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> I'm always surprised people are willing to give random developers that much control over their browser I will say this is why people install content blockers

> I'm always surprised people are willing to give random developers that much control over their browser I will say this is why people install content blockers, to avoid giving control to random developers behind countless websites, which have shown that there is no limit in the amount of data they will try to gather without a hint of informed consent. On the other hand, content blockers are opt-in and people are free to install or not after reading the description/documentation and further researching them.

mcny 8y ago
This discussion got bigger than I expected. I just want to take a moment to thank you not just for your hard work but the trust you have brought in uBlock Origin. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Klathmon 8y ago
I get that, and I fully support that choice, and I agree with that feeling. But it's the lack of choice in terms of what is blocked, and the limited ability to understand that it's the content blocker that is potentially breaking the application which is what i'm lamenting here. I can't overstate how much I want to respect the user if they don't want some aspects, or some features, or anything which they just don't like, or which they feel can impact their privacy. (I'll argue with you about the ethics of blocking ads but still using a service, but that's another point entirely!) My issue is that there is a group of people that are deciding what things are allowed and which aren't, and they are going to necessarily have to make tradeoffs (I don't think that all of amazon.com should be blocked because they can track your purchase history by virtue of handling your purchase!). But for the most part the trade offs made are opaque to the user and site owner, and the UX is lacking in showing the user that the content blocker can be the cause of the problem, not to mention that by default these lists are very powerful tools able to pretty quickly harm good actors (and this isn't something i'm single-ing out content blockers for, antivirus vendors, ISPs (AKA net neutrality), and even social networks all have this issue to some extent). There might not be a good answer, and I sure as hell don't pretend to have it, but I'm just wishing for a way that users can make informed decisions on what they want to block, rather than have someone decide for them. Without some kind of give and take here, the arms race is just going to continue, and as it escalates, good actors (of which I'd like to think i'm one of) will get increasingly pushed away as they are blocked just the same as bad actors, leaving them with the options of "play dirty and survive" or "die peacefully". I'm sad to say that I ended up taking a page out of the "play dirty" book and got a new domain name for the app in question to get around the content blockers, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat since I'm not abusing that information or power, but I'm blocked as if I am. And while I feel dirty that I'm forcing my wants onto others, the ratio of "unwilling participants" to "those who actually wanted to use my app, but not one it's core features" is so unbalanced that I ended up ignoring the latter to save the former. And while I wish I could respect the wants of the latter group, if I engage there the former will have the content blocked for them as well again, and I'll be right back to square 1.

mcny 8y ago

This discussion got bigger than I expected. I just want to take a moment to thank you not just for your hard work but the trust you have brought in uBlock Origin. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Klathmon 8y ago

I get that, and I fully support that choice, and I agree with that feeling. But it's the lack of choice in terms of what is blocked, and the limited ability to understand that it's the content blocker that is potentially breaking the application which is what i'm lamenting here. I can't overstate how much I want to respect the user if they don't want some aspects, or some features, or anything which they just don't like, or which they feel can impact their privacy. (I'll argue with you about the ethics of blocking ads but still using a service, but that's another point entirely!) My issue is that there is a group of people that are deciding what things are allowed and which aren't, and they are going to necessarily have to make tradeoffs (I don't think that all of amazon.com should be blocked because they can track your purchase history by virtue of handling your purchase!). But for the most part the trade offs made are opaque to the user and site owner, and the UX is lacking in showing the user that the content blocker can be the cause of the problem, not to mention that by default these lists are very powerful tools able to pretty quickly harm good actors (and this isn't something i'm single-ing out content blockers for, antivirus vendors, ISPs (AKA net neutrality), and even social networks all have this issue to some extent). There might not be a good answer, and I sure as hell don't pretend to have it, but I'm just wishing for a way that users can make informed decisions on what they want to block, rather than have someone decide for them. Without some kind of give and take here, the arms race is just going to continue, and as it escalates, good actors (of which I'd like to think i'm one of) will get increasingly pushed away as they are blocked just the same as bad actors, leaving them with the options of "play dirty and survive" or "die peacefully". I'm sad to say that I ended up taking a page out of the "play dirty" book and got a new domain name for the app in question to get around the content blockers, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat since I'm not abusing that information or power, but I'm blocked as if I am. And while I feel dirty that I'm forcing my wants onto others, the ratio of "unwilling participants" to "those who actually wanted to use my app, but not one it's core features" is so unbalanced that I ended up ignoring the latter to save the former. And while I wish I could respect the wants of the latter group, if I engage there the former will have the content blocked for them as well again, and I'll be right back to square 1.