TIL about Tools/Page Info! The inconsistency makes sense to me. It's easier to illustrate with [self-view in a media element](https://jan-ivar.github.io/dummy/enumerate.html) opened in TWO tabs. 1. In each tab, click `Start Cam!` + allow to watch yourself live in the video element 2. Tools -> Page Info -> Permissions -> deselect "Use Default" under "Use the camera", and select "Block". Notice both video elements keeps playing. 3. In each tab, click `Start Cam!` again You'll get `NotAllowedError`, but the video element is still playing from before. 4. In ONE tab, open the URL bar's Identity dropdown, and click to clear `Allowed Temporarily ✖` The ONE video freezes. The other video keeps playing. IOW, Page Info appears to be strictly about origin permissions in a vaccuum, caring only about (new) requests from origins, whereas Identity, while also setting permissions affecting origin, is also tied to a specific page where it terminates current page usage for consistency. Both models seem sound and defensible, depending on what users' expectations are, but the Identity one seems simpler for users to understand and superior for privacy.... — except it would arguably have been even better for privacy had it terminated usage in BOTH tabs. FWIW, Chrome blacks out both video element when I open the fiddles in two tabs and set "blocked" permission from its url bar (camera icon on the right), so maybe we should too? Side-note: I seem to recall Chrome used to work more like Page Info years ago, but it appears they've fixed it to work more like Firefox's identity panel. I also wonder how much functionality would be lost if we removed Tools/Page Info.
Bug 1799822 Comment 5 Edit History
Note: The actual edited comment in the bug view page will always show the original commenter’s name and original timestamp.
TIL about Tools/Page Info! The inconsistency makes sense to me. It's easier to illustrate with [self-view in a media element](https://jan-ivar.github.io/dummy/enumerate.html) opened in TWO tabs. 1. In each tab, click `Start Cam!` + allow to watch yourself live in the video element 2. Tools -> Page Info -> Permissions -> deselect "Use Default" under "Use the camera", and select "Block". Notice both video elements keep playing. 3. In each tab, click `Start Cam!` again You'll get `NotAllowedError`, but the video element is still playing from before. 4. In ONE tab, open the URL bar's Identity dropdown, and click to clear `Allowed Temporarily ✖` The ONE video freezes. The other video keeps playing. IOW, Page Info appears to be strictly about origin permissions in a vaccuum, caring only about (new) requests from origins, whereas Identity, while also setting permissions affecting origin, is also tied to a specific page where it terminates current page usage for consistency. Both models seem sound and defensible, depending on what users' expectations are, but the Identity one seems simpler for users to understand and superior for privacy.... — except it would arguably have been even better for privacy had it terminated usage in BOTH tabs. FWIW, Chrome blacks out both video element when I open the fiddles in two tabs and set "blocked" permission from its url bar (camera icon on the right), so maybe we should too? Side-note: I seem to recall Chrome used to work more like Page Info years ago, but it appears they've fixed it to work more like Firefox's identity panel. I also wonder how much functionality would be lost if we removed Tools/Page Info.
TIL about Tools/Page Info! The inconsistency makes sense to me. It's easier to illustrate with [self-view in a media element](https://jan-ivar.github.io/dummy/enumerate.html) opened in TWO tabs. 1. In each tab, click `Start Cam!` + allow to watch yourself live in the video element 2. Tools -> Page Info -> Permissions -> deselect "Use Default" under "Use the camera", and select "Block". Notice both video elements keep playing. 3. In each tab, click `Start Cam!` again You'll get `NotAllowedError`, but the video element is still playing from before. 4. In ONE tab, open the URL bar's Identity dropdown, and click to clear `Allowed Temporarily ✖` The ONE video freezes. The other video keeps playing. IOW, Page Info appears to be strictly about origin permissions in a vaccuum, caring only about (new) requests from origins, whereas Identity, while also setting permissions affecting origin, is also tied to a specific page where it terminates current page usage for consistency. Both models seem sound and defensible, depending on what users' expectations are, but the Identity one seems simpler for users to understand and superior for privacy.... — except it would arguably have been even better for privacy had it terminated usage in BOTH tabs. FWIW, Chrome blacks out both video elements when I open the fiddles in two tabs and set "blocked" permission from either's url bar (camera icon on the right), so maybe we should too? Side-note: I seem to recall Chrome used to work more like Page Info years ago, but it appears they've fixed it to work more like Firefox's identity panel. I also wonder how much functionality would be lost if we removed Tools/Page Info.