Tinfoil Hat

NodeJS module for executing code based on user's do not track preferences.

Usage

Standalone

Tinfoil Hat checks the HTTP request's do not track property, and executes callbacks based on the current setting. The first argument is required, and is called if the users does NOT wish to be tracked.

    var tinfoilhat = require('./tinfoilhat');
 
    var putHatOn = function(request, response){
        // run code knowing that "do not track"
        // is in effect
    };
 
    // pass the HTTP request & response to the returned callback
    tinfoilhat(putHatOn)(req, res);

To execute code based on do not track being disabled, use the second - and optional - callback argument is called if do not track is unset (i.e. the user knowingly or unknowlingly opts to be tracked).

If this callback is not set, then Tinfoil Hat will return false to indicate do not track is not active.

    var tinfoilhat = require('./tinfoilhat');
 
    var putHatOn = function(request, response){
        // code will fire when "do not track" is enabled
    };
 
    var removeHat = function(request, response){
        // code will fire if "do not track" is not enabled
    }
 
    // pass the HTTP request & response to the returned callback
    tinfoilhat(putHatOn, removeHat)(req, res);

Middleware

If you're using Connect, Express, or something similar, Tinfoil Hat can also be used a middleware layer in your application. To use it in this fashion, you do not manually pass the request & response object, as this will be handled by the app instead:

/* app's dependencies & and set up here */
 
// following 2 functions are user defined
// callbacks - example somewhat trivialized
// for brevity
var whenDntOn = function (req, res) {
    req.tinfoilhat = " * ON *";
};
 
var whenDntOff = function (req, res) {
    req.tinfoilhat = " - off -";
};
 
var app = connect();
 
// note that here we are not manually passing
// the request or response objects. The app will
// do that for you
app.use(tinfoilhat(whenDntOn, whenDntOff));
 
/* more middleware as you see fit */
 
http.createServer(app).listen(3000);
 

Run Tests

From within the root directory, open a terminal and run:

npm install
npm test