Cloudflare offers notable privacy positives, especially no-sale language, user rights mechanisms, and limited logging for 1.1.1.1 resolver data. But its terms include broad liability disclaimers, unilateral changes, perpetual content licensing, and termination without notice, which reduce user protections.
Cloudflare’s website/free-service terms are fairly protective of the company, with broad suspension rights, warranty/liability limits, and unilateral changes. Its privacy policy is stronger than average in some areas: it says it does not sell or rent personal information, offers access/deletion/portability rights, and gives unusually privacy-protective commitments for the 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver. Data sharing for marketing and international transfers still occurs, and retention is flexible rather than tightly time-limited.
Points of interest
For the 1.1.1.1 public resolver, Cloudflare says it does not log personal information and keeps most limited query data only 25 hours. This is an unusually strong privacy commitment for a DNS service.
"Our 1.1.1.1 resolver service does not log personal information, and the bulk of the limited non-personally identifiable query data is only stored for 25 hours."
Cloudflare can suspend or terminate access at its sole discretion, with or without notice and for any or no reason. That means free-service users may lose access abruptly with little recourse.
"We may at our sole discretion suspend or terminate your access... at any time, with or without notice for any reason or no reason at all."
The service is provided as-is and Cloudflare disclaims warranties while broadly limiting liability for damages. In practice, this makes it harder for users to recover losses if the website or free online services fail or cause harm.
"THE WEBSITES AND ONLINE SERVICES ARE MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS"
Cloudflare expressly says it does not sell or rent personal information. That is a meaningful privacy commitment, though it still allows sharing with service providers, partners, and affiliates for business purposes.
"We will not sell or rent your personal information."
Users can request access, correction, portability, deletion, restriction, or objection by contacting Cloudflare. Customers and admins can also update or export some account data directly through their account settings.
"You have the right to access, correct, update, port, or delete your personal information, and to restrict or object"
If you submit content, feedback, or suggestions, you keep ownership but give Cloudflare a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide license to use and modify it. Users should assume submitted materials can be reused indefinitely without payment.
"you are granting Cloudflare a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free right and license"
Cloudflare can modify the terms at any time by posting updated terms, and your only stated remedy is to stop using the service. Users may need to monitor the terms themselves for important changes.
"Cloudflare reserves the right to make modifications to these Terms at any time... your sole and exclusive remedy will be to discontinue"
You agree to indemnify Cloudflare for claims and costs tied to your use, violations, or disputes involving third parties. This can shift legal and financial risk onto users if their activity triggers a claim.
"you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Cloudflare... from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages"
Cloudflare says it may share information with marketing and advertising partners and may provide them your email or limited account information unless you opt out. This is not a sale, but it is still meaningful data sharing for promotion.
"we may also provide these marketing and advertising partners with your email address or other limited account information"
Disputes are routed to California law and exclusive courts in San Francisco County. This preserves a court path rather than mandatory arbitration, but it may be inconvenient or costly for users outside that area.
"submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located within San Francisco County, California"
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Documents
Terms of Service
source ↗- •These terms cover Cloudflare’s public websites and free online services, not paid services governed by separate subscription or written agreements.
- •You must follow applicable laws, and Cloudflare may suspend or terminate your access at any time, with or without notice.
- •If you submit content or feedback, you keep ownership but grant Cloudflare a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free license to use and modify it.
- •You promise your submitted content does not violate others’ rights or defame anyone, and you must indemnify Cloudflare for claims tied to your use.
- •You may not misuse the services, exceed limits, hack systems, spread malware, violate laws, or scrape site content for AI training unless robots.txt allows it.
- •Cloudflare says its services are provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties about accuracy, reliability, fitness, or non-infringement.
- •Cloudflare broadly limits liability and says it is not liable for damages arising from use of, or inability to use, its websites or online services.
- •Cloudflare may change or discontinue features without notice, and your only remedy if terms change is to stop using the services.
- •Disputes are governed by California law and must be brought in state or federal courts in San Francisco County, California.
- •Cloudflare may share abuse complaints with relevant parties unless you use its opt-out procedure, and abuse API tokens can be suspended or revoked anytime.
Privacy Policy
source ↗- •Cloudflare collects contact, account, billing, log, cookie, DNS, registrar, and service-usage data, depending on whether you are a visitor, customer, user, or registrant.
- •It uses this information to provide, secure, maintain, improve, market, and support its services, process transactions, personalize content, and meet legal obligations.
- •Cloudflare says it does not sell or rent personal information, but it may share data with service providers, affiliates, partners, app developers, authorities, and in business transfers.
- •Website visitors can manage cookies and interest-based advertising through Cookie Preferences or Your Privacy Choices, and marketing emails can be unsubscribed from.
- •Cloudflare acts as a processor for much customer and end-user service data, while customers are responsible for their own websites, apps, and end-user privacy compliance.
- •You can request access, correction, deletion, portability, restriction, or objection by emailing [email protected], subject to identity verification and applicable law.
- •Cloudflare stores data mainly in the United States and EEA, transfers it globally with stated safeguards, and relies on DPF, CBPR, and contractual transfer mechanisms.
- •For the 1.1.1.1 public DNS resolver, Cloudflare says it does not log personal information, stores most limited query data for 25 hours, and keeps aggregate data longer.
- •Cloudflare retains personal information as needed for business or legal purposes, then deletes it or secures it against further use if deletion is impracticable.
- •California residents can opt out of certain advertising-related data sharing, and EU, UK, and Swiss users can complain to regulators or TRUSTe for DPF-related disputes.
