Databay field notes
Proxy guides, experiments & operator notes
Engineering guides and first-party measurements for people operating proxy-backed data systems.
- 01Guides7
- 02Tutorials3
- 03Comparisons4
- 04Research5
Newest update Jul 20, 2026 · methodology-open research
Free Proxy List Benchmark: 2,911 Proxies Tested
Results from a June 11, 2026 test of 2,911 entries across seven free proxy lists, covering availability, HTTPS, latency, stability, and study limits.
11 min readRead articleAll articles
19 entries
Residential IP Reputation: 1,000 Published Observations
What 1,000 redacted route observations across 25 ASNs show about DNSBL labels, Tor and DROP checks, network classification, and dataset...
10 min readRead
Headless Browser Detection Signals: Defensive Testing
How sites combine browser, rendering, network, session, and behavior signals—and how to test them defensively without treating a...
10 min readRead
TLS Fingerprinting Through Proxies: JA3, JA4, Tunnels
How JA3 and JA4 summarize TLS clients, when proxies preserve or replace a ClientHello, and how to test a path without treating a hash as...
10 min readRead
Proxy Anonymity Levels: Elite vs Anonymous vs Transparent
What common proxy anonymity labels measure, how header-based tests work, and why no label proves privacy, safety, authorization, or...
8 min readRead
Free Proxy List Methodology and Coverage Limits
Definitions for the fields Databay publishes, the freshness and filtering rules visible in the website code, and explicit limits on what...
8 min readRead
Are Proxies Legal? A Risk-Based Compliance Guide
Proxy software is not a blanket permission or prohibition. This source-linked guide explains why legality depends on authorization...
13 min readRead
Proxies for Authorized Social Media Management
A security- and compliance-first guide to stable network access, official platform tools, client separation, and regional public-content QA.
4 min readRead
Are Free Proxies Safe? A Practical Threat Model
Unknown public proxies have no dependable identity, security, retention, or availability commitment. Learn what HTTPS does and does not...
8 min readRead
Static vs. Rotating Proxies: Persistence and Safe Use
Static, dedicated, shared, and sticky describe different proxy properties. This guide separates them and shows how to choose persistence...
7 min readRead
How to Test a Free Proxy Safely
Use unknown public proxies only for disposable, non-sensitive diagnostics against systems you are authorized to test. Never disable...
8 min readRead
Responsible Web Data Collection: Authorization and Controls
A practical control framework for authorized web data collection: source rights, robots.txt, technical boundaries, privacy, load...
11 min readRead
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