I've just noticed an apparent self-contradiction in the Web Storage
spec (24 August draft).
Section 4.3 states:
Data stored in local storage areas should be considered potentially
user-critical. It is expected that Web applications will use the
local storage areas for storing user-written documents.
Section 6.1 states:
User agents should present the persistent storage feature to the
user in a way that does not distinguish them from HTTP session
cookies.
These statements are contradictory, because cookies don't store user-
critical data such as documents. The user model of cookies is that
they're conveniences (at best) for keeping you logged into a site or
remembering preferences like font-size, so deleting them is no more
than an inconvenience. If local storage is presented to the user as
being cookies, then a user may delete it without understanding the
consequences.
Potential result: "I was having trouble logging into FooDocs.com, so
my friend suggested I delete the cookies for that site. After that I
could log in, but now the document I was working on this morning has
lost all the changes I made! How do I get them back?"
I suggest that the sub-section "Treating persistent storage as
cookies" of section 6.1 be removed.
—Jens
- [whatwg] Web Storage: apparent contradiction in spec Jens Alfke
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