Companies now block older browser versions from accessing their websites!
from madeindex@lemmy.world to privacy@lemmy.ml on 08 Jun 08:25
https://lemmy.world/post/47903164
from madeindex@lemmy.world to privacy@lemmy.ml on 08 Jun 08:25
https://lemmy.world/post/47903164
cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/47871545
đ Many companies now block older browser versions from accessing their websites!
This follows many browser makers ending updates 4 older operating systems, leaving legacy devices unable to use web services without an OS upgrade.
This kinda reminds me of the Java website block by browsers a few years ago, just in reverse. (Revenge? ;)
Old Android versions are also increasingly blocked from accessing the Google appstore.
Truly about security or perhaps Planned Obsolescence?
Update: âold devices can only use old os > old os can only use old browser > old browser cannot use web> poor uneducated people = screwed once again!â
âOnly suggesting corporate browsers, kinda like an ad.â
threaded - newest
Yep, my father in law got locked out of his bank because of this. He has a Chromebook so he couldnât upgrade anymore, he thought he had to change his computer but fortunately Linux will never be obsolete so I just migrated him to freedom.
10/10 in law support <3
I had the bad idea to study computer science so Iâm basically the computer (and unfortunately printer) âspecialistâ of the whole in-law family. Yay
<img alt="" src="https://meme.app/templates/with-great-power-comes-great-responsibility-blank.jpg">
This happens to many of us without a degree. lol
I think this is not a clean cut case of evil planned obsolescence. There are valid security concerns, as browsers are a common attack vector. You should get that updated, also to protect your privacy while surfing online. So for a banking site or similar, I kind of get it. (I recognize there is a possible conundrum when people canât go bank in person because the bank no longer has branches and/or get excluded by their old hardware/economic reasons from doing it online. Should they be able to choose risking it if the bank knows about a flaw they then leave exposed? Shitâs complicated.)
That being said Iâm sure this banner of corporate concern was not primarily motivated by the security and privacy of their users.
Yeah if it was just the login page of a bank or something it would make sense, but these are all kind of websites, blocking complete access for no reason. They could put a warning instead âUse at your own riskâ if they wanted and not just tell people to get corp browsers âCHROME EDGE FIREFOX SAFARI OPERAâ ;)
Even for a non-bank website, I imagine there is an octogenarian federal judge somewhere in the States who is still puzzled by fax machines who made a ruling holding website owners liable if they didnât do this when they know of any vulnerability that could affect the user. So there is a possible legal angle as well.
The people who use browsers other than the ones listed will either never see this message or know how to upgrade on their own.
A Use at your own risk disclaimer leads to a significant increase in support tickets or negative customer perceptions. Being able to use ES6/ESnext features in your javascript codebase is really nice.
Iâm not a fan of this being the current reality but much prefer this putting up this type of disclaimer over having to support internet explorer or safari.
In an ideal world there would be no need for any of this but consumers consistently choose for whatever is easiest for them in the moment and it leads to negative outcomes for al of us.
Itâs been like that for years if not decades though.
Not doubting that, however itâs the first time I have encountered it at this level, and I have used kinda retro devices to surf the web at times ;)
Now? This has been happening since the dawn of the web. At least the screenshot you pasted represents all of the big three rendering engines - it used to be common to see âInternet Explorer version XYZ requiredâ, sometimes with javascript to prevent you from using the site with any other browser (even if in some cases it would actually work fine if you simply spoofed your user agent string).
Most websites became HTTPS-only sometime after the snowden disclosures in 2013.
Over time old versions of TLS have been deprecated and eventually support for them is dropped from browsers and web servers alike. So, a browser from even 15 years ago literally cannot connect to most webservers today.
Planned obsolescence is terrible but itâs a minor factor here: itâs actually dangerous to use even (especially?) a slightly-out-of-date web browser because every new release fixes vulnerabilities which can be exploited to run malicious code on your computer. The planned obsolescence which prevents people from being able to have an up-to-date browser comes mostly from proprietary operating system vendors; to have up-to-date software while continuing to use somewhat older computers you need to use free/libre software.
just spoof your user-agent whats the problem
also: using old browser versions is really unsafe, there is always a way to run recent software on your hardware, you can install custom roms on old phones, install linux old old computers etc.
I think the only problem here is the user.
if you want firefox without the ai bs install librewolf
Not everyone knows you can do that, but doubling on advice to spoof the user agent
yeah i just dont like the seemingly defeatist attitude (i dont mean you). âoh no evil company does anti consumer thing and, oh well, i must conply there is no other optionâ
people must be educated how to fight back. stupid are only those that are unwilling to educate themselves, not the ones that dont know
Resisting predatory capitalism and government overreach requires a wide array of skills, namely:
We canât expect everyone to know everything, and we can be here to give advice in what we know best. I can inform someone that spoofing a user agent is a thing, I can help set this up, but when I repair my pantsâŚit gets messy, I donât know where to start searching for better solutions, and since this doesnât happen too often, I donât bother to learn more. Same happens for others, the other way around.
saying that old devices can only use old os is bs
I have an old iPad Mini that is long outside the support deadline for Apple. Itâs using AltStore instead now, but when I tried to install a patched version of Spotify, the app and even the web app, completely blocked both the OS version and the WebKit version. I canât even use the web version of Apple Music on it. The amount of artificial locks these companies use is annoying as fuck.
Itâs mostly age verification services. Some Lithuanian service blocked me this way when I tried to sign up for a Wise account.
Older browsers donât support features that the pages are coded with. This could be security or just layout issues. Itâs difficult to support older browsers, or just the volume of browsers x versions. So itâs reasonable to limit the test space. And itâs usually easy for users to upgrade.
Or, without switching browser which is the far easier approach. Firefox tends to keep updating for the longest.
I built a webapp for work, and when a new PR firm / subcontractor entered the picture, they complained that it didnât work. I spent hours pulling my hair out until I figured out that they were using a seven year old version of Safari. Apparently, their laptops stopped receiving system updates from apple, and you canât upgrade safari alone. As someone who has never used an Apple computer, this blew my mind.
How is this related to privacy, as you posted it in the privacy community?
What sub do you think it should go in?
idk, webdesign? Retro computing? Capitalism?
Probably part of the plan to to take all the hardware for data centers, make it more expensive to buy, and force everyone to rent services from their servers rather than own a computer.