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The web does not need gatekeepers: Cloudflare’s new “signed agents” pitch

(positiveblue.substack.com)
454 points positiveblue | 2 comments | 29 Aug 25 16:35 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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dlcarrier ◴[29 Aug 25 17:20 UTC] No.45066858[source]▶
I use uncommon web browsers that don't leak a lot of information. To Cloudflare, I am indistingushable from a bot.

Privacy cannot exist in an environment where the host gets to decide who access the web page. I'm okay with rate limiting or otherwise blocking activity that creates too much of a load, but trying to prevent automated access is impossible withou preventing access from real people.

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1. ehnto ◴[29 Aug 25 18:12 UTC] No.45067533[source]▶
I also do the same and get caught up by bot blockers.

However, I do believe the host can do whatever they want with my request also.

This issue becomes more complex when you start talking about government sites, since ideally they have a much stronger mandate to serve everyone fairly.

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2. lostmsu ◴[30 Aug 25 13:24 UTC] No.45074454[source]▶
I agree with you, but the website owners just don't seem to understand that they are making their small problem into a big problem for real people, some of which will drop off.