Cloudflare Cracks Down: New Terms Forbid Proxy Use and IP Optimization

Cloudflare updated its terms of service on December 3, 2024, clarifying that its services cannot be used as a proxy, and any such use will be considered a violation of the terms, possibly leading to account suspension.

This clause is found in the Cloudflare Terms under Section 2 on Services, Subsection 2.2 on Using the Services, specifically in the restrictions listed in Item 2.2.1, where Cloudflare outlines ten explicitly prohibited actions.

Among these, Item J of the 2.2.1 restrictions stipulates that (j) use the Services to provide a virtual private network or other similar proxy services.

Currently, there are many services online utilizing Cloudflare's network services to provide proxy services, mainly because many of Cloudflare's services are free and it operates multiple data centers worldwide, allowing for proxy services to bypass restrictions like those from OpenAI's firewall.

For example, using Cloudflare's free services, including Cloudflare Workers and Cloudflare Pages, for proxying is quite common but indeed violates the original intent behind offering these services.

Another issue that may concern webmasters is the selection of preferred IP addresses. The so-called preferred IP involves intentionally selecting IP addresses of Cloudflare data centers for optimal connection, rather than using the anycast addresses automatically assigned by Cloudflare.

The issue of preferred IPs is addressed in the restrictions under Item B of 2.2.1, which prohibits interfering with, disrupting, altering, or modifying the service or any part thereof, or imposing an undue burden on the network or service (including networks of Cloudflare's peering partners) or services connected to the service, including but not limited to causing (whether directly or through addressing) your Cloudflare proxied domain traffic to be sent to IP addresses not assigned by Cloudflare for that domain.

The crux of this clause is that users must only use the IP addresses assigned by Cloudflare for their domains. Pointing domains to other Cloudflare IPs through preferred IP selection or similar methods constitutes a violation of the terms.

These restrictions could impact developers and webmasters who have long used Cloudflare's services. Here's a reminder for these developers and webmasters to cease such practices to avoid potential account suspension by Cloudflare.

According to Section 8 of the Cloudflare Terms, violating any term of the agreement will result in the loss of the license to use the services, and Cloudflare reserves the right to investigate any such violations.