this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2023
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Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ
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I employ VPN, TOR, and additionally, I manage sites utilizing CloudFlare. I can tell you this much: There aren't many alternative services that safeguard your website and gather statistics while respecting the privacy of the end user. CloudFlare even provides onion routes for TOR users, which I've naturally activated for my website. Thus, the issue doesn't rest with CloudFlare; it's a tool. The true issue lies with the webmasters abusing their power and using overzealous rulesets.
They could easily apply the same rulesets by utilizing nginx to proxy the traffic and implementing blocks on their side, avoiding CloudFlare altogether. The only distinction would be the increased expenses and a different host, nothing more.
Well, there's the issue. Cloudflare is hostile to user privacy, they are gathering as much data as Google and they try to gain a monopoly on all kinds of web hosting. They are the definition on an evil company.
That's not true at all, though. I can see only the basic information, such as:
That's all there is to it. I don't have access to IP addresses, location data, or behavioural information. I only have access to the necessary information that enables my website to function seamlessly.
You do not, but Cloudflare does because they collect everything.
Look, I get where you're coming from, but saying Cloudflare collects everything just because they have some access to data is a bit of a stretch. Sure, they might have some data for security and optimization, but that doesn't mean they're hoarding every little detail about users. They're more like the bouncer at the club, keeping an eye on things without memorizing everyone's life story. So, while they might have a bit of info, calling it "collecting everything" is like saying a bouncer knows everything about the party – it's just not the case.
I get your point, you like the easy and convenient hosting that Cloudflare offers. I wouldn't feel comfortable logging into a website that's behind Cloudflare because they see everything. Including login credentials you submit. That's why I try to avoid CDNs (not just Cloudflare) in general. Also, what really annoys me is how Cloudflare treats VPN and Tor users. You need to solve 5 million different restarted CAPTCHAs. This is in my opinion user-hostile. I don't do anything bad, I am just a regular user looking to protect my privacy and not expose my true IP and location by using a VPN.