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Comment by pmontra | Hacker News Reader

That's it. I got the error, enabled WebRTC and it worked. A better error message would be "You need a browser with WebRTC enabled to use this service." Chances are that if the feature check for WebRTC fails the user intentionally disabled it and knows how to enable it again.

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If a user knows how to disable webrtc, he or she should also know that this is the technology needed for direct data transmission, so should not wonder why nothing works.

And sure, they could add x finegrained error messages, but I doubt there are too many people who have this setup, that this is remotely a priority.

Is it a part of resistFingerPrinting? If so, users may not know that this is the issue. Also if WebRTC is the issue, then that's what the browser should report, not endorsing a Google product.

I suppose they develope on chrome and recommend what they know works.

There is something called setting priorities. And most do so by marketshare and not idealistic reasons.

(while I actually had great pain, to still support FF out of said idealistic reasons btw.)

You would stand out more if you disabled webRTC. Since webRTC is disabled by only a subset of certain users, this makes them more prone to fingerprinting. Going with the setup that the average joe has would be better for blending in.

Not sure if you'd stand out more. Disabling WebRTC gives the one who is trying to fingerprint two values to one variable: "WebRTC enabled? True || False" while having WebRTC enabled makes the fingerprinter able to get your IP, and it's a lot more detailed than "True || False".

How does WebRTC reveal my IP address in a way that regular browsing does not? Can you point me to a site to see what is being leaked?

Here is a link from ExpressVPN that displays whether your local IP address is being leaked.

https://www.expressvpn.com/webrtc-leak-test

I am not sure, if I understand correctly, but it seems it is only an issue, if I am using a VPN?

Because without a VPN, I am naturally "leaking" my IP, as this is how the internet works?

Correct

Hmm, that page says WebRTC is disabled but I can use Google Meet (which I thought used WebRTC) without any issue

https://i.imgur.com/b1NPYmr.png

I agree with your first sentence but there are many other possible reasons. When I read the very explicit message "Your browser is not supported, consider downloading Chrome" I assume that this service works only with Chrome and not with Firefox, at least not on Android. Then I come to the comments in HN to complain about that and read that it works with Firefox if WebRTC is enabled, and I remember I disable it. I insist that it's the wrong error message because it hints to the wrong cause. I guess it's possible to disable WebRTC in Chrome too maybe with this https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/webrtc-control/fjk...

It surely is a wrong error message, or rather oversimplified error and solution, that should be improved.

But still, if you are deliberately deactivating parts of your browser, I think it is strange to complain, that websites missunderstand you. Especially sites that aim for the masses. Because the error is mainly on your side.

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