Are there block explorers which respect your privacy?

[d5000]

We recently had a discussion in the German subforum about the data sources chain analysis companies use to associate addresses to know which belong to the same wallets and/or users. One of these sources are block explorers: if you query different addresses repeatedly from the same IP address on, it is likely that the block explorer sells this data ("visitor information") to chain analysis companies, or is run by the company themselves, as a repeated query of the same address from the same IP address (or with the exact same browser fingerprint) is a strong hint that the addresses belong to the same user.

What I want to ask is if there are block explorers which are known to respect your privacy and don't transmit this visitor information to third parties.

Best case would be of course that they either don't store the IP addresses of their visitors at all (except for server logs which then are deleted periodically), but it would be also interesting if they simply declare (e.g. in their Terms of Service / Privacy Notice) that they don't transmit data to third parties.

Of course the block explorer could still cheat and sell the data anyway, above all if it's a relatively new service, but if a block explorer is quite established already, declares this and isn't found to be "cheating" that way for years, they could become relatively trustworthy.

Anyway of course one should always use block explorers with Tor or VPNs. But even then, human errors occur, so a privacy-respecting service would be better even if you already use these tools.


List of recommended block explorers

- https://mempool.space - good privacy policy, no other red flags

Less recommended - be cautious

- https://blockchair.com - privacy policy looks good at a first glance, but there are some vague points, and they display third party risk scores for addresses (if you click on them, you'll be taken to chain analysis websites transmitting them your data!)

[ranochigo]

Blockchair is one of the longest standing one with a clear privacy policy that respects your privacy: https://blockchair.com/privacy. However, there is no way at all to prove that they don't collect any information, and thus you should always assume that your privacy is compromised when you're using a third party service.

An easier way for your privacy to be compromised is to use ISP, or perhaps even VPNs/Proxy. They don't exactly preserve your privacy and it the traffic is easy to analyze by an intermediary. Using Tor would be advisable to mitigate this, and with the rotating identity, you can probably preserve your privacy better with the onion service anyways.

[Helena Yu]

Blockchair is the best, they support Tor, can works without JavaScript, and segwit identifiable.

Other explorers lack of one from three thing I mentioned above.

I think the best thing is to know which data we given to them rather than trust them whether they allow or not allow to share information to third party, once they get our data, we never know next.

Reference List of useful Bitcoin block explorers

[justinlamode]

Apart from Blockchair, you can also use https://intel.arkm.com/ which is open source and very good as well. And like many people already stated, there is no way to prove that some of these websites does not have separate sever where they store user data. To ensure privacy, you can always use Tor browser.

[Ambatman]

The only one you can atleast trust with your privacy is yourself
We have seen cases of platform that stated that they don't keep customers data
Proven otherwise when a bridge occur.
The best remains using a self hosted explorer

Well atleast mempool.space is open sourced and supports Tor from what I can remember.

[BitGoba]

Using your own mempool explorer through a personal Bitcoin node is the best option for privacy. Every node has its own mempool, so when you run your own node, you don't have to rely on public explorers that can track your IP address and user behavior.

If you're running a full node on Umbrel or Start9, it's very simple to set up , it only takes one click, and you don’t need any technical knowledge because everything is pre-configured and ready to use.
Umbrel OS is a bit more user-friendly for running a Bitcoin node compared to Start9. BTC Sessions made a great YouTube tutorial showing how to run your own Bitcoin node and open your own Lightning channels. Starting at 46 minutes and 20 seconds, he explains how to install Mempool explorer to help protect your privacy. That part alone is worth watchin

https://youtu.be/qFfhr4sApso?si=NV6_tO25XYqURAbN&t=2789

[_act_]

What I want to ask is if there are block explorers which are known to respect your privacy and don't transmit this visitor information to third parties.

Do not trust any blockchain explorer even if they said they respect people's privacy, just use Tor to connect to the blockchain explorers and not use ISPN. All the explorers that I know are allowing Tor.

Those mentioned above allow Tor. Also https://www.blockchain.com/explorer, https://blockstream.info/ and many other explorers all allow Tor.

I have not seen one before that does not allow Tor but maybe there is.

[Die_empty]

Best case would be of course that they either don't store the IP addresses of their visitors at all (except for server logs which then are deleted periodically), but it would be also interesting if they simply declare (e.g. in their Terms of Service / Privacy Notice) that they don't transmit data to third parties.

We also store the incoming IP addresses in masked or clear form for short periods of 1 to 2 days. This is to limit the rate of API requests.

