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title: LibreDNS, our new encrypted DNS service | daily.dev
description: LibreOps announces LibreDNS, a new public encrypted DNS service designed to protect users' DNS traffic privacy and help bypass ISP-level censorship. The...
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# LibreDNS, our new encrypted DNS service

**[Lobsters](https://daily.dev/sources/lobsters)** · 1 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments

## Summary

LibreOps announces LibreDNS, a new public encrypted DNS service designed to protect users' DNS traffic privacy and help bypass ISP-level censorship. The service supports DNS over HTTPS (DoH), currently the most widely adopted encrypted DNS protocol, addressing the fact that traditional DNS lacks encryption and often routes through a single point of control, the ISP. The announcement notes that many commercial DNS providers have business incentives that conflict with user privacy, positioning LibreDNS as a community-run alternative funded by contributor support.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://libreops.cc/2019/10/14/libredns>

## Questions this post answers

### What is DNS over HTTPS (DoH) and why does it matter for privacy?

DNS over HTTPS encrypts DNS queries by sending them over HTTPS instead of plaintext, preventing ISPs or other intermediaries from seeing or tampering with domain lookups. It addresses a core weakness of traditional DNS, which was designed without encryption and often relies on a single ISP-provided resolver as a central point of failure or censorship. DoH has become the most widely supported encrypted DNS protocol.

_Developers weighing encrypted DNS options can track DoH adoption and tooling through daily.dev._

### Why do people switch away from their ISP's default DNS resolver?

Many ISPs are subject to state censorship, domain blocking requirements, and metadata retention obligations, making their DNS resolvers a central point of control over users' traffic. Commercial alternative DNS providers often have business models that conflict with privacy goals, which is why community-run, encrypted DNS services have emerged as an alternative for maintaining query privacy and bypassing censorship.

_Anyone evaluating DNS privacy trade-offs can follow this space on daily.dev._

## Community take

How the wider developer community reacted, aggregated from 1 discussion and 22 comments across lobsters (as of 2026-08-12).

**TL;DR:** People welcome another alternative to Google/Cloudflare for DNS resolution, but many raise concerns about trust, transparency, and whether the operators can be held accountable, plus a side debate about whether centralized DoH services are good for privacy at all.

**Sentiment:** 25% positive · 45% mixed · 30% skeptical

**The case for**

- An independent, community-run alternative to Google and Cloudflare is welcome given the centralization of DNS resolution.
- The operators responded quickly by adding a clearer privacy section after being asked about it.

**The pushback**

- No clear privacy policy or legal entity was initially visible, making it hard to know what happens to user data or who is accountable.
- Without knowing the operators personally, trusting them with DNS traffic is like trusting strangers offering free candy.
- Centralizing on any small set of DoH providers (even well-intentioned ones) may just be trading one form of centralization for another and doesn't solve censorship/hostile-network threats as well as a VPN would.

**By community**

- lobsters (mixed): Welcomed as an alternative to big-tech DNS, but tempered by real concerns about accountability, privacy policy transparency, and a philosophical debate over whether DoH services inherently promote harmful centralization.

**Hottest debate:** Whether standing up more DoH resolvers actually fights centralization or just multiplies a fundamentally centralizing, privacy-questionable approach.

**Open questions**

- Who exactly runs and controls the service, and can they be held legally accountable for privacy violations?
- Does DoH meaningfully protect privacy in hostile network scenarios compared to alternatives like a VPN?

**Highlights**

> As it stands I trust this significantly less than Cloudflare and Google. There is no privacy policy on the website and there is no mention of any legal entity behind the service so, if you use it, you 1. have no idea what they do with your data (and remember, persistent SSL cookies means that if you use DoH, then you can be tracked across networks!) 2. have no idea who to hold responsible for infringements on your privacy.
> — [bogdan on lobsters · 8 points, 3 comments](https://lobste.rs/s/wdnka4/libredns_our_new_encrypted_dns_service#c_jhvcmt)

> Yes, I saw that as well, but discounted it as it's on a separate website and * there is no mention of when those terms were last updated and * there is no mention of who controls these services so there is no one to hold liable for any violation of those terms. EDIT: I'm sure the (AFAICT 3) people running this service are well-intentioned, but my point is that, unless you personally know these people, then you can trust them about as much as you can trust 3 randos coming up to you in public to offer you free candy.
> — [bogdan on lobsters · 2 points](https://lobste.rs/s/wdnka4/libredns_our_new_encrypted_dns_service#c_r7snpv)

> Is this not simply "librewashing" a [bad idea](https://blog.powerdns.com/2019/09/25/centralised-doh-is-bad-for-privacy-in-2019-and-beyond/)? i.e. giving proponents of centralized DNS a way to claim that it is not just Google and Cloudflare running this? Or am I being too cynical here?
> — [fkooman on lobsters · 2 points, 1 comments](https://lobste.rs/s/wdnka4/libredns_our_new_encrypted_dns_service#c_cysnvs)

> > So, again, why is DoH bad for centralization? Ah, I think the was some confusion here. I consider centralization a _bad_ thing, not a good thing... DoH is good for centralization indeed!
> — [fkooman on lobsters · 1 points, 1 comments](https://lobste.rs/s/wdnka4/libredns_our_new_encrypted_dns_service#c_wix9zn)

> We have added a privacy section to the DNS webpage, because indeed it could be difficult for people to extract than information from our generic terms page.
> — [comzeradd on lobsters · 3 points](https://lobste.rs/s/wdnka4/libredns_our_new_encrypted_dns_service#c_ku4rle)

**Source threads**

- [lobsters](https://lobste.rs/s/wdnka4/libredns_our_new_encrypted_dns_service) · 59 points · 22 comments

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---

Tags: [#privacy](https://daily.dev/tags/privacy), [#dns](https://daily.dev/tags/dns), [#self-hosting](https://daily.dev/tags/self-hosting)

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