The Wikipedia article says Cloudflare has been used to host hate speech, websites with illegal content and forums connected to all sorts of illegal activities. And I see them being used by a lot of decent webservices but shady ones as well.
So my question, can Cloudflare be used for something alike “bulletproof hosting”? Does anyone know if they collaborate with law enforcement or care once someone sends a mail to the abuse contact? Or if there’s a way to find information about a Cloudflare protected server for the public?
Hypothetical question, I’m just curious and I thought maybe someone here has first-hand experience with getting their account terminated or reporting content or doing piracy via them or whatever…
yes, they do. they aren’t there to provide bulletpoof hosting, they are there to make your site resistant to DDoS attacks. as an added bonus, if you are selfhosting they also provide you with a bit of anonymity, in the sense that someone can’t just figure out your general location from your ISP.
that doesn’t mean people can’t figure out who you are from the content you host. and if you are hosting content that is illegal, even if it’s illegal in another country, then you are likely to be exposed when their courts subpoena cloudflare. cloudflare isn’t going to fight too hard to protect your identity against a government, and honestly I don’t blame them for that because they never said that was their mission or purpose. they are DDoS protection, with a few other features that might be useful to you.
Calling cloudflare “DDOs protection, with a few other features that might be useful to you” is so insanely downplaying what cloudflare provides.