What are the requirements for RUA and RUF in DMARC policies?

Summary

DMARC policies utilize RUA and RUF tags for reporting. While neither tag is strictly required, RUA (Aggregate Reporting) is strongly recommended by experts, major email providers like Yahoo, and the email marketing community because it provides essential visibility into how emails are being handled, enabling monitoring of DMARC compliance and identifying potential issues. RUA specifies where aggregate reports about DMARC results should be sent, with the value being a mailto: URI. RUF (Forensic Reporting) is less critical due to privacy concerns, potential data leaks (containing personally identifiable information (PII) that often makes it useless after data trimming), and implementation challenges. It provides forensic data. It is less commonly used due to privacy concerns surrounding forensic data, and RUF reports are rarely sent. It specifies the URI(s) to which forensic (failure) feedback reports should be sent. For dedicated subdomains with a 'p=reject' policy, the RUA tag may not be required, but it's still beneficial for detecting misconfigurations or abuse.

Key findings

  • RUA Recommended and Essential: RUA is strongly recommended by experts and the email marketing community. It is essential for monitoring DMARC compliance and identifying potential issues.
  • RUF Privacy Concerns: RUF reports are less commonly used due to privacy implications and potential data leaks.
  • RUA Provides Sufficient Data: RUA provides the necessary data for most situations, making it more universally supported.
  • p=reject Policy Exception: If DMARC is set to 'p=reject' on a dedicated subdomain, the RUA tag may not be required, although its still beneficial.
  • Yahoo Recommends RUA: Yahoo is strongly recommending the use of RUA.
  • URI Specifications: The RUA tag specifies the destination for aggregate DMARC reports, and the RUF tag specifies the destination for forensic/failure DMARC reports. RUA and RUF values should be mailto: URIs or comma-separated lists of mailto: URIs.

Key considerations

  • Prioritize RUA: Organizations should prioritize implementing and analyzing RUA reports.
  • Data Sensitivity: Carefully consider the privacy implications of RUF reports due to the potential for sensitive data.
  • Implementation Complexity: RUF reports can be challenging to implement and may not be universally supported.
  • Subdomain Configuration: Ensure subdomains are properly configured and dedicated before removing RUA tags.
  • Monitoring Importance: Even with a 'p=reject' policy, monitoring via RUA reports is beneficial for detecting misconfigurations or abuse.
  • Reporting Address: Choose appropriate email addresses for receiving RUA and RUF reports.
  • Data Analysis: Plan for analyzing the data provided in both RUA and RUF reports.

What email marketers say
10Marketer opinions

DMARC policies utilize RUA and RUF tags for reporting. RUA (Aggregate) reports are widely recommended as they provide essential summaries of email traffic and authentication results, enabling monitoring of DMARC compliance and identification of potential issues. RUF (Forensic) reports, while offering detailed data on individual email failures, are less commonly used due to privacy concerns, potential data leaks, and implementation challenges. While neither tag is strictly required, especially with a 'p=reject' policy on dedicated subdomains, RUA is strongly advised for maintaining visibility and managing email authentication effectively. In summary, RUA is generally more important and universally supported, while RUF requires careful consideration due to privacy implications and limited availability.

Key opinions

  • RUA Recommended: RUA (Aggregate) reports are strongly recommended for monitoring DMARC compliance and identifying potential issues.
  • RUF Privacy Concerns: RUF (Forensic) reports are less commonly implemented due to privacy implications and potential data leaks.
  • RUA Sufficient: RUA provides the necessary data for most situations, making it more universally supported.
  • p=reject Exception: If DMARC is set to p=reject on a dedicated subdomain, the RUA tag may not be required.

Key considerations

  • Data Sensitivity: Carefully consider the privacy implications of RUF reports due to the potential for sensitive data.
  • Implementation Complexity: RUF reports can be challenging to implement and may not be universally supported.
  • Subdomain Configuration: Ensure subdomains are properly configured and dedicated before removing RUA tags.
  • Monitoring Importance: Even with a 'p=reject' policy, monitoring via RUA reports is beneficial for detecting misconfigurations or abuse.
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks suggests only removing RUA for dedicated subdomains if you're 100% sure that subdomain is only used for a single source and it's configured.

December 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from AuthSMTP says the RUA tag specifies an email address to send daily reports about your domain's DMARC status and the RUF tag provides the ability to receive reports on individual email failures but is not commonly used.

April 2023 - AuthSMTP
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailhardener indicates that RUA reporting provides insights into the overall health of email authentication, while RUF reporting provides forensic data. However RUF reports are rarely sent due to privacy concerns and implementation challenges. RUA is therefore more universally supported and essential for DMARC.

