okurl understand the benefits of sharing shortened URLs, but we also recognize the concerns of privacy and protection from spambots. Many free URL shortener services sell user data to third-party trackers, which is why we created a privacy-oriented option that safeguards your URL from spambots. This is particularly relevant for group chat links in online forums such as WhatsApp and Telegram, which are often targeted by spambots.
Captcha
Our current method to protect the original URL is to use a captcha challenge. We understand that captchas can be frustrating, but due to the high risk of
abuse in URL shortener services, it strikes a balance between security and user experience. It is challenging to differentiate between spambots and legitimate users without collecting user activity data, which would violate user privacy. Therefore, we chose to use a captcha challenge to provide the necessary protection. To improve the user experience, we suggest installing the
Privacy Pass extension to bypass the captcha challenge while preserving user anonymity.
To perform the captcha challenge, we rely on
Cloudflare Turnstile, a popular privacy-focused alternative to Google's
reCAPTCHA. However, it is important to note that captchas are not a complete solution to prevent spam.
Some businesses employ humans to solve captchas, but we aim to make it difficult enough for spammers to deter them economically.
Security
We prioritize the safety of our users from malware and phishing attempts. For this reason, we do not auto-redirect users to the original URL. Instead, we display the full URL in text, allowing users to make a conscious decision on whether to visit the URL or not. This way, users have more control over their online safety and can avoid visiting URLs that may potentially be harmful.
Analytics
(Coming soon)
Credits
Illustration credits go to
pixeltrue.
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