CR Request for Geolocation API

[xfq]

Document title, URLs, estimated publication date

Geolocation API
Date: 2021-09-07

Abstract

The Geolocation API provides access to geographical location information associated with the hosting device.

Status

The Devices and Sensors Working Group is updating this specification in the hope of making it a "living standard".

Link to group's decision to request transition

https://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-device-apis/2021Aug/0022.html

Changes

https://w3c.github.io/geolocation-api/#change-log

Requirements satisfied

N/A

Dependencies met (or not)

Changes in Permissions API and Web IDL may have an impact on this specification.

Wide Review

The spec has received wide review at FPWD time. The normative changes since FPWD are implementation details that bring the spec in line with implementations and don't change or invalidate the wide reviews received at FPWD time.

Issues addressed

https://github.com/w3c/geolocation-api/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aclosed+

Formal Objections

None.

Implementation

https://wpt.fyi/geolocation-API

Patent disclosures

https://www.w3.org/groups/wg/das/ipr

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/cc @marcoscaceres @reillyeon @anssiko

[plehegar]

• needs-resolution issues to check:
  https://www.w3.org/PM/horizontal/review.html?shortname=geolocation
  specifically,
  Section 3: Why only "SHOULD" for protection of privacy? w3cping/tracking-issues#118 should be closed (or we need more info)
  Suggest permission lifetimes? (was: Explicitly limit permission lifetimes) w3cping/tracking-issues#112 , are we ok with resolving that as part of the Permissions API and was there enough progress made on that front ?
  Require user activation to use API w3cping/tracking-issues#111 should be closed (or we need more info or kept open for a longtime),

@samuelweiler , can you update the status on those PING issues?

[plehegar]

History:
https://www.w3.org/standards/history/geolocation-API
https://www.w3.org/standards/history/geolocation

[plehegar]

Normative references

Secure Contexts hasn't been updated since 2016 in /TR. @sideshowbarker , can we get an updated draft please?

[sideshowbarker]

Secure Contexts hasn't been updated since 2016 in /TR. @sideshowbarker , can we get an updated draft please?

Yes, will do

[marcoscaceres]

@sideshowbarker, if you can update Bikeshed templates to the right PP (for WebAppSec), all the specs should (finally!) auto-publish 🎉 That would be really awesome. Let me know if you want me to review/help.

[sideshowbarker]

Autopublishing of the Secure Contexts spec to TR is currently blocked on resolving failures about missing stuff that, as far as I can see, Bikeshed and spec-prod should be adding automatically based on the Status value in the Bikeshed source.

w3c/webappsec-secure-contexts#91 (comment)
https://github.com/w3c/webappsec-secure-contexts/runs/3531636253#step:3:670

Any help on figuring out how to resolve those would be welcome.

[xfq]

@sideshowbarker I think you need to add a CRD boilerplate file in Bikeshed (example). If you need help, I can help send a PR to Bikeshed.

[sideshowbarker]

@sideshowbarker I think you need to add a CRD boilerplate file in Bikeshed (example). If you need help, I can help send a PR to Bikeshed.

Thanks, I’ll give it — and if I run into any problems, I’ll ping you

[samuelweiler]

It looks like w3c/geolocation#69 needs to be checked also; I'm not sure why the tracker didn't capture that one.

Edit: oops. It's there. Perhaps I got confused because the names of the tracking issue and the underlying issue no longer match.

[marcoscaceres]

@samuelweiler, whatever comes out of w3c/geolocation#69 (if anything) can probably go in after REC. It's not a blocker, given that the only recommendation we can give there is "the user agent may suggest a permission lifetime of once to forever" (i.e., it's totally up to the user agent, as shown by all the different browsers).

[plehegar]

It looks like w3c/geolocation-api#69 needs to be checked also; I'm not sure why the tracker didn't capture that one.

I cited this issue in my earlier comment and it's listed in https://www.w3.org/PM/horizontal/review.html?shortname=geolocation so not sure where you think it's missing.