October 2021 - Mailhardener
Marketer view

Email marketer from Stack Overflow community wiki says that RUA tags defines where to send the aggregated reports (daily) and RUF tag defines where to send the forensic reports (real-time).

February 2022 - Stack Overflow
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that if you have DMARC at policy p=reject, then email providers will not be looking for RUA tag at all, particularly when senders dedicate separate subdomains for email sending.

February 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks states that neither RUA nor RUF are required, but RUA is strongly recommended because it prevents flying blind.

January 2025 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit indicates that RUA is more important than RUF because RUF reports often contain personally identifiable information (PII) and are therefore often suppressed or unavailable. RUA provides sufficient data for most analyses.

November 2023 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from URIports recommends setting up both RUA and RUF, but prioritizes RUA for getting an overview. They also point out that the RUF is more useful for detailed troubleshooting but requires more careful handling of data.

April 2023 - URIports
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that RUF (Forensic) reports can leak personal data, making them often useless after data trimming. RUA (Aggregate) reports provide the necessary information for most situations.

June 2021 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from EasyDMARC states that RUA is essential for monitoring DMARC compliance and identifying potential issues, while RUF is less commonly implemented due to privacy implications and the sensitive data it might contain.

October 2024 - EasyDMARC

What the experts say
2Expert opinions

Experts agree that RUA (Aggregate Reporting) is a critical component of DMARC implementation, providing essential visibility into how emails are being handled. While RUF (Forensic Reporting) can offer more granular insights into abuse instances, it's less critical due to privacy concerns. Major email providers like Yahoo are also strongly recommending the use of RUA.

Key opinions

  • RUA Importance: RUA is more important than RUF for general DMARC implementation and monitoring.
  • Yahoo Recommendation: Yahoo is strongly recommending the use of RUA.
  • RUF Privacy: RUF is less critical due to privacy concerns surrounding forensic data.
  • RUA for Analysis: RUA reports are crucial for organizations to analyze how their emails are being handled.

Key considerations

  • Prioritize RUA: Organizations should prioritize implementing and analyzing RUA reports.
  • Privacy Implications: Carefully consider the privacy implications before implementing RUF reports.
  • Resource Allocation: Allocate resources to analyze RUA reports to understand email handling.
  • Provider Guidelines: Pay attention to recommendations from major email providers regarding RUA.
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks agrees RUA is more important than RUF and that Yahoo is "strongly recommending" having an RUA address.

October 2024 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that DMARC implementation requires organizations to receive and analyze aggregate reports (RUA) to understand how their emails are being handled. Forensic reports (RUF) are less critical due to privacy concerns but can assist in identifying specific abuse instances if utilized properly.

May 2023 - Word to the Wise

What the documentation says
4Technical articles

DMARC policies utilize RUA and RUF tags for reporting purposes. The RUA tag specifies the URI (typically a mailto: URI) to which aggregate reports summarizing email traffic and DMARC results should be sent. RUF specifies where forensic or failure reports are sent. RUF is less commonly used due to privacy concerns.

Key findings

  • RUA Destination: RUA tag specifies the destination for aggregate DMARC reports.
  • RUF Destination: RUF tag specifies the destination for forensic/failure DMARC reports.
  • mailto: URI: RUA and RUF values should be mailto: URIs or comma separated lists of mailto: URIs.
  • RUF Uncommon: RUF is less frequently used due to privacy considerations.

Key considerations

  • Reporting Address: Choose appropriate email addresses for receiving RUA and RUF reports.
  • Privacy Assessment: Carefully consider the privacy implications before implementing RUF.
  • Data Analysis: Plan for analyzing the data provided in both RUA and RUF reports.
  • Comma Separated List: Multiple destinations can be configured by using comma separated mailto: URIs.
Technical article

Documentation from Proofpoint (formerly Agari) details that RUA provides aggregated reports of DMARC assessment results, while RUF provides forensic reports of individual email failures. RUF is less commonly used due to privacy concerns.

May 2021 - Proofpoint
Technical article

Documentation from DMARC.org explains that 'rua' specifies the URI(s) to which aggregate feedback reports should be sent and 'ruf' specifies the URI(s) to which forensic (failure) feedback reports should be sent. They are comma separated lists of mailto: URIs.

August 2021 - DMARC.org
Technical article

Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that the 'rua' tag specifies where aggregate reports about DMARC results should be sent. The value should be a mailto: URI. This report provides a summary of email traffic using your domain.

March 2023 - Google Workspace Admin Help
Technical article

Documentation from Microsoft Learn indicates that DMARC reporting involves RUA for aggregate reports and RUF for forensic reports. Aggregate reports give summaries, while forensic reports are for identifying specific mail flow issues.

October 2023 - Microsoft Learn