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> The web already has a user-facing permissions system; it wouldn't be hard to add many of these under that umbrella (USB, Bluetooth, and Sensors stand out as o

> The web already has a user-facing permissions system; it wouldn't be hard to add many of these under that umbrella (USB, Bluetooth, and Sensors stand out as obvious candidates that should've been behind that barrier from the beginning) Let’s add Javascript to that list too. Not all sites need it, and given the abuse it’s responsible for, it shouldn’t be permitted unless a user opts in.

vbezhenar 6y ago
Chrome allows to disable JavaScript by default and only allowing it on some websites. Probably privacy and security-conscious users use that feature.
- Shared404 6y ago
  Pretty sure most privacy conscious users don't use Chrome.
hombre_fatal 6y ago
That was also the logic behind Windows Vista's UAC popup.
- josteink 6y ago
  A great example! That single move from Microsoft more or less eliminated the need for any normal application run by any normal user to require admin-rights to function, something which up to that point more or less had been the norm. Developers fixed their applications to work with a sane privilege level and pretty much everyone was better off. Let’s do the same with the rampant JS-abuse on the web.
neotek 6y ago
>Not all sites need it, and given the abuse it’s responsible for, it shouldn’t be permitted unless a user opts in. And 99.999% of internet users will therefore be trained to blindly click "accept" on any permission popups a website shows them, since outside of HN pretty much everybody loves and appreciates the rich functionality javascript provides.
- catalogia 6y ago
  > And 99.999% of internet users will therefore be trained to blindly click "accept" on any permission popups a website shows them Or not, when they inevitably discover that leaving it turned off bypasses 90% of newspaper website paywalls whereas turning it on slows their browser down to a crawl and floods their screen with ads.

vbezhenar 6y ago

Chrome allows to disable JavaScript by default and only allowing it on some websites. Probably privacy and security-conscious users use that feature.

Shared404 6y ago
Pretty sure most privacy conscious users don't use Chrome.

hombre_fatal 6y ago

That was also the logic behind Windows Vista's UAC popup.

josteink 6y ago
A great example! That single move from Microsoft more or less eliminated the need for any normal application run by any normal user to require admin-rights to function, something which up to that point more or less had been the norm. Developers fixed their applications to work with a sane privilege level and pretty much everyone was better off. Let’s do the same with the rampant JS-abuse on the web.

neotek 6y ago

>Not all sites need it, and given the abuse it’s responsible for, it shouldn’t be permitted unless a user opts in. And 99.999% of internet users will therefore be trained to blindly click "accept" on any permission popups a website shows them, since outside of HN pretty much everybody loves and appreciates the rich functionality javascript provides.

catalogia 6y ago
> And 99.999% of internet users will therefore be trained to blindly click "accept" on any permission popups a website shows them Or not, when they inevitably discover that leaving it turned off bypasses 90% of newspaper website paywalls whereas turning it on slows their browser down to a crawl and floods their screen with ads.