Compare URL inspection submission policies

Comparison Last tested 24 October 2026

In this 22-service snapshot, 2 services state a numeric retention period for submitted URLs or scan reports, 5 document a private mode, and 10 say public submissions or reports are visible to others. These counts include named paid modes and preserve differences within each service; an unstated field is not a promise of privacy. Before submitting a URL, check the exact product, audience and retention statement.

Start with the exact product and mode

A provider name is not enough to describe a submission. The row might concern a free website, a paid sandbox, an API or a community report. Read the product scope in the full record before applying any statement to your workflow. A promise made for one mode cannot fill a blank in another mode’s column.

For example, urlscan distinguishes Public, Unlisted and Private scans. Its Unlisted audience includes vetted researchers and companies; a Private scan can still be accessed by someone given its scan ID.¹ VirusTotal’s paid Private Scanning has organization visibility and a configurable retention period, while its standard service has a different sharing model.² Neither distinction is captured by a single private/not-private badge beside the company name.

Cloudflare’s documentation describes Public and Unlisted scans. Unlisted access depends on knowing the scan ID; that is a different boundary from requiring an authenticated organization member. The same documentation supplies separate retention periods for successful and failed scans.³ Record the selected mode with the date, because changing one control can change which statement applies.

Compare the checked statements

The counts require a numeric retention schedule, an explicitly private mode, or public/community visibility. Unlisted and hidden-from-latest controls do not count as private; general account-data retention does not count as URL retention. The table summarizes the dated records. Each provider name links to a checked official source; the JSON identifies every source and quotation used for each field. “Unknown” means the specific fact was not established in those sources. It does not mean no retention, no sharing, no account requirement or no private option.

The source set includes terms, privacy notices and supporting service documentation. These are labelled separately in the ledger. An operational fact documented in a guide is not presented as an additional contractual promise. There is no ranking, paid placement or score; use the fields to identify the exact evidence your decision needs.

Keep retention attached to the right object

A retention statement needs an object as well as a duration. Is the provider discussing an account, a submitted URL, a captured page, a report, an uploaded file or an operational log? Keep that noun beside the number. Deleting an account is not the same observation as deleting every report generated through it.

EmailVeritas, for instance, distinguishes retained URLs and associated content from immediately deleted file or email content. Its URL statement does not give a numeric expiry.⁴ The table therefore records retention without turning it into a fixed schedule. Google Cloud’s notice separately defines Service Data and explains that retention depends on data type and purpose; that broad notice does not resolve a Web Risk submitted-URL lifetime by itself.⁵

An unstated period is a reason to leave the period unknown. It is not a reason to copy a nearby thirty-day figure, apply another product’s policy or assume a deleted interface entry means every stored copy disappeared. Keep any applicable agreement alongside the public policy snapshot when the service is used under a negotiated contract.

Separate report visibility from distribution

Visibility describes who can obtain the report through the product. Sharing describes what information can reach another party. These questions overlap, but neither one answers the other completely. A report hidden from a recent-results list can still have an accessible address; a private result can still be visible to the service operator.

URLQuery’s terms describe public, restricted and private settings, and distinguish those settings from security-partner sharing. They also warn that changing visibility or removing a report does not necessarily remove copies shared earlier.⁶ Preserve that history when recording a mode change. A later setting is not evidence that an earlier disclosure was reversed.

The current MDN HTTP Observatory FAQ describes public per-domain scan history and separately says user data is not stored with each scan.⁷ Those are two different statements. They do not combine into a claim that scan results are private, or into a numeric deletion schedule. Likewise, Google Safe Browsing API terms permit sharing submitted URLs, content and metadata; the row is explicitly about that API, not every browser setting associated with Google.⁸

Use unknowns to narrow the question

The follow-up checked product documentation and FAQs for the six fully Unknown rows in the delivered data, plus Criminal IP and Web Risk. Sucuri documents a free remote scanner available to anyone, without an explicit account rule. Criminal IP documents publicly viewable recent reports and paid private scans.⁹ Other product descriptions do not by themselves settle submission privacy. The normal-browser retry rendered Hybrid Analysis’s privacy notice effective 15 September 2026, which explicitly makes submitted URLs public and available to commercial companies.¹⁰ CheckPhish’s API page states that API-scanned URLs and data are not shared or sold.¹¹ That API statement does not settle public-checker visibility or retention. Its linked terms and privacy pages displayed a site error; the earlier HTTP failures remain recorded.

Start with the field that matters for the proposed submission. If audience is the concern, look for a statement about that mode’s viewers and link access. If retention is the concern, identify the submitted object and whether the period is fixed or configurable. If sharing matters, keep recipients, exceptions and previously distributed copies separate. This produces a specific unresolved question instead of an unsupported overall grade.

Use the table viewer to find a provider or show rows containing unknown fields. It compares the records already on this page; it is not an input for submitting a URL. The local URL inspector serves a different purpose: reading the structure of a string without claiming a reputation verdict.

Reuse the dated compilation

Download the CSV or JSON, then keep the method and source ledger with any excerpt. The ledger stores each short quotation once and records source type, access limitations and checked time. Original compilation and commentary are CC BY 4.0; attribute the edition and identify changes. Provider text retains its own rights.

Not covered on this page

• Submitting links, testing private accounts or checking deletion in a provider’s systems.
• A legal interpretation of terms or a confidentiality guarantee.
• Detection quality, report accuracy, service rankings or a URL safety verdict.
• Every product tier, negotiated contract or later policy revision.