EasyPrivacy Breaks Members.easynews.com: A Fix Guide

Introduction

Are you experiencing issues with members.easynews.com? Do you find that the site's functionality breaks or fails to load correctly when using EasyPrivacy? You're not alone. Many users have encountered this problem due to a specific filter within EasyPrivacy that blocks a critical script. This article delves into the issue, explaining why it occurs and providing solutions to restore the site's functionality while maintaining your privacy.

Understanding the Issue

The core of the problem lies in how EasyPrivacy, a popular filter list for ad blockers, handles tracking and monitoring scripts. EasyPrivacy's primary goal is to protect user privacy by blocking elements that track user activity, including analytics, telemetry, and third-party linking. While this approach is effective in enhancing privacy, it can sometimes lead to unintended consequences, such as breaking the functionality of certain websites.

In the case of members.easynews.com, the site relies on a script called /elastic-apm-rum.umd.min.js for its proper operation. This script appears to be an Application Performance Monitoring (APM) script, which helps the website monitor its performance and identify potential issues. However, EasyPrivacy's strict rules against tracking scripts cause it to block this APM script, rendering the site unusable.

Why is the Script Blocked?

EasyPrivacy's philosophy is that any site implementing tracking or monitoring, regardless of its perceived helpfulness, should be blocked. This stance is clearly articulated in their guidelines: "If a site implements any tracking or monitoring, UA/IP/Geo checks, browser detection, analytics, telemetry, linking to third-parties, pixels, referrers, fingerprinting, event/perf logging etc. Regardless how helpful or needed the script(s) are, it will be blocked in EasyPrivacy. Privacy comes first, and the block on these scripts will remain in place."

This approach, while prioritizing privacy, can sometimes create a trade-off between privacy and functionality. For users who want to use members.easynews.com without disruptions, a workaround is necessary.

Identifying the Problem

Before diving into solutions, let's ensure we've correctly identified the problem. If you're using EasyPrivacy and experiencing issues with members.easynews.com, you'll likely notice that the site's functionality is broken. This might manifest as elements not loading correctly, pages not rendering as expected, or the site being entirely unusable.

To confirm that EasyPrivacy is the culprit, you can temporarily disable it in your ad blocker and see if the site starts working correctly. If it does, then the filter list is indeed the source of the problem. The specific filter causing the breakage is /elastic-apm-rum.umd.min.js, which EasyPrivacy blocks due to its classification as a tracking script.

Common Symptoms

• Site functionality breaks.
• Pages do not load correctly.
• The site appears unusable.
• Error messages or blank pages.

Solutions to Restore Functionality

Now that we understand the problem, let's explore several solutions to restore the functionality of members.easynews.com while still maintaining a reasonable level of privacy.

1. Whitelisting the Website

The most straightforward solution is to whitelist members.easynews.com in your ad blocker. Whitelisting tells the ad blocker to ignore its filters for a specific website, allowing all scripts and elements to load. This will restore the site's functionality but also means that EasyPrivacy's protections won't apply to this particular site.

How to Whitelist in uBlock Origin

If you're using uBlock Origin, a popular and efficient ad blocker, you can whitelist a site by following these steps:

1. Click the uBlock Origin icon in your browser toolbar.
2. Click the large power button in the popup panel. This toggles the blocking state for the current site.
3. Refresh the page. members.easynews.com should now load correctly.

Whitelisting is a quick fix, but remember that it disables privacy protections for the whitelisted site. Consider this trade-off carefully.

2. Creating a Custom Filter Exception

A more nuanced approach is to create a custom filter exception in your ad blocker. This allows you to selectively disable specific filters for a website, rather than whitelisting the entire site. In this case, we can create an exception for the /elastic-apm-rum.umd.min.js script on members.easynews.com.

How to Create a Custom Filter in uBlock Origin

1. Click the uBlock Origin icon in your browser toolbar.
2. Click the "gear" icon to open the settings dashboard.
3. Go to the "My filters" tab.
4. Add the following line to the text area:

   @@||members.easynews.com/elastic-apm-rum.umd.min.js$script
   

5. Click "Apply changes."
6. Refresh the page. This custom filter exception will prevent EasyPrivacy from blocking the APM script, restoring the site's functionality while keeping other EasyPrivacy protections active.

This method provides a balance between functionality and privacy, as it only disables the problematic filter rather than the entire filter list for the site.

3. Disabling EasyPrivacy (Not Recommended)

While this is an option, it's generally not recommended. Disabling EasyPrivacy entirely removes its privacy protections across all websites. This leaves you vulnerable to tracking and other privacy violations. Only consider this if you absolutely need members.easynews.com to work and the other solutions are not feasible.

If you choose this route, remember to re-enable EasyPrivacy once you're done using the site to restore your overall privacy protection.

4. Using a Different Filter List (Advanced)

Another option is to use a different filter list that doesn't block the /elastic-apm-rum.umd.min.js script. However, this requires careful consideration as other filter lists may have different strengths and weaknesses in terms of privacy protection. You would need to research and compare various filter lists to find one that suits your needs.

This method is more advanced and requires a deeper understanding of filter lists and their impact on privacy and functionality.

Step-by-Step Guide: Creating a Custom Filter in uBlock Origin

For those who prefer a more detailed walkthrough, here's a step-by-step guide on creating a custom filter in uBlock Origin to allow the /elastic-apm-rum.umd.min.js script on members.easynews.com:

1. Open uBlock Origin Settings:

   • Click the uBlock Origin icon in your browser toolbar (usually located at the top-right corner of the browser).
   • In the popup panel that appears, click the "gear" icon. This will open the uBlock Origin settings dashboard in a new tab.

2. Navigate to the "My filters" Tab:

   • In the settings dashboard, you'll see several tabs. Click on the "My filters" tab. This is where you can add your custom filters.

3. Add the Custom Filter Rule:

   • In the "My filters" tab, you'll find a large text area. This is where you'll add the custom filter rule.
   • Carefully type or paste the following line into the text area:

     @@||members.easynews.com/elastic-apm-rum.umd.min.js$script
     

     This rule tells uBlock Origin to allow the specified script from members.easynews.com.

4. Apply the Changes:

   • After adding the filter rule, click the "Apply changes" button located below the text area. This will save your custom filter and activate it.

5. Test the Website:

   • Open members.easynews.com in a new tab or refresh the existing tab if you already have it open.
   • The site should now load correctly, with all functionality restored. uBlock Origin will allow the /elastic-apm-rum.umd.min.js script to run, while still blocking other potentially privacy-invading elements as per your other filter lists.

6. Verify the Filter (Optional):

   • To verify that the custom filter is working, you can open uBlock Origin's popup panel while on members.easynews.com.
   • Click the "network request logger" icon (it looks like a graph). This will open a new panel showing all network requests made by the page.
   • Look for /elastic-apm-rum.umd.min.js in the list. If the custom filter is working correctly, you should see it marked as "allowed" or not blocked.

By following these steps, you can create a custom filter exception in uBlock Origin that resolves the issue with members.easynews.com while preserving your privacy on other websites.

Conclusion

The issue of EasyPrivacy breaking members.easynews.com highlights the delicate balance between privacy and functionality on the web. While EasyPrivacy's aggressive stance on tracking scripts is commendable for user privacy, it can sometimes lead to unintended consequences.

By understanding the cause of the problem and implementing solutions like whitelisting or creating custom filter exceptions, you can restore the functionality of members.easynews.com while maintaining a reasonable level of privacy. Remember to weigh the trade-offs between privacy and functionality and choose the solution that best fits your needs.

For more information on privacy and ad blocking, consider exploring resources like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a leading nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world.