PublicDNS Tools

Privacy Policy

This page explains how PublicDNS.nl handles personal data and technical information when you use the site.

Who we are

PublicDNS.nl is an online tool for DNS, SSL/TLS, HTTP and email-related diagnostics. In this document, “we” refers to the operator of PublicDNS.nl.

Data we process

Data you enter

When you use the tools, you may provide:

  • Domain names and hostnames
  • IP addresses
  • URLs

These inputs are used to perform lookups (DNS, WHOIS, HTTP/HTTPS, etc.). They may appear in transient logs to monitor performance and misuse.

Technical logs

Our servers may log standard information such as:

  • IP address of the request
  • Date and time
  • Requested URL and user agent
  • Error messages and performance metrics

These logs are used for debugging, security monitoring and capacity planning. They are not used to create user profiles.

Cookies

PublicDNS.nl uses cookies for:

  • Functional cookies: for example, to store your language preference.
  • Analytics cookies: to understand how the site is used.
  • Advertising cookies: used by third-party services such as Google AdSense.

Analytics

We use web analytics (for example, Google Analytics) to collect aggregated information about usage patterns: which pages are visited, which tools are used, and technical performance. Analytics tools may set their own cookies and process your IP address in an anonymised or pseudonymised form, depending on the configuration.

Advertising (Google AdSense)

PublicDNS.nl may display advertisements via Google AdSense or similar ad networks. These third parties may use cookies and similar technologies to:

  • Serve and measure ads
  • Detect fraud and abuse
  • Personalise ad content where permitted

For details on how Google uses data, please refer to Google’s own privacy and terms pages. Where required by law, we will present a consent banner so you can manage your cookie and ad preferences.

Data sharing

We do not sell personal data. When you visit the website, limited technical information such as IP address, browser type and security logs may be processed to operate and protect the service. We use the following service providers:

  • Hosting provider – to deliver the website and tools
  • Google Analytics – to collect anonymous usage statistics (only after you have given consent)
  • Consent management to remember and record your cookie preferences
  • Journey - A way you can share our site through different platforms

These parties process data only on our behalf and solely for providing and securing the service. You can withdraw or change your cookie preferences at any time via “Cookie settings” at the bottom of the website.

MailTester (mailtester.publicdns.nl)

The PublicDNS MailTester allows users to send an email to a temporary test address in order to analyze deliverability, authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and blacklist status.

When you send an email to the MailTester address, the message and its technical metadata are temporarily stored on our servers. This may include:

  • the full email headers
  • sender address (MAIL FROM / From)
  • receiving IP address and SMTP handshake data
  • message content (body and subject)
  • authentication and DNS evaluation results

This data is used solely to generate the analysis report and provide the result page.

Do not send sensitive or confidential information.
The MailTester is intended only for testing deliverability. Because the message is processed and stored for analysis, you should never send passwords, personal documents, private communications, or any confidential data to the testing address.

Public accessibility

Each test result is accessible via a unique URL. Anyone who has this link can view the results. We do not require authentication to access a test result page. As a consequence, it is possible that another person may view your test if the link is shared, guessed, forwarded, logged by third-party systems, or otherwise exposed.

Search engines and indexing

We attempt to prevent indexing of MailTester result pages by search engines (for example using technical measures such as noindex directives). However, we cannot guarantee that third-party crawlers, archives, security scanners, mail gateways, or external services will not access or store the URL. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that a test URL will remain private or unindexed.

Data retention

Test data is automatically deleted after the selected retention period or after expiration of the test. We may also remove data earlier for operational or abuse-prevention reasons.

Manual deletion

In some cases, a delete option may be available on the result page allowing immediate removal of the test data. Once deleted, the result page and its URL will no longer function.

By using the MailTester, you acknowledge that the test results are publicly reachable by URL and that the service should not be used to transmit sensitive information.

Retention

Technical logs and analytics data are retained for a limited period, only as long as necessary for security, troubleshooting and capacity planning.

Your rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have rights such as access, rectification or deletion of personal data. For privacy-related requests, contact us at privacy@publicdns.nl.

Changes

This policy may be updated from time to time. When we make significant changes, we will update the “last updated” date below.

Last updated: 2026

This text is provided as a starting point and does not constitute legal advice. You should review and adapt it to match your actual data processing and local regulations.