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Is readthedocs.io a Scam? Security Check Results - Read the Docs, Inc Reviews

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Is readthedocs.io Safe? Security Analysis for Read the Docs, Inc

Check if readthedocs.io is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

TechnologyN/amedium
Pelican static site generatorFont Awesome 7 ProOpen Graph metadataTwitter CardsAtom feed
Analyzed 9/5/2025Completed 9:18:56 PM
61
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

AI Summary

Read the Docs, Inc operates a documentation building and hosting platform aimed at developers, providing versioned documentation, integrated search, and pull request previews. The platform is well positioned in the technology sector as a specialized service for software documentation. The website uses a Pelican static site generator and Font Awesome Pro icons, indicating a modern and professional technical infrastructure. However, the site lacks visible privacy, cookie, and terms of service policies, which are important for compliance and user trust. Security posture is moderate with no detected security headers or explicit SSL configuration details, suggesting room for improvement in security best practices. Overall, the site is accessible and professionally presented but would benefit from enhanced privacy and security measures to improve trust and compliance.

Detected Technologies

Pelican static site generatorFont Awesome 7 ProOpen Graph metadataTwitter CardsAtom feed

🧠AI Business Intelligence

Technology stack, business insights, and market analysis powered by AI.

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

The business targets developers and organizations needing documentation hosting and building services. Its business model is platform as a service, focusing on technical documentation with features like versioning and pull request previews. The company appears medium-sized with consistent branding and good content quality. There is no evidence of partnerships or subsidiaries from the provided data. The lack of explicit contact information and privacy policies may impact user confidence and compliance with regulations such as GDPR. The company should consider enhancing transparency and compliance documentation to strengthen market position and trust.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The current security maturity level is moderate. The website uses HTTPS (implied by the URL) but lacks visible security headers such as Content Security Policy, HSTS, or X-Frame-Options. No vulnerable libraries or exposed sensitive data were detected in the provided content. The absence of privacy and cookie policies indicates compliance gaps. Incident response and security contact information are not found, which could hinder effective security incident management. The site would benefit from implementing comprehensive security headers, publishing privacy and cookie policies, and providing clear security contact channels to improve security culture and readiness.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement and enforce security headers including CSP, HSTS, and X-Frame-Options.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

Read the Docs, Inc

Description:

Read the Docs is a documentation building and hosting platform aimed at helping developers creating documentation from code with versioned documentation, integrated search, pull request previews and more.

Key Services:
documentation buildingdocumentation hostingversioned documentationintegrated searchpull request previews
Content Quality:

good

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
Pelican static site generatorFont Awesome 7 ProOpen Graph metadataTwitter CardsAtom feed
Frameworks:
Pelican
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

basic

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
50/100

Analytics & Tracking

Tracking Level:minimal
Privacy Compliance:poor

Advertising & Marketing

Transparency Level:poor

Website Quality Assessment

Design Quality:good
User Experience:good
Content Relevance:good
Navigation Clarity:good
Professionalism:good
Trustworthiness:moderate

Key Observations

1

Website is accessible and not blocked by WAF or security mechanisms.

🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

25/100
Score

Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

HIGH

Forces HTTPS connections

Missing X-Frame-Options header

HIGH

Prevents clickjacking attacks

Missing Content-Security-Policy header

HIGH

Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

Missing X-XSS-Protection header

MEDIUM

Legacy XSS protection (deprecated but still recommended)

Weak Referrer-Policy configuration

LOW

Current value: "no-referrer-when-downgrade"

Missing Permissions-Policy header

MEDIUM

Controls browser features and APIs

Sensitive data may be cached

LOW

Cache-Control header should include "no-store" for sensitive pages

👤GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment under GDPR regulations.

GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment

53/100
Score

No Cookie Policy found

HIGH

GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

No Cookie Consent Banner found

HIGH

GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

No Data Protection Officer mentioned

LOW

Large organizations may need to designate a DPO under GDPR

Privacy policy may not be GDPR compliant

MEDIUM

Privacy policy lacks explicit GDPR compliance elements

GDPR Compliance Analysis

Privacy Policy85% confidence
Cookie Policy0% confidence
Contact Information Found90% confidence
phone

🛡️NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.

NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive

17/100
Score

No information security framework found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity and information security measures

No vulnerability disclosure policy

MEDIUM

NIS2 encourages coordinated vulnerability disclosure

No security policy documentation found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity governance and risk management

No incident response procedures found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented incident response and business continuity plans

No business continuity planning found

MEDIUM

NIS2 emphasizes operational resilience and business continuity

No security contact information

HIGH

NIS2 requires clear incident reporting channels

No vulnerability reporting mechanism

MEDIUM

Clear vulnerability reporting supports coordinated disclosure

No NIS2 reference found

LOW

Consider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts

📧Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation and email security assessment.

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

75/100
Score

DMARC not enforcing

MEDIUM

DMARC policy is set to "none"

No BIMI Record

LOW

BIMI displays brand logos in email clients

No MTA-STS Policy

MEDIUM

MTA-STS enforces TLS for email delivery

No TLS-RPT Record

LOW

TLS-RPT provides reporting for email TLS issues

SPF
Sender Policy Framework
DKIM
DomainKeys Identified Mail
DMARC
Domain-based Message Authentication
MX Records
Mail Exchange Records
BIMI
Brand Indicators
MTA-STS
Mail Transfer Agent Security
TLS-RPT
TLS Reporting
DNSSEC
DNS Security
SPF Details
Record:
v=spf1 include:_spf.mlsend.com include:_spf.google.com ~all
DNS Lookups:2/10
Policy:~all
DKIM Selectors Found
Selector:google(1416-bit rsa)
Selector:s1(1440-bit rsa)
DMARC Details
Policy:none
Aggregate Reports:14f4e1a7ced447a7a7bcf51f88c2303e@dmarc-reports.cloudflare.net

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

65/100
Score

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 37 days

Weak SSL Key Length

HIGH

SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

Mixed Content Detected

MEDIUM

2 resources loaded over insecure HTTP

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 2 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Certificate Details

Subject:about.readthedocs.com
Issuer:WE1
Valid Until:10/13/2025 (37 days)
SANs:about.readthedocs.com

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

80/100
Score

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

CAA Records Not Configured

LOW

Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found

DMARC Policy Set to None

LOW

DMARC is configured but not enforcing any policy

DNS Records

A Records:104.26.15.223, 172.67.72.166, 104.26.14.223
AAAA Records:2606:4700:20::ac43:48a6, 2606:4700:20::681a:edf, 2606:4700:20::681a:fdf
Name Servers:
ivan.ns.cloudflare.comDNS only
tegan.ns.cloudflare.comDNS only
MX Records:
10: aspmx2.googlemail.com
5: alt1.aspmx.l.google.com
1: aspmx.l.google.com
SOA:Serial: 2377756608, TTL: 1800s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:95ms

SPF Analysis

SPF Record:
v=spf1 include:_spf.mlsend.com include:_spf.google.com ~all

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis.

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis

100/100
Score

Good Network Security Posture

LOW

No unnecessary services detected on common risky ports

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The website is built using the Pelican static site generator and utilizes Font Awesome Pro for iconography, indicating a modern and maintainable technical stack. The site includes Open Graph and Twitter Card metadata for social media optimization and an Atom feed for content syndication. Performance appears moderate with no explicit indicators of slow loading or technical debt. Mobile optimization is good, but accessibility features are basic. SEO is well supported through meta tags and structured data. Hosting provider details are not evident from the data. Opportunities exist to improve technical robustness by adding security headers and enhancing accessibility compliance.
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