Source URL: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/08/04/1459240/perplexity-is-using-stealth-undeclared-crawlers-to-evade-website-no-crawl-directives-cloudflare-says?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed
Source: Slashdot
Title: Perplexity is Using Stealth, Undeclared Crawlers To Evade Website No-Crawl Directives, Cloudflare Says
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Summary: The report highlights ethical concerns regarding the web crawling practices of the AI startup Perplexity. By using undetected methods to bypass website restrictions on automated access, this behavior raises significant implications for compliance and governance in AI and cloud technologies.
Detailed Description: The use of undeclared web crawlers by Perplexity, as reported by Cloudflare, demands attention from professionals in security and governance sectors. Key points to consider include:
– **Evasion of Restrictions**: Perplexity’s resourceful strategy includes using a generic user agent that mimics popular browsers like Chrome to access websites that have employed robots.txt files to block its official bots.
– **High Volume Requests**: The startup’s stealth crawler is generating between 3-6 million requests daily across numerous domains, indicating significant operational scale and potential pressure on targeted websites.
– **Use of Rotating IPs**: To further avoid detection, the crawler rotates through multiple IP addresses and network providers, reflecting advanced techniques often associated with malicious activities.
– **Ethical Implications**: This approach raises ethical questions regarding data collection practices, privacy concerns, and the potential violation of website terms of service.
**Implications for Professionals**:
– **Compliance and Ethical Standards**: Security and compliance professionals must recognize the ramifications of such actions in regard to compliance with data protection laws and ethical standards.
– **Governance Considerations**: Organizations utilizing AI and cloud technologies should establish strict governance frameworks to manage how data is collected and ensure compliance with website policies.
– **Risk Management**: Understanding the tactics employed by entities like Perplexity is crucial for risk assessment and management relating to unauthorized data access.
The actions taken by Perplexity not only illustrate a potential breach of best practices in web crawling but also serve as a call to action for heightened regulation and self-governance in the face of advancing AI technologies.