• Latest
  • All
  • How To
Google's New Privacy Shield: Auto-Blurring for Screen Sharing

WEI: Google’s Controversial API Will Deny “Non-Approved” Browsers Webpages Access

September 5, 2023
Nairobi declaration

How Connected Africa Summit 2025 Is Driving Africa’s Digital Transformation

May 30, 2025
kenya-parliament

Parliament Invites Public Feedback on Virtual Asset Bill 2025

May 30, 2025
ConnectedAfrica2025(Day4)-meta-foondamate

Connected Africa 2025 Day 4: FoondaMate and Meta Team Up to Bring AI to Classrooms

May 29, 2025
google-veo-3

Actors and Film Crews Are Worried About Veo 3 Taking Their Jobs

May 29, 2025
DHgate Tablet Cases deals
iOS 26

Apple Plans Big Rename for iOS and macOS at WWDC 2025

May 29, 2025
University student fined for defamatory Facebook posts

University Student Fined KES 7.5 Million for Defamatory Facebook Posts

May 29, 2025
AI Africa policies database

New Platform Brings All African AI Policies Under One Database

May 28, 2025
POATE 2025

Kenya’s Tourism Sector Grows as Travel Gets Easier Across East Africa

May 28, 2025
sodium-ion battery

Researchers Develop Sodium-Ion Battery That Charges to 80% in 6 Minutes

May 27, 2025
TV Gambling Ads

Regulator Fines Stations Using Religious Shows to Push Gambling

May 27, 2025
Connected Africa Summit 2025

Connected Africa 2025 Day 2: Focus on Digital Inclusion & Cybersecurity

May 27, 2025
whatsapp chatbots

iPad Users May Finally Get a Native WhatsApp App

May 28, 2025
Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
  • News
  • Entertainment
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Editorial
No Result
View All Result
Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
  • News
  • Entertainment
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Editorial
No Result
View All Result
Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
No Result
View All Result

WEI: Google’s Controversial API Will Deny “Non-Approved” Browsers Webpages Access

Sakwa Kombo by Sakwa Kombo
September 5, 2023
in News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
260
0
Google's New Privacy Shield: Auto-Blurring for Screen Sharing

Google has proposed forcing a controversial Web Environment Integrity API (WEI) into Chromium. What this means, in a nutshell, is that users can be denied access for using non-approved browsers or hardware.

The WEI is effectively a Digital Rights Management (DRM) created in response to the death of Cookies. Digital rights management (DRM) is the use of technology to control and manage access to copyrighted material. The objective of a DRM is to protect content from unwanted access, distribution, or modification.

In other words, WEI API aims to ensure browsers have not been modified and that content on a webpage is accessed by an actual person. Basically, this means that Ad blockers and other custom extensions will simply no longer be allowed to run. Remember, Google’s largest income earner is revenue from Ads served on visiting websites. However, this business model is now threatened by AI and the widespread usage of ad blockers.

In the recent past, tech-savvy individuals have been using AI to scrap information from web pages. Others have used AD blocking extensions to prevent ad insertion scripts from running. Thus, it appears Google has been forced to develop the WEI API.

The goal of the project is to learn more about the person accessing content via web browser. It aims to ensure the user is not a robot. In addition, WEI will make sure the browser hasn’t been modified or tampered with in any unapproved ways. According to Google, the data will help advertisers to better count ad impressions, stop social network bots, enforce intellectual property rights, stop cheating in web games, and help financial transactions be more secure.

Any modified browser will be rendered useless. Effectively, Google wants to ensure Google Ads run on a webpage.

WEI Draws Inspiration From Mobile APIs

Based on Google’s team on admission the WEI takes inspiration from mobile experience. “This explainer takes inspiration from existing native attestation signals such as App Attest and the Play Integrity API,” wrote the team.

Android’s Integrity API verifies that your device isn’t rooted, no matter what you may use that root access for. For rooted Android devices the API will state that your device does not pass checks. Hence, people with rooted mobile phones cannot use a lot of services on their smartphones.

The proposal outlines the flow of how accessing content on a website would work. It will require a third-party certifying server. This server would most likely be owned by Google itself. When you request a webpage as you do normally, you will be taken to a test. The test is to certify your browser has not been modified and meets standard requirements.

Upon passing the “tests” you will gain access to the webpage. Failure to meet standard requirements means you will be denied access.

This proposal appears to be a threat to free, accessible, and open internet access. Having to go through a single server for verification may lock out many users. For example, people accessing the Internet on legacy browsers will not granted access to webpages. Furthermore, this centralization could give the tech giant unparalleled control over user access and data, increasing concerns about user privacy.

WEI may give the company too much control. First, Google owns Chrome, the most used browser. Secondly, it runs the largest search engine and controls the biggest web advertising network.

For now, WEI is being prototyped inside Chrome itself.

Tags: Google
SendShare147Tweet92
Sakwa Kombo

Sakwa Kombo

My Bio is in my written articles.

