name:

Battery Status API

Original feature purpose:

The Battery Status API provides information about the system's battery charge level and notifies you about events which are sent when the battery level or charging status changes. This can be used to adjust your app's resource usage to reduce battery drain when the battery is low, or to save changes before the battery runs out in order to prevent data loss. For more details see, e.g., MDN web docs

FP-Explanation:

The original W3C Battery Status API specification says in Section 4:

The information disclosed has minimal impact on privacy or fingerprinting, and therefore
             is exposed without permission grants.

Battery readouts provide the following information:

the current level of battery (format: 0.00-1.0, for empty and full, respectively)
time to a full discharge of battery (in seconds)
time to a full charge of battery, if connected to a charger (in seconds)

(updated whenever a new value is supplied by the operating system)

The frequency of battery status changes could lead to behavioral analysis, and battery readouts can serve as a short-lived identifier, which could recreate other identifiers.
Any web page is allowed to retrieve this information without user knowledge or consent.

Demo:

>> Jump to Battery Status API Demo <<

FP-Type:

active

FP-Categories:

js, js-attrib, html5, hardware-dependent, software-dependent, short-living, fixed

Counter-measures:

Access to Battery Status API needs user permission
Description: No web page should be able to read battery status without the consent of the user.
From Firefox 52: Battery API is removed
Info: Due to privacy concerns, support for the Battery Status API has been dropped.

Publications/References:

/Tracking/Fingerprinting/active/battery_status_api/

$ fingerprint@info:~ echo $BATTERY-STATUS-API
Name:
Battery Status API

Original feature purpose:

The Battery Status API provides information about the system's battery charge level and notifies you about events which are sent when the battery level or charging status changes. This can be used to adjust your app's resource usage to reduce battery drain when the battery is low, or to save changes before the battery runs out in order to prevent data loss. For more details see, e.g., MDN web docs

FP-Explanation:

The original W3C Battery Status API specification says in Section 4:

'The information disclosed has minimal impact on privacy or fingerprinting, and therefore is exposed without permission grants.'

Battery readouts provide the following information:
- the current level of battery (format: 0.00-1.0, for empty and full, respectively)
- time to a full discharge of battery (in seconds)
- time to a full charge of battery, if connected to a charger (in seconds)
(updated whenever a new value is supplied by the operating system)

The frequency of battery status changes could lead to behavioral analysis, and battery readouts can serve as a short-lived identifier, which could recreate other identifiers.
Any web page is allowed to retrieve this information without user knowledge or consent.

FP-Type:
active

FP-Categories:
js, js-attrib, html5, hardware-dependent, software-dependent, short-living, fixed

Counter-measures:
- Access to Battery Status API needs user permission
  Description: No web page should be able to read battery status without the consent of the user.
- From Firefox 52: Battery API is removed
  Info: Due to privacy concerns, support for the Battery Status API has been dropped.
Publications/References:
$ fingerprint@info:~ run battery-status-api-demo

Demo:

>> Jump to Battery Status API Demo <<

Battery Status API is still supported on your platform

Charging: ---

Time to charge: ---

Time to discharge: ---

Battery Level: ---

Tracking status changes: ---