Camera and microphone require HTTPS in Firefox 68 (blog.mozilla.org)

Article summary

Firefox 68 will require HTTPS connections for camera and microphone access, matching Chrome's behavior. This change aims to improve security and privacy by only exposing these features in secure contexts. The change may affect end users who visit HTTP sites that do not redirect to HTTPS or do not support it. Developers can prepare for this change by updating their sites to use HTTPS.

Main themes

• HTTPS requirement
• camera and microphone access
• security and privacy
• web development
• local testing

What commenters say

• Requiring HTTPS for camera and microphone access is a necessary security measure, even if it makes local development more complicated.
• The requirement for HTTPS will disproportionately affect new web developers who are just starting to learn and experiment with web technologies.
• There are existing workarounds and tools, such as Let's Encrypt and custom CA root certificates, that can make it easier for developers to obtain and use HTTPS certificates.
• Disabling features for non-HTTPS connections will make it harder for people to learn programming and experiment with web technologies.
• The benefits of improved security and privacy outweigh the potential inconvenience to developers and users.
• Alternative development environments and tools, such as online code editors and simulators, can mitigate the impact of this change.
• The push for HTTPS is making certain legitimate use cases, such as providing a local web server independent of the public internet, more difficult or impossible.