You May Have Problems Using Some Sites

Private Relay uses the latest security protocols that some smaller and older sites may not yet properly support. In this case, you’ll have problems making connections to those sites.

To be clear, every site on the internet should be up to speed, and if they’re not, you should be wary about visiting these sites in the first place, as they’re potentially insecure. Further, even smaller sites are generally served by hosting providers who take care of ensuring that everything is up to the latest standards. This isn’t a matter of web design, but rather the underlying communication protocols used between servers.

The other problem, however, is that you’re using a block of IP addresses that are shared by thousands of others. Some sites may distrust these IP addresses on sheer principle, while others may end up blacklisting them due to misbehaviour by others.

For instance, at this point, it’s impossible to edit or contribute to a Wikipedia entry when using Private Relay, since it blocks all proxy and VPN servers.

Apple recommends that hosts and service providers update their systems to recognize and trust Private Relay connections, adding that these are actually more trustworthy since they “validate that the client is an iPhone, iPad, or Mac and that the customer has a valid iCloud+ subscription,” and Apple “enforces several anti-abuse and anti-fraud techniques” before the traffic even leaves its servers.

Ultimately, however, nobody is obligated to trust these connections, and traditional fraud detection systems that rely on IP addresses could end up blocking many legitimate users due to the actions of a few.