[Librem-5-dev] We don't need no stinking badges! Wait, yes we do.

[Jeremiah C. Foster]

Hi,

There's been some amazing work being done in the PureOS store to
include metadata for applications. Not only from a design standpoint
but also from Free Desktop specification standpoint thanks to Matthias'
work upstream.

As we work to implement the badges for the metadata we should likely
come up with some badges for categories beyond adaptive or age
appropriate. Todd proposed a category that would include sensors and
unique identifiers. This might be a way to inform users that specific,
personally identifying information is used or specific sensors are
being used in a given app. This way, the user may want to disable the
app or not use it in the first place. 

One example that comes to mind is a COVID 19 tracing app. At a high
level, these apps work via bluetooth to determine if there are other
bluetooth devices nearby. If they encounter a device that has been
identified as belonging to someone who tests positive for COVID 19, you
will get a notification to your device. Perhaps we want to ensure users
know about any unique identification information that such an app might
reveal? Is notification that a given app uses a given sensor
sufficient? What about MAC address, IMEI number, phone number and other
unique identifiers? 

Is it wise to have a "badge" for this class of app that uses certain
sensors and unique ids and can we add it to our current badging scheme?

Cheers,

Jeremiah