Related Posts

google-veo-3

Actors and Film Crews Are Worried About Veo 3 Taking Their Jobs

May 29, 2025
veo 3

Veo 3 by Google Sets a New Standard in AI Video Creation

May 28, 2025
Apple-Glasses

Apple Is Planning to Launch Smart Glasses by 2026 to Rival Meta and Google

May 28, 2025
google-chrome

Google Chrome Will Start Automatically Replacing Your Weak Passwords

May 22, 2025
google-meet

Google Meet Brings Real-Time Language Translation with Gemini

May 21, 2025
Google I/O 2025

Google I/O 2025 Highlights: Gemini, XR Glasses & Project Astra

May 21, 2025

Latest

Nairobi declaration

How Connected Africa Summit 2025 Is Driving Africa’s Digital Transformation

May 30, 2025
kenya-parliament

Parliament Invites Public Feedback on Virtual Asset Bill 2025

May 30, 2025
ConnectedAfrica2025(Day4)-meta-foondamate

Connected Africa 2025 Day 4: FoondaMate and Meta Team Up to Bring AI to Classrooms

May 29, 2025
google-veo-3

Actors and Film Crews Are Worried About Veo 3 Taking Their Jobs

May 29, 2025
iOS 26

Apple Plans Big Rename for iOS and macOS at WWDC 2025

May 29, 2025
University student fined for defamatory Facebook posts

University Student Fined KES 7.5 Million for Defamatory Facebook Posts

May 29, 2025

Best devices

budget smartwatches 2025

Best Budget Smartwatches To Buy in Kenya 2025

February 13, 2025

Best Infinix Smartphones To Buy in Kenya 2024

February 13, 2025

Best Laptops for Battery Life in 2024

August 21, 2024

Best “Battery Warrior” Smartphones To Buy in 2024

August 22, 2024

How Connected Africa Summit 2025 Is Driving Africa’s Digital Transformation

May 30, 2025

Parliament Invites Public Feedback on Virtual Asset Bill 2025

May 30, 2025

Techweez is a fast growing influential source of technology news, reviews and analysis by leading tech geeks in the industry.

Follow Us

Editorials

Actors and Film Crews Are Worried About Veo 3 Taking Their Jobs

Samsung QLED TVs Now Officially Certified for Real Quantum Dot Technology

Trump’s Tariffs Will Be the End of Affordable Tech

5 Ways to Prep Your Tech for Resale

The Weaponization of PDFs: How Cybercriminals Are Exploiting a Trusted Format

Introducing A Brainbox Quiz: Techweez’s Monthly Trivia Night!

More News

New Platform Brings All African AI Policies Under One Database

Kenya’s Tourism Sector Grows as Travel Gets Easier Across East Africa

Researchers Develop Sodium-Ion Battery That Charges to 80% in 6 Minutes

Regulator Fines Stations Using Religious Shows to Push Gambling

Connected Africa 2025 Day 2: Focus on Digital Inclusion & Cybersecurity

iPad Users May Finally Get a Native WhatsApp App

  • Terms Of Use
  • Techweez Brand
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact Us

© 2024 Techweez - Palahala Media Group may earn a commission when you buy through links on our sites.
A Palahala Media Group Brand. All rights reserved.
.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
Crunchy Cookies 🍪 Ahead!

Hey there! Just a heads-up: we're big fans of cookies - both the digital and edible kind! 🍪 We use our cookies and some from third parties to ensure your browsing experience on our site is smooth sailing and secure.

 

But wait, there's more! We also use cookies to gather stats and insights on how you navigate our site. It's like getting a behind-the-scenes peek at your digital adventures!

 

Don't worry, you're in control. You can adjust your cookie settings anytime to suit your preferences. Feeling curious? Dive into our Privacy Policy for all the juicy details. Happy browsing! 🚀

Functional Always active
Listen, this legal stuff is about as exciting as watching paint dry. But it basically says we only use your stuff for what you asked us to do, and nobody else gets to peek!
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
It's those sneaky cookie crumbs websites leave behind to count visitors, like counting ants at a picnic! Totally harmless, just for fun facts. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
Hey there! Just letting you know we use some fancy gizmos to remember your preferences. This way, we can show you ads that are, well, not completely bananas.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
Make cookies
{title} {title} {title}
Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
Crunchy Cookies 🍪 Ahead!
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
Listen, this legal stuff is about as exciting as watching paint dry. But it basically says we only use your stuff for what you asked us to do, and nobody else gets to peek!
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
It's those sneaky cookie crumbs websites leave behind to count visitors, like counting ants at a picnic! Totally harmless, just for fun facts. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
Hey there! Just letting you know we use some fancy gizmos to remember your preferences. This way, we can show you ads that are, well, not completely bananas.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
Make cookies
{title} {title} {title}
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Editorial
  • Automotive
  • Entertainment

© 2024 Techweez - Palahala Media Group may earn a commission when you buy through links on our sites.
A Palahala Media Group Brand. All rights reserved.
.