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by privong 4420 days ago
It looks like a bunch of the other replies to your query have touched on most of the points I would make, but I thought it might still be worth my response.

The majority of the content I consume online doesn't _need_ js. In the sense that it's easily possible to design websites to display text and writings without needing js. So from a practical standpoint, I think js is mostly unnecessary. There are obviously services which wouldn't be possible without js (e.g., openstreetmaps), and I do un-block js for those sites.

You are of course correct that js is not the only way users can be tracked, however it is one of major components in tracking.

Looking at the EFF's panopticlick [0], with js blocked: > Within our dataset of several million visitors, only one in 57,814 browsers have the same fingerprint as yours. Currently, we estimate that your browser has a fingerprint that conveys 15.82 bits of identifying information.

With js enabled: > Your browser fingerprint appears to be unique among the 4,104,774 tested so far. Currently, we estimate that your browser has a fingerprint that conveys at least 21.97 bits of identifying information.

So even something as simple as disabling javascript turns my online fingerprint from being unique to being one of 5% of users who have used that site. So while disabling js doesn't make one immune to tracking, it does make it more diffuclt.

In summary, for most of my use of the web, js is unnecessary and does more harm (tracking) than good (it's not needed for consuming text). I enable it on a case-by-case basis for some websites, if it's needed. But unless the js is truly critical to the presentation of the information, I won't enable it and I'll likely leave the site. Because, yes, much of the web is broken without js; but that's frequently due to (in my opinion) poor site design which doesn't fail gracefully in the absense of (usually unnecessary) js.
1 comments
err4nt 4415 days ago
The reason I do it is because of shortfalls within CSS. I USE JavaScript for styling, really simple stuff, but my sites WILL be broken if you can't run 4-10 lines of JavaScript. I don't think that's outrageous to ask for from a resource standpoint, and to rule out JavaScript because some bad things can be written in it to me sounds like ignoring English because some bad or hurtful things can be spoken in it.

I'm not sure what to do about the people who turn JavaScript off, the reason I reach for it are when HTML and CSS can't do something.

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