Cloudflare Zaraz adds support for server-side rendering of X and Instagram embeds

We are thrilled to announce Cloudflare Zaraz support of server-side rendering of embeds, featuring two Managed Components: X and Instagram. You can now use Cloudflare Zaraz to effortlessly embed posts from X or Instagram on your website in a performant, privacy-preserving, and secure way. Many traditional tag managers or customer data platforms rely heavily on third-party JavaScript and cookies to embed content, leading to concerns about privacy and performance. In contrast, we designed our solution to work without loading any third-party JavaScript or cookies, and furthermore to completely eliminate communication between the browser and third-party servers.

Starting today, you can use Cloudflare Zaraz not only for server-side data reporting to conventional marketing and analytics tools but also for server-side content rendering on your website. We are excited to pave the way with tools that enhance security, protect user privacy, and improve performance. Take a look at it:

Embed social media content without sacrificing security and speed

Since social media platforms emerged, we have become more and more familiar with seeing posts being embedded on websites, from showcasing user testimonials on product pages to featuring posts from reporters and politicians in news articles or blogs. Traditionally, this process has involved integrating Continue reading

Cloudflare Zaraz steps up: general availability and new pricing

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Cloudflare Zaraz has transitioned out of beta and is now generally available to all customers. It is included under the free, paid, and enterprise plans of the Cloudflare Developer Platform. Visit our docs to learn more on our different plans.

Zaraz is part of the Cloudflare Developer Platform

Cloudflare Zaraz is a solution that developers and marketers use to load third-party tools like Google Analytics 4, Facebook CAPI, TikTok, and others. With Zaraz, Cloudflare customers can easily transition to server-side data collection with just a few clicks, without the need to set up and maintain their own cloud environment or make additional changes to their website for installation. Server-side data collection, as facilitated by Zaraz, simplifies analytics reporting from the server rather than loading numerous JavaScript files on the user's browser. It's a rapidly growing trend due to browser limitations on using third-party solutions and cookies. The result is significantly faster websites, plus enhanced security and privacy on the web.

We've had Zaraz in beta mode for a year and a half now. Throughout this time, we've dedicated our efforts to meeting as many customers as we could, gathering feedback, and Continue reading

Cloudflare Zaraz launches new privacy features in response to French CNIL standards

Last week, the French national data protection authority (the Commission Nationale de l'informatique et des Libertés or “CNIL”), published guidelines for what it considers to be a GDPR-compliant way of loading Google Analytics and similar marketing technology tools. The CNIL published these guidelines following notices that the CNIL and other data protection authorities issued to several organizations using Google Analytics stating that such use resulted in impermissible data transfers to the United States. Today, we are excited to announce a set of features and a practical step-by-step guide for using Zaraz that we believe will help organizations continue to use Google Analytics and similar tools in a way that will help protect end user privacy and avoid sending EU personal data to the United States. And the best part? It takes less than a minute.

Enter Cloudflare Zaraz.

The new Zaraz privacy features

What we are releasing today is a new set of privacy features to help our customers enhance end user privacy. Starting today, on the Zaraz dashboard, you can apply the following configurations:

• Remove URL query parameters: when toggled-on, Zaraz will remove all query parameters from a URL that is reported to a third-party server. It will turn Continue reading

Need to Keep Analytics Data in the EU? Cloudflare Zaraz Can Offer a Solution

A recent decision from the Austrian Data Protection Authority (the Datenschutzbehörde) has network engineers scratching their heads and EU companies that use Google Analytics scrambling. The Datenschutzbehörde found that an Austrian website’s use of Google Analytics violates the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as interpreted by the “Schrems II” case because Google Analytics can involve sending full or truncated IP addresses to the United States.

While disabling such trackers might be one (extreme) solution, doing so would leave website operators blind to how users are engaging with their site. A better approach: find a way to use tools like Google Analytics, but do so with an approach that protects the privacy of personal information and keeps it in the EU, avoiding a data transfer altogether. Enter Cloudflare Zaraz.

But before we get into just how Cloudflare Zaraz can help, we need to explain a bit of the background for the Datenschutzbehörde’s ruling, and why it’s a big deal.

What are the privacy and data localization issues?

The GDPR is a comprehensive data privacy law that applies to EU residents’ personal data, regardless of where it is processed. The GDPR itself does not insist that personal data must Continue reading

Cloudflare acquires Zaraz to enable cloud loading of third-party tools

We are excited to announce the acquisition of Zaraz by Cloudflare, and the launch of Cloudflare Zaraz (beta). What we are releasing today is a beta version of the Zaraz product integrated into Cloudflare’s systems and dashboard. You can use it to manage and load third-party tools on the cloud, and achieve significant speed, privacy and security improvements. We have bet on Workers, and the Cloudflare technology and network from day one, and therefore are particularly excited to be offering Zaraz to all of Cloudflare's customers today, free of charge. If you are a Cloudflare customer all you need to do is to click the Zaraz icon on the dashboard, and start configuring your third-party stack. No code changes are needed. We plan to keep releasing features in the next couple of months until this beta version is a fully-developed product offering.

It’s time to say goodbye to traditional Tag Managers and Customer Data Platforms. They have done their part, and they have done it well, but as the web evolves they have also created some crucial problems. We are here to solve that.

The problems of third-party bloat

Yo'av and I founded Zaraz after having experienced working on opposite Continue reading