Law & jurisdiction
What is Bulletproof hosting?
Bulletproof hosting describes a provider that claims to ignore all abuse complaints and law enforcement, including for criminal activity. It is distinct from anonymous hosting, which simply does not collect identity data. Bulletproof providers' address space is blocklisted wholesale, so mail is rejected and users face constant CAPTCHAs.
Why Bulletproof hosting matters
It is distinct from anonymous hosting, which simply does not collect identity data. Bulletproof providers' address space is blocklisted wholesale, so mail is rejected and users face constant CAPTCHAs.
Bulletproof hosting in practice
Running a bulletproof server means expecting wholesale blocklisting. Your IPv4 gets flagged, mail bounces, and users hit CAPTCHAs. You would test deliverability, watch abuse queues, and weigh the price: no legitimate mailing, no clean reputation. If you get it wrong, you operate on an island, cut off from normal internet services.
What people get wrong about Bulletproof hosting
People assume bulletproof hosting ignores abuse complaints, so it suits any sensitive project. Correction: it is for criminal tolerance, not privacy. Anonymous hosting simply omits identity data, while bulletproof providers are blocklisted, harming mail and browsing. Choose anonymous, not bulletproof, for legal privacy.
Bulletproof hosting — common questions
What is bulletproof hosting?
Bulletproof hosting is a provider that claims to ignore all abuse complaints and law enforcement, even for criminal activity. This leads to wholesale blocklisting of its IP ranges, so mail is rejected and users face constant CAPTCHAs.
Is bulletproof hosting legal?
Bulletproof hosting is generally illegal because it tolerates criminal activity and ignores law enforcement. Providers may face seizure or prosecution. It differs from anonymous hosting, which merely lacks identity data and stays within legal bounds.
Where Bulletproof hosting comes up
- What is bulletproof hosting, and is OnionVPS one? Bulletproof hosting is a provider that claims to ignore all abuse complaints and law enforcement, including for criminal activity. OnionVPS is not one. We …
- Anonymous hosting vs bulletproof hosting: an important distinction Anonymous hosting means the provider does not collect your identity — a privacy property. "Bulletproof" hosting means the provider claims it will ignore al…
More from law & jurisdiction
- Warrant canary
- A warrant canary is a regularly republished statement that a provider has not received a secret legal demand; its disappearance implies that one has arrived.
- KYC
- KYC is the set of identity-verification duties imposed on regulated financial institutions before providing services.
- No-KYC hosting
- No-KYC hosting is server hosting that requires no identity verification — no government ID, billing address, phone number or payment card.
- Offshore hosting
- Offshore hosting means placing a server in a jurisdiction other than your own, typically one outside the Fourteen Eyes alliances and outside EU data-retention rules.
- Five Eyes
- The Five Eyes is a signals-intelligence sharing alliance between the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
- Fourteen Eyes
- The Fourteen Eyes is the widest of the signals-intelligence sharing groupings, comprising the Five Eyes plus Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden.
- MLAT
- An MLAT is a treaty through which one country formally requests another to gather evidence on its behalf.
- DMCA
- The DMCA is United States copyright statute whose notice-and-takedown procedure and safe harbour apply to service providers situated in the United States.