Cloudflare · Cloudflare Privacy Policy · View original document ↗

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Medium severity High confidence Explicitdocumentlanguage Common · 70 of 325 platforms
Share 𝕏 Share in Share 🔒 PDF
Recent governance activity Cloudflare recorded 2 documented changes in the last 30 days.
Start monitoring updates
Monitor governance changes for Cloudflare Create a free account to receive the weekly governance digest and monitor one platform for governance changes.
Create free account No credit card required.
Document Record

What it is

Cloudflare uses cookies and similar tracking tools on its own websites, including for advertising purposes, and works with third parties who may track your activity across other websites.

This analysis describes what Cloudflare's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology

ConductAtlas Analysis

Why it matters (compliance & governance perspective)

Third-party advertising and cross-site tracking technologies extend Cloudflare's data collection beyond its own services into your broader browsing behavior, which is a category of processing that carries heightened consent requirements in the EU and opt-out rights in California.

Consumer impact (what this means for users)

Cookies and third-party trackers used by Cloudflare may follow your activity across multiple websites, not just Cloudflare's own pages, and this data may be used to serve you targeted advertising.

What you can do

⚠️ These actions may provide transparency or partial mitigation but may not fully address the underlying issue. Effectiveness varies by jurisdiction and individual circumstances.
  • Opt Out of Arbitration
    To opt out of sale or sharing of personal information (including advertising cookies), submit a request via Cloudflare's privacy portal. EU users can adjust cookie preferences using the consent tool on Cloudflare's website.

How other platforms handle this

Whatnot Medium

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on our Services and store certain information. Tracking technologies also used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze our Services. You can instruct your browser to refuse all c...

Ideogram Medium

We and our third-party partners may use cookies, web beacons, and other tracking technologies to collect information about your use of our Services, including your browser type, pages viewed, links clicked, and the date and time of your visit.

Tabnine Medium

We use cookies, web beacons, pixel tags, and similar tracking technologies to collect information about your interactions with our website and services. This includes information about the pages you visit, links you click, and how you navigate our site. We use this information for analytics, persona...

See all platforms with this clause type →

Monitoring

Cloudflare has changed this document before.

Receive same-day alerts, structured change summaries, and monitoring for up to 10 platforms.

Start Watcher free trial Or create a free account →
▸ View Original Clause Language DOCUMENT RECORD
"
Cloudflare uses cookies and other similar tracking technologies (such as web beacons and pixels) to gather information when you interact with our Services. Some cookies are essential to make our Services work properly. Others help us improve your experience, understand how our Services are used, or provide you with relevant advertising and marketing. We may also work with third-party partners and providers who use cookies and similar technologies to collect information about your online activities across third-party websites or online services.

— Excerpt from Cloudflare's Cloudflare Privacy Policy

ConductAtlas Analysis

Institutional analysis (Compliance & governance intelligence)

REGULATORY LANDSCAPE: Cookie and tracking technology use engages the EU ePrivacy Directive (often called the Cookie Law), GDPR consent requirements for non-essential cookies, and CCPA and CPRA opt-out rights for sale or sharing of personal information through behavioral advertising trackers. The FTC Act applies to deceptive advertising practices in the U.S. GOVERNANCE EXPOSURE: Medium. The disclosure of third-party advertising cookies and cross-site tracking is operationally significant and requires affirmative consent for EU users and a clear opt-out mechanism for California users. If consent mechanisms are not implemented correctly, this creates meaningful regulatory exposure with EU supervisory authorities. JURISDICTION FLAGS: EU and EEA users must be offered a genuine choice to refuse non-essential cookies prior to placement. California residents have the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information, which may include behavioral advertising data transmitted via cookies. UK users face analogous requirements under UK GDPR and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. CONTRACT AND VENDOR IMPLICATIONS: Organizations embedding Cloudflare tools should audit whether their own cookie consent mechanisms account for Cloudflare-placed trackers and whether their privacy notices disclose Cloudflare as a third-party data recipient. Procurement teams should confirm Cloudflare's standard contractual terms address advertising cookie data flows. COMPLIANCE CONSIDERATIONS: Compliance teams should audit the cookie consent interface on Cloudflare's own websites to confirm it meets current regulatory standards, including pre-ticked boxes being absent and equal prominence of accept and reject options. Teams should also confirm that Cloudflare's advertising cookie practices are disclosed in their organization's own privacy notices where Cloudflare tools are deployed.

Full compliance analysis

Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.

Track 1 platform — free Try Watcher free for 14 days

Free: track 1 platform + weekly digest. Watcher: 10 platforms + same-day alerts. No credit card required.

Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    FTC has authority over deceptive or unfair data collection and behavioral advertising practices under the FTC Act
    File a complaint →
  • State AG
    California Privacy Protection Agency and State AGs in states with comprehensive privacy laws enforce opt-out rights for behavioral advertising and data sharing
    File a complaint →

Applicable regulations

CCPA/CPRA
California, USA
Connecticut Data Privacy Act Amendments
US-CT
CAN-SPAM
United States Federal
ePrivacy Directive
European Union
FTC Act Section 5
United States Federal
GDPR
European Union
Indiana Consumer Data Protection Act
US-IN
Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act
US-KY
Universal Opt-Out Mechanism Expansion 2026
US

Provision details

Document information
Document
Cloudflare Privacy Policy
Entity
Cloudflare
Document last updated
May 5, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
May 9, 2026
Last verified
May 9, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-004661
Document ID
CA-D-00282
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
Content hash (SHA-256)
a064dbc72c132183a5977f85d35f4fcab210be3ae8baa95a0ce1278288c6ad03
Analysis generated
May 9, 2026 18:32 UTC
Methodology
Evidence
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Hash verified
Citation Record
Entity: Cloudflare
Document: Cloudflare Privacy Policy
Record ID: CA-P-004661
Captured: 2026-05-09 18:32:48 UTC
SHA-256: a064dbc72c132183…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/cloudflare/cloudflare-privacy-policy/cookies-and-tracking-technologies/
Accessed: May 13, 2026
Permanent archival reference. Stable identifier suitable for legal filings, compliance documentation, and research citation.
Classification
Severity
Medium
Categories

Other risks in this policy

Related Analysis

Professional Governance Intelligence

Need to monitor specific governance provisions?

Professional includes provision-level monitoring, governance timelines, regulatory mapping, and audit-ready analysis.

Arbitration clauses AI governance Data rights Indemnification Retention policies
Start Professional free trial

Or start with Watcher →

Built from archived source documents, structured governance mappings, and historical version tracking.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Cloudflare's Cookies and Tracking Technologies clause do?

Third-party advertising and cross-site tracking technologies extend Cloudflare's data collection beyond its own services into your broader browsing behavior, which is a category of processing that carries heightened consent requirements in the EU and opt-out rights in California.

How does this clause affect you?

Cookies and third-party trackers used by Cloudflare may follow your activity across multiple websites, not just Cloudflare's own pages, and this data may be used to serve you targeted advertising.

How many platforms have this type of clause?

ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 70 platforms. See the full comparison.

Is ConductAtlas affiliated with Cloudflare?

No. ConductAtlas is an independent monitoring service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Cloudflare.