The cryogenic limb array etalon spectrometer (CLAES) onboard the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) has obtained the first global measurements of CF2Cl2 over six seasons, for which 388 days have been processed in data version 7 for the period from January 9, 1992, to May 5, 1993. The CLAES measurements provide a nearglobal view of this stratospheric species, greatly extending the altitude, latitude, and seasonal coverage of previous measurements. This work evaluates CLAES version 7 data set quality. To arrive at estimates of experimental error, we compared the CLAES CF2Cl2 profiles with all of the available correlative data from balloon and space-borne sensors, and we looked at the repeatability of multiple profiles in the same location. In addition, we carried out empirical estimates of experimental error based on knowledge of instrument characteristics, and we performed consistency checks using the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory two-dimensional (LLNL-2D) model and the CLAES N2O data set. Both the range of mean differences between CLAES and the available correlative data and the empirical estimates of the instrument systematic error indicate a CF2Cl2 profile systematic error of 14% over the range of 18.7 through 32 km and 22% for 33--35 km and 16--18 km. These systematic errors are applicable in the spring through fall seasons for the midlatitude region and all seasons in the tropical region. The CF2Cl2 estimated random errors, which are close to the observed data repeatability, are 32 to 11 pptv between 17 and 32 km and translate to an average 9% in the low to midstratosphere. The altitude range of best confidence for the CF2Cl2 mixing ratio profiles is 18.7 to 32 km (~68 to 10 mbar), to which we assign an accuracy (root-sum-square of systematic and random errors) of ~17%. In the tropics the profiles from 16 to about 26 km may sometimes be biased low by up to 14% due to a data processing algorithm constraint. The CLAES CF2Cl2 global fields show generally good spatial correlation and exhibit the major morphological and seasonal features seen in other global tracer field data. Overall, the results of this validation exercise indicate that the CLAES version 7 CF2Cl2 data set, within the limitations discussed in the paper, can be used for quantitative and qualitative studies of stratospheric structure and dynamics.