Not suggesting a change to the API - just hilighting a cool application.

News.me and Instapaper now have apps that use geofencing to trigger a 
background notification, which in turn is used to trigger a background 
download, of new content.  The geofence is set around "whereever the user is 
now".  The user scenario is, "whenever I leave the place I am now, go grab some 
fresh content for me because I probably want to read it soon." [1]

It's a clever use of the API and one that matches user behavior very well.  I 
don't think we've hammered out how permissions are granted to background 
workers, but if they are inherited from the foreground application, this could 
just work.

[1] 
http://www.niemanlab.org/2012/06/the-commuters-dilemma-solved-news-me-and-now-instapaper-ready-stories-when-you-walk-out-the-door/


On May 31, 2012, at 4:02 AM, [email protected] wrote:

> "Final" proposal. Please reply-to [email protected] with any 
> major issues. 
> 
> The only change below reflects a discussion from the work week, which 
> suggested that we should always show the geolocation indicator, even though 
> it may be undesirable for a "find my stolen phone" app. The logic in this 
> proposal was that it isn't worth trading the privacy risk all the time, for 
> the relatively unlikely scenario of a recovered lost device (an determined 
> thief could simply turn the phone off)
> 
> 
> Name of API: Geolocation API
> Reference:  _https://developer.mozilla.org/En/Using_geolocation_
> 
> Brief purpose of API: Obtain current location of user
> General Use Cases: Mapping applications, GPS navigation, geotagging
> 
> Inherent threats:  
> * Leakage of user's current location to app
> * Leakage of user's current location to 3rd party geolocation service
> * Profiling of user behavior
> 
> Threat severity: Moderate
> 
> == Regular web content (unauthenticated) ==
> Use cases for unauthenticated code: Same
> Authorization model for normal content: Explicit (default to not remember)
> Authorization model for installed content:Explicit (default to... ?)
> Potential mitigations:  UI indicator for active geolocation with a path for 
> user to disable
> 
> == Trusted (authenticated by publisher) ==
> Use cases for authenticated code: Same
> Authorization model: Explicit (default to... ?)
> Potential mitigations:  UI indicator for active geolocation with a path for 
> user to disable
> 
> == Certified (vouched for by trusted 3rd party) ==
> Use cases for certified code: Device theft recovery; same
> Authorization model: Implicit
> Potential mitigations:  UI indicator for active geolocation with a path for 
> user to disable
> _______________________________________________
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> [email protected]
> https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-webapps

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