In their privacy policy, Blockchair claims that they keep IP addresses for no more than two days. Which means every information about users doesn't last more than this period. The challenge would be how users would be sure that these details have been deleted? Another problem is what if there is a hack within these two days? The bottom line is that users should increase their privacy by using Tor or VPNs.

https://blockchair.com/privacy

[_act_]

The bottom line is that users should increase their privacy by using Tor or VPNs.

VPN are centralized and use one server, I do not trust. Tor use 3 nodes before routing your internet connection to the site you are visiting. Use just Tor.

[dkbit98]

Mempool.space  is hands down the best bitcoin explorer that is available today.
It is open source, so you can run it on your own without third parties, and it has onion link available for keeping private your real IP address.
https://mempool.space/
https://github.com/mempool/mempool

Blockchair is the best, they support Tor, can works without JavaScript, and segwit identifiable.

Blockhair is garbage that is supporting concept of tainted bitcoin addresses, they even have ranking scores for addresses.
This totally anti-privacy and anti-bitcoin.

[Stalker22]

What about self-hosted open-source block explorers? When you run your own instance of some software like BTC RPC Explorer or Mempool, you can own your data and only you can access the server logs and visitor data.  theres no third party to worry about.

[d5000]

The Blockchair privacy notice indeed looks quite good, at least I have not seen any red flag, although some points are a bit vague (those ponts about that they use the data only to improve their service). I noticed also they are linked from some open source wallets, so they may have indeed a quite good reputation.

Thus I don't really understand @dkbit98's post:

Blockhair is garbage that is supporting concept of tainted bitcoin addresses, they even have ranking scores for addresses.
This totally anti-privacy and anti-bitcoin.

Can you link to some sources about that? No issue, I only think the contrast between your post and for example @ranochigo's is quite notable

Mempool.space's privacy notice is similar to Blockchair's, perhaps even a bit more coherent and with less unimportant information, so I may give them some more "points" in my "privacy score".

The entry I can't absolutely understand here is that one:

Apart from Blockchair, you can also use https://intel.arkm.com/ which is open source and very good as well.

Arkham, isn't that one of the "bad guys" exactly?


By the way, I wonder if a service exists which lets you query a full node freely on a web interface, i.e. where you can download chunks of blocks instead of querying addresses, and then search the data offline for e.g. transactions and addresses. I guess some block explorers may allow that via API but a web interface would be nice for "quick and fast" queries.

[ranochigo]

Can you link to some sources about that? No issue, I only think the contrast between your post and for example @ranochigo's is quite notable

I don't consider those points as it doesn't answer the topic so it is quite a different evaluation. I'm also refraining from analyzing what conforms to the Bitcoin's values because it can be rather subjective and is likely not the focus for most Bitcoin users.

By the way, I wonder if a service exists which lets you query a full node freely on a web interface, i.e. where you can download chunks of blocks instead of querying addresses, and then search the data offline for e.g. transactions and addresses. I guess some block explorers may allow that via API but a web interface would be nice for "quick and fast" queries.

You can't download the chunks of blocks since they would be meaningless without having the blocks before it. It would also be the best practice to validate all the blocks as well. To query transactions like a blockexplorer, you need to index all of the transactions, which is not what Bitcoin Core or any other full node does by default.

Otherwise, mempool.space would be a pretty nice solution for a self-hosted explorer.

[Publictalk792]

Yes when we use block explorer repeated searches we make from same computer can be used to link different cryptocurrency addresses to us which is major privacy risk. To avoid this is best to use block explorers that care about your privacy. Look for services that are open source so people can check their code or ones you can run yourself on your own computer. Also choose explorers with clear privacy policies that promise not to track or sell your data and use them with Tor or VPN to hide your online activity. Good examples of these are open source explorers like Esplora and Mempool.space. We should keep in mind that even with these services using VPN or Tor is most important step to protect our privacy.

[Bear2Bull]

Yes when we use block explorer repeated searches we make from same computer can be used to link different cryptocurrency addresses to us which is major privacy risk. To avoid this is best to use block explorers that care about your privacy. Look for services that are open source so people can check their code or ones you can run yourself on your own computer. Also choose explorers with clear privacy policies that promise not to track or sell your data and use them with Tor or VPN to hide your online activity. Good examples of these are open source explorers like Esplora and Mempool.space. We should keep in mind that even with these services using VPN or Tor is most important step to protect our privacy.

