DNS hosting
Cloudflare DNS privacy rating
Our pick
Authoritative DNS hosting on Cloudflare's anycast network with a free plan, DNSSEC, an API and security-key login.
Summary
Cloudflare DNS scores 66 out of 100 (grade C) on the DNS hosting criteria. It meets 7 of 11 criteria: no ads or data sales, transparency report, tells users about requests, TLS configuration, DNSSEC, API access and two-factor login. It partly meets independent audit and security headers. It does not meet open source and no trackers or telemetry. It is based in the United States: Five Eyes member; subject to the US CLOUD Act. Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade B+.
Score 66 out of 100. How scoring works
Criteria
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No
Open source Weight 3 of 3
Is all the source code needed to run the product public?
The DNS service is closed source.
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No
No trackers or telemetry Weight 3 of 3
Are the website and apps free of third-party trackers, with any analytics anonymous and any telemetry off by default?
The home page loads Google Tag Manager (automated test).
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Yes
No ads or data sales Weight 2 of 3
Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data?
Funded by paid plans. No ads.
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Partial
Independent audit Weight 2 of 3
Has an independent security or privacy audit been published within the last three years?
SOC 2, ISO 27001 and PCI reports exist but are only available to account administrators in the dashboard.
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Yes
Transparency report Weight 2 of 3
Does the provider regularly publish how many government and legal requests it receives and how it responds?
Semi-annual reports with counts of legal requests and responses.
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Yes
Tells users about requests Weight 1 of 3
Does the provider promise to tell users about requests for their data, unless a court forbids it?
The transparency report states customers are notified of legal requests unless legally prohibited.
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Yes
DNSSEC Weight 3 of 3
Can DNSSEC be turned on for hosted zones?
Enabled with one click. The DS record is added automatically for Cloudflare Registrar domains and manually at other registrars.
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Yes
API access Weight 1 of 3
Can records be managed through an API on every plan?
The DNS API is available on every plan, including the free plan.
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Yes
Two-factor login Weight 2 of 3
Do accounts support two-factor authentication with an authenticator app or security key?
Security keys and authenticator apps.
Automated tests
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Yes
TLS configuration Weight 2 of 3
Does the website pass the Qualys SSL Labs test with a grade of A or better?
Grade A
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Partial
Security headers Weight 1 of 3
Does the website pass the Mozilla HTTP Observatory test with a grade of A or better?
Grade B+ (80/100+)
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Not tested yet
Modern web standards Weight 1 of 3
Does the website score 90% or higher on the Internet.nl website test?
Not tested yet.