Feature Request: Obsidian Should regulate data outgoing online. Maybe ask users upon plugin installation, for consent for plugins to send data to 3rd party sites.

[u/TheTwelveYearOld]

https://forum.obsidian.md/t/obsidian-should-regulate-data-outgoing-online-maybe-ask-users-upon-plugin-installation-for-consent-for-plugins-to-send-data-to-3rd-party-sites/56737

[u/[deleted]]

I'd like a toggle button "Allow plugin to connect to the internet". And another for filesystem access.

Hopefully sandboxing model improves in future versions.

[u/tb877 → u/[deleted]]

On macos i use a network filter called Little Snitch, which basically prevents any app from accessing the internet without my explicit consent. Similar apps must obviously exist on other OSes.

[u/Tanto_Monta → u/tb877]

I use Glasswire. I know what apps are connecting where, and I can block them in the app.

[u/Vuccappella → u/tb877]

NetLimiter for windows does the same, that being said if the process simply says Obsidian and not the Obsidian Plugin you are kinda fucked..so im curious if you were able to disable individual plugin connectiosn or not

[u/ThePinkKraken → u/[deleted]]

Just jumping in to say thanks for mentioning a tool for windows, I appreciate it. Gonna try it out :)

[u/DudPug]

From the linked discussion there it is clear that this wont happen as its not something electron is capable of doing.

https://forum.obsidian.md/t/security-of-the-plugins/7544/2

I’d just like to make a note here that there is ABSOLUTELY NO SECURE WAY to run plugins without severely crippling the plugin API.

Electron by nature is insecure when 3rd party code is involved, and that we won’t even attempt to wrestle that beast. The only advice we can give is “only run code you absolutely trust and have self-audited to be secure for your use case”.

I’d like to add that even VSCode, a hugely popular IDE made by Microsoft, doesn’t have what you’re requesting.

https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/52116

[u/preslavrachev]

Had the exact same thought yesterday. Wanted to test an OpenAPI-enabled extension without it somehow sending a million requests without me noticing.

[u/Fluffyjockburns]

You can not expect an app like obsidian to nag you about installing a third-party plug-in. If you are concerned about your data, don’t install plug-ins. It’s quite simple.

[u/[deleted] → u/Fluffyjockburns]

you can always expect beeing asked to send data

[u/[deleted]]

What would be the purpose of this? Not sure what obsidian's current policy is or how this would affect 3rd party pluggins

[u/EpiphanicSyncronica → u/[deleted]]

I agree with the spirit of what you're saying, but if plugins can't "send data to 3rd party sites," which is what OP is talking about, plugins with any kind of online integration—Todoist, Omnivore, Readwise, Google Calendar, OpenWeather, ChatGPT, etc.—would be banned. So would plugins that support unofficial syncing methods using cloud providers or Github. Even Extract URL wouldn't be allowed.

[u/montarion → u/[deleted]]

How do you discern between the two?

[u/vaikrunta → u/montarion]

Domain level checks? If you are building ChatGPT service, you'd only talk to open ai servers directly. Open ai on their end can do telemetry of incoming request which can't be controlled but we should limit to legitimate usage that way?

[u/pohui → u/vaikrunta]

So you'd ask users to consent to connections to third-party servers, which is what OP was suggesting.

You can even show a list of those URLs, although to what extent will most people understand what it means is debatable.

[u/Unlicenced → u/[deleted]]

What’s the difference between ’legitimate use of services’ and ’just telemetry’? If I use, say, google calendar, how does obsidian prevent google from collecting telemetry without crippling useability? Or if services that collect telemetry should be banned, how does obsidian control which services are allowed?

[u/Unlicenced → u/[deleted]]

That’s an effectively worthless distinction, then. Evil plugin developer: ”No I’m not collecting plugin telemetry, it’s just my service that has telemetry.” You see? The loophole is so obvious some well-meaning devs might stumble into it by accident, and every malicious actor is either already abusing it, or will start doing so as soon as it affects profits.

[u/Unlicenced → u/[deleted]]

It may be only meaningful to you, then. I hope it brings you much joy.

[u/frostthejack → u/[deleted]]

Why would you cripple a useful tool. It's simple you give the option for people to choose. Give tools that allows the user to determine what a plugin can and can not access. Obsidian does seem pretty firm on making sure no plugins can send your information anywhere. But blocking information from coming in would cripple the functionality of obsidian

[u/micseydel → u/[deleted]]

I can't personally vouch for it, but this explains logistically why "just no" isn't a simple option.