Cloudflare Teams Up With Browser Giants To Build Privacy-Focused Internet Trust Layer

Cloudflare has announced a new initiative with major web browser providers, including Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Edge, to develop a privacy-preserving protocol that helps humans and bots prove their traffic is legitimate.

The initiative aims to address growing challenges caused by the rapid rise of automated and AI-driven internet traffic. Earlier this month, Cloudflare revealed that automated bots now generate more web traffic than humans, marking what could be the first time in the internet's history that machines outnumber people online.

As websites increasingly deal with sophisticated bots and AI agents, operators are looking for ways to prevent abuse without relying on invasive tracking methods or creating friction for genuine users.

The proposed protocol, called Private Access Control Tokens (PACT), is designed to allow trusted platforms to issue anonymous tokens that browsers can use to verify that a human or authorised agent is involved in a request. The system aims to reduce dependence on CAPTCHAs, forced logins, and other verification methods that can impact user experience.

“The way we interact with the Internet is facing a fundamental shift. Normal everyday tasks like ordering food previously required a user to personally navigate menus and payment gateways. Now, autonomous agents are starting to orchestrate these workflows on behalf of people.

"As AI-powered traffic becomes widespread, existing tools to support its use are too generic and coarse. Now this collaboration lets us eliminate the friction caused by security protocols for every visitor - whether they are human or agent - without sacrificing privacy,” said Dane Knecht, Cloudflare CTO.

Cloudflare said traditional approaches to managing automated traffic are becoming less effective as malicious automation grows more advanced. The company believes the shift toward agentic AI is making it increasingly difficult for websites to distinguish between legitimate users, helpful bots, and harmful traffic.

“In commerce, every extra challenge, delay, or false positive can turn a purchase into an abandoned cart. Merchants need effective protections against automated abuse, but buyers shouldn’t have to pay for them with unnecessary friction or invasive tracking. Shopify is proud to help develop PACT as an open, privacy-preserving standard that can help the millions of businesses on our platform distinguish legitimate shoppers and authorized agents from abusive traffic while preserving buyer privacy,” Ilya Grigorik, Shopify Distinguished Engineer, said.

Microsoft and Mozilla also expressed support for the initiative, highlighting the need for open standards that protect users while helping websites combat abuse.

“The health of the web depends on effective, interoperable, privacy-preserving tools that enable sites to combat abuse without unnecessary user friction. Microsoft is excited to collaborate on developing new standards and helping ensure their deployment across the open web,” said Erik Anderson, Microsoft Edge Director, Engineering, Web Platform.

Cloudflare said PACT will help businesses improve online trust and security by enabling higher-confidence verification while maintaining user privacy.