- Cloudflare and web browsers to develop new internet protocol
- The PACT protocol helps verify legitimate web access by humans and bots
- Users will be given an anonymized “personality” token to show that they have a real reason to access a site
Now that bot traffic on the Internet has officially surpassed human HTTP requests, web browsers and web infrastructure providers alike agree that something needs to be done, especially as AI agents enter the fray.
Today, Cloudflare announced a joint initiative with Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge to launch a new internet protocol designed to verify whether web access is legitimate or malicious – without intruding on users’ privacy.
Private Access Control Tokens (PACT) will act as anonymous tokens that confirm legitimate access for both humans and authorized agents without the need for user logins or CAPTCHAs that cause friction and damage the browsing experience.
Cloudflare establishes PACT with web browsers
To begin with, PACT will not deny access to automated traffic completely. According to Cloudflare, the protocol is designed to recognize legitimate access from certain bots. As consumers and businesses turn to new automations delivered by AI agents, there remains a legitimate argument for allowing certain bots to access websites.
For many AI agents, there is still a human at some point in the loop with a real reason to access a site. PACT offers an anonymous “personality” token that is tied to the user’s browser. This token uses “trusted information from contexts that have authentic relationships with people” to confirm legitimate access “while keeping that information private.”
StatCounter places the combined market share of Chrome, Firefox and Edge at around 77%, which means that the PACT protocol is likely to roll out to the majority of internet users.
“PACT will further empower businesses to identify genuine visitors and ensure they can focus their resources on the traffic that matters to them,” CloudFlare said in the announcement. “Using PACT on Cloudflare’s network raises the bar for credibility and integrity online without the traditional costs.”
“In commerce, any extra challenge, delay, or false positive can turn a purchase into an abandoned cart. Sellers need effective protections against automated abuse, but buyers shouldn’t pay for them with unnecessary friction or invasive tracking,” said Ilya Grigorik, Distinguished Engineer at Shopify.
“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.”
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