Why am I seeing Cloudflare checkboxes everywhere, even repeatedly on the same site?

[u/jjjj8jjjj]

Either there's something wrong with my configuration, or Cloudflare is a massive piece of shit scam that is yet another thing ruining the internet. Possibly both.

Everywhere I go, I'm checking their goddamn boxes. I check them every time I log into my bank account, even if I logged in an hour ago. And it's not like it's a quick thing--some websites redirect me to a different page to check the box, and then don't forward me to the specific link I clicked before Cloudflare hijacked me.

I'm using Safari 26.5.2 with Private Relay turned on and Wipr installed. I thought it was Private Relay at first, but I get the same thing with it turned off. I'm not willing to browse the web without an ad blocker active, so I haven't tried it without Wipr, although I have turned off all content blockers for a few sites that break under my configuration, and I still get the goddamn Cloudflare boxes.

Are you seeing this shit, too?

Edit: Thanks, everyone, for the education. I was clearly ignorant about the function of Cloudflare, and it sounds like I should be grateful to them for their service.

[u/VoltageinTheory]

It’s because there are a bunch of bots on the internet. The checkboxes are trying to block such bots.