What has this got to do with "Progressive Web Applications"? Or like Javascript in general?
The premise of the article is that webpages require making http requests (of course), and when you make a request the server sees your IP address.
> The way it works is that when an application is using the PWA model, some of its parts must be downloaded from remote servers.
> But because the Ministry is a public institution and so it has authority over resolving the IP address to the actual identity of the user, IP addresses in this context may potentially be regarded as personal data, singling out individuals.
The author makes the leap that since a government entity in theory has access to the personal information behind the IP address, the IP could be considered Personally Identifiable Information.
In most cases governments does not have this access do this information without going through proper channels (i.e. the courts) as in regular investigations.
German courts have always[1] held that IP addresses are potentially identifying information and falls under privacy laws.
[1] there was a very short timespan where this issue was indeed an open question, but tech people still debated that years after the high courts had already ruled on it, making it look like it was still an open question.
Hey, admins? Submissions of this website are always by new accounts that make a single submission and die out, I believe these HN submissions are just for SEO.
5 comments
[ 0.22 ms ] story [ 21.7 ms ] threadThe premise of the article is that webpages require making http requests (of course), and when you make a request the server sees your IP address.
> The way it works is that when an application is using the PWA model, some of its parts must be downloaded from remote servers.
> But because the Ministry is a public institution and so it has authority over resolving the IP address to the actual identity of the user, IP addresses in this context may potentially be regarded as personal data, singling out individuals.
Okay.
This just feels like SEO bait and spam.
In most cases governments does not have this access do this information without going through proper channels (i.e. the courts) as in regular investigations.
[1] there was a very short timespan where this issue was indeed an open question, but tech people still debated that years after the high courts had already ruled on it, making it look like it was still an open question.