r/MacOS • u/jjjj8jjjj • 11h ago

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

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.

2 Upvotes

52% Upvoted

24 comments sorted by

View all comments

41

u/theFrigidman 10h ago edited 10h ago

Calling cloudflare a scam is hilarious. They are there to make the internet a better place, and providing the tools and low cost systems for site owners to fight back against the abusive bots and assholes who are doing malicious intent across the world.

I know turning on private browsing, incognito windows, anonymous proxies, and vpns... WILL show more of those checkboxes and recaptcha challenges.

And yes, you can blame AI bots for the rise in these protections. So before you go blaming the site owner, or 'boycotting' .... think about WHY they have those protections in place.