The concerns you raise about privacy when using block explorers are very valid and crucial in the crypto space. Identifying yourself through repeated searches from the same location can potentially link one's crypto addresses, creating a significant privacy gap. To mitigate this risk, choosing a privacy-focused block explorer is highly recommended. Prioritize services that are open source, allow independent code review, or can be run locally on your own computer. A transparent privacy policy, explicitly guaranteeing no tracking or data sales, is also a determining factor. Furthermore, using Tor or a VPN in conjunction is a crucial step in obscuring your online activity. Open-source explorers like Esplora and Mempool.space are excellent examples of this, reinforcing the importance of using Tor or a VPN as a key layer of defense.

[Catenaccio]

Anyway of course one should always use block explorers with Tor or VPNs. But even then, human errors occur, so a privacy-respecting service would be better even if you already use these tools.

Use Tor to access Bitcoin block explorer is recommended by sometimes people can make mistake and forget to use Tor.

There is another solution by using Watch-only wallet and import your public addresses that you want to observe bitcoin balances. It will be better for privacy as by using Watch-only wallets, there is no longer reason of using any Bitcoin block explorer with unknown backdoors from them.

Not sure there are open sourced Bitcoin blockchain explorers?
Do you know any open sourced one?

[d5000]

You can't download the chunks of blocks since they would be meaningless without having the blocks before it.

I don't think that is meaningless. Of course you have to compare the previous block hash included in the first block of your chunk with several sources (e.g. at all block explorers you know if you're paranoid ). But if you know e.g. that you received a Bitcoin transaction one day before, but want to check the correct amount without having to fire up a SPV wallet (which potentially may expose you to Electrum server privacy attacks) then such a service may be quite neat as you can check all blocks of the last 24 hours approximately. You do all the analysis on your own device, without exposing the addresses you own, and without needing a full node.

Also if you want to do some onchain analysis of certain blocks on your own (e.g. to look for hints which addresses could belong to a single wallet) and you know approximately the timeframe where you're searching, that would also be an use case for such a service.

In the end, that kind of service could basically enable everything a normal block explorer can (even what walletexplorer.com does, i.e. search for "connected" addresses which may belong to the same wallet), only that you need slightly more resources on your device, but far away from the resources you need for a full node.

[ABCbits]

Since you're fairly technical user, are you aware of blockchain explorer that claim to use fully homomorphic encryption?

Some are in the process of implementing this idea with fully homomorphic encryption, but as a block explorer: https://btc.usespiral.com/
This is their paper: https://eprint.iacr.org/2022/368
And this their repository: https://github.com/menonsamir/spiral-rs

The website is no longer online, but it supposed to let them perform some query task without knowing decrypted input/output data.

[illanz]

Running your own mempool explorer on a personal Bitcoin node offers optimal privacy, since each node has its own mempool and you avoid public explorers that can track your activity. With solutions like Umbrel or Start9, setup is fast just one click, with everything pre-configured and requiring no technical skills.

[Lucius]

In their privacy policy, Blockchair claims that they keep IP addresses for no more than two days. Which means every information about users doesn't last more than this period. The challenge would be how users would be sure that these details have been deleted? Another problem is what if there is a hack within these two days? The bottom line is that users should increase their privacy by using Tor or VPNs.

You can never be sure that what is written in the terms of use is true - it may just be a trick to fool users into thinking that using that service is safer than using someone else's. I think that a service that would respect privacy in that way would not even be able to survive, given that "they" want to know absolutely everything when it comes to such transactions.

The data that leaked several years ago only confirmed that "they" have been following us practically from the very beginning and that they were already doing very well at it back then (2013), and does anyone think that they are not much better at it today?

It turns out the conspiracy theorists were onto something. Classified documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden show that the National Security Agency indeed worked urgently to target bitcoin users around the world — and wielded at least one mysterious source of information to “help track down senders and receivers of Bitcoins,” according to a top-secret passage in an internal NSA report dating to March 2013. The data source appears to have leveraged the NSA’s ability to harvest and analyze raw, global internet traffic while also exploiting an unnamed software program that purported to offer anonymity to users, according to other documents.

Although the agency was interested in surveilling some competing cryptocurrencies, “Bitcoin is #1 priority,” a March 15, 2013 internal NSA report stated.

The documents indicate that “tracking down” bitcoin users went well beyond closely examining bitcoin’s public transaction ledger, known as the Blockchain, where users are typically referred to through anonymous identifiers; the tracking may also have involved gathering intimate details of these users’ computers. The NSA collected some bitcoin users’ password information, internet activity, and a type of unique device identification number known as a MAC address, a March 29, 2013 NSA memo suggested. In the same document, analysts also discussed tracking internet users’ internet addresses, network ports, and timestamps to identify “BITCOIN Targets.”