EIPs/eip-1102.md at 26a4fbc197f129324e3f8c4939e388590a379362

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eip	title	author	discussions-to	status	type	category	created
1102	Opt-in provider access	Paul Bouchon <mail@bitpshr.net>	https://ethereum-magicians.org/t/opt-in-web3-access/414	Draft	Standards Track	Interface	2018-05-04

Simple summary

This proposal describes a way for DOM environments to expose an Ethereum provider API that requires user approval.

Abstract

The previous generation of Ethereum-enabled DOM environments follows a pattern of directly injecting a provider object into the DOM without user consent. This exposes users of such environments to fingerprinting attacks since untrusted websites can check for the injected provider and reliably identify Ethereum-enabled clients.

This proposal outlines a protocol in which dapps request access to an Ethereum provider API.

Specification

Typical dapp initialization

START dapp
IF web3 is defined
    CONTINUE dapp
IF web3 is undefined
    STOP dapp

Proposed dapp initialization

START dapp
REQUEST[1] Ethereum provider
    IF user approves
        NOTIFY[2] dapp
        CONTINUE dapp
    IF user rejects
    IF non-Ethereum environment
        NOOP[3]

`[1] REQUEST`

Dapps MUST request an Ethereum provider API by sending a message using the window.postMessage API. This message MUST be sent with a payload object containing a type property with a value of ETHEREUM_PROVIDER_REQUEST.

`[2] NOTIFY`

Ethereum-enabled DOM environments MUST notify dapps of successful provider API exposure by sending a message using the window.postMessage API. This message MUST be sent with a payload object containing a type property with a value of ETHEREUM_PROVIDER_SUCCESS and an ethereum property containing an Ethereum provider object that conforms to ethereum/interfaces#16.

`[3] NOOP`

If a user rejects access to the Ethereum provider API on an untrusted site, the site itself MUST NOT be notified in any way; notification of a rejection would allow third-party tools to still identify that a client is Ethereum-enabled despite not being granted access to any provider API.

Example implementation: `postMessage`

The following example demonstrates one possible implementation of this strategy in a browser-based DOM environment. Note that Ethereum-enabled environments on other platforms would most likely use platform-specific native messaging protocols, not postMessage.

// Listen for provider API
window.addEventListener('message', function (event) {
    if (!event.data || !event.data.type) { return; }
    if (event.data.type === 'ETHEREUM_PROVIDER_SUCCESS') {
        // Provider API exposed, continue
        const networkVersion = await event.data.ethereum.send('net_version', []);
        console.log(networkVersion);
    }
});
// Request Provider API
window.postMessage({ type: 'ETHEREUM_PROVIDER_REQUEST' });

Rationale

The pattern of provider auto-injection followed by the previous generation of Ethereum-enabled DOM environements failed to protect user privacy by allowing untrusted websites to uniquely identify Ethereum users. This proposal establishes a new pattern wherein dapps must request access to an Ethereum provider API. This protocol directly prevents fingerprinting attacks by giving users the ability to reject provider exposure on a given website.

Constraints

A provider API MUST NOT be exposed to websites by default.
Dapps MUST request a provider API if it does not exist.
Users MUST be able to approve or reject provider API access.
A provider API MUST be exposed to websites after user consent.
Environments MAY continue auto-exposing a provider API if users can opt-out.

Immediate value-add

Users can reject provider API access on untrusted sites to prevent fingerprinting.

Long-term value-add

Dapps could request specific account information based on user consent.
Dapps could request specific user information based on user consent (uPort, DIDs).
Dapps could request a specific network based on user consent.
Dapps could request multiple instances of the above based on user consent.

Backwards compatibility

This proposal impacts dapp authors and requires that they request access to an Ethereum provider API before using it. This proposal also impacts developers of Ethereum-enabled environments or dapp browsers as these tools should no longer auto-expose any provider API; instead, they should only do so if a website requests a provider API and if the user consents to its access. Environments may continue to auto-expose an Ethereum provider API as long as users have the ability to disable this behavior.

Implementation

The MetaMask team is currently working an MVP implementation of the strategy described above and expects to begin limited user testing soon.

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