Traffic Types

Partially-encrypted traffic (PET)

PET involves a dual-phase encryption process to secure data. Traffic is encrypted between the client and validator and then re-encrypted from the validator to the target webserver. The validator completes the TLS handshake and uses its keys for encrypted communication with the target webserver. This method of communication allows the validator to assess the quality of each webscraping node and prevents data tampering across all segments of the network. Also, PET enforces proof of bandwidth for each node and is critical in ensuring the network can trace data lineage on valid network circuits.

Fully-encrypted traffic (FET)

FET is traffic that is end-to-end encrypted from the client to the target webserver. This method maintains complete data privacy when using the network, but it does not contribute to the validator’s ability to assess node quality on the network. Clients that opt to use this traffic type will have fewer guarantees of the completeness, consistency, timeliness, and reliability of the data. Additionally, clients that use FET will typically consume a higher gas rate to account for the reduced utility to the network.