Some Thoughts on DNS4EU

DNS4EU says it is about securing the most basic function of how the internet works. DNS translates the names of websites into IP addresses. It is the phone book of the internet. But most users do not realize how much information DNS reveals, or how often it is controlled by entities outside the European Union.

Today, many DNS resolvers are operated by large tech companies with opaque policies and commercial interests. When Europeans use these services, their DNS traffic often leaves the region, where it becomes subject to foreign laws and potentially invasive data practices. DNS4EU provides a trusted alternative. It keeps data in Europe, follows European privacy law, and is built to serve people, not shareholders.

A Practical Response to Real Problems - What They Say

DNS4EU exists because the current state of DNS resolution creates real security and privacy risks. DNS is often used in cyber attacks. Malicious domains can deliver malware or redirect traffic without users noticing. Many DNS services do not offer threat filtering, or they rely on outdated lists. Others log user data for advertising or profiling.

DNS4EU says they are designed to provide a clean, privacy-respecting resolver with security protections built in. It supports modern encryption protocols like DNS-over-HTTPS and DNS-over-TLS, reducing the risk of interception or manipulation. It does not log or monetize user queries. And because it is funded and managed by European institutions and partners, it operates transparently under EU law.

Concerns About Government Control

Critics will come out of the wood work (and me) to argue that a state-backed DNS service could lead to censorship or monitoring. These concerns should not be dismissed out of hand, especially given how DNS is used in other parts of the world for surveillance or information control.

What feels almost obvious, a little anyway, is that DNS4EU is not a tool for content filtering based on political agendas. But give that time, I'm dubious. It is not designed to suppress speech. It is a resolver service, not a firewall. The technical community, regulatory bodies, and civil society will continue to have visibility into how it works and how it is governed. The structure of the project ensures accountability.

My Shiny Pessimism

I carry the opinion that one of the most negatively disruptive things that has happened to "our industry" is that other people want to be involved without having any appreciable skills to offer other than wagging a finger on "how things should be".

Additionally, this is just another service that will not be utilized as intended unless the user pays specific attention to it or that there are firewall controls put in place to only allow access to this service. But this is aimed at the larger user community that has no idea that's an option, much less care about it. I think of my wife who told me she specifically wanted to see the ads on the searches she was doing so she didn't have to type in more specific searches and instead just click on things in the browser (mobile device). She's not the only one.

And finally, the EU has had a long standing of wanting to protect their "community" but all it does is create added burdens for users and decidedly for companies who are providing services who, for instance, now needs to deal with GDPR. All good intentions but it's finger wagging without actually fixing the issue. I also hate to see more of this be semi-exclusive that feels a bit like semi-nationalism while complaining about nationalism. That's mostly tongue in cheek, and still a concern.

My Hopeful Optimism

I genuinely want this to improve things. I will actually attempt to use it since I have always felt stressed about DNS as an attack vector.

What I want is that this is better than the 1.'s, 4.'s or the 208.'s and definitely a better alternative than the 8.'s.

But in the end it's DNS and there's not control over apps / malware using what they want. So it's going to be a "I'm not surprised that didn't work" moment, but I'm going to be rooting for it.