Weatherman
12-15-2011, 06:15 AM
People who download stuff by Torrent should think twice.
There are ways to find out who has been naughty or nice. :biggrin:
Snips:
Proof-of-concept website displays your P2P (torrent) download history
Do you torrent? My guess is many people do, legally or illegally. A new proof-of-concept website, YouHaveDownloaded, aims to prove your downloading is not anonymous and is being tracked.
YOU ARE BEING TRACKED
You may or may not know this but peer-to-peer downloads are increasingly being tracked as to who is downloading (and uploading) what. (How do you think lawsuits from the entertainment industry reach your doorstep?) Once download and upload activity is recorded, the data is inserted into publicly available archives/databases that can be viewed by anyone.
WHO IS TRACKING ME?
In most (all?) cases the tracking is done by the torrent network you are using. Private file sharing networks are more secretive about their members' activities but most public file sharing networks make this data publicly available.
HOW YOUHAVEDOWNLOADED WORKS
YouHaveDownloaded indexes publicly available data (they are not the ones doing the torrent tracking themselves) and displays it on their website for everyone to see. The data on YouHaveDownloaded is indexed by file name, torrent hash, and IP address. Type in a file name or torrent hash and YouHaveDownloaded will display who has downloaded said file/torrent. Type in an IP address and YouHaveDownloaded will display the downloads conducted by that IP address.
CAN ANYONE ACCESS DATA ON ME?
YouHaveDownloaded indexes publicly available data. As such, their database is searchable by anyone. Anyone can input any IP address and get data back on it. So, yes, anyone - who knows your IP address - can view your download activity. That includes your parents. And your wife (or husband). And your children. And your boss.
CONCLUSION
Want to avoid potentially embarrassing situations and costly lawsuits? Don't illegally torrent. Yes, yes I know everyone that torrents has their own justifications for it; and I am not knocking anyone. I am sure there are semi-legitimate reasons why some people torrent. I am not here to judge. All I am saying is if you torrent then be ready to accept the consequences.
You can visit YouHaveDownloaded from the link below; note that when you visit the website it automatically does a search on your IP address, listing your download activity (if you have one):
YouHaveDownloaded.com (http://www.youhavedownloaded.com/)
More at: http://dottech.org/tipsntricks/25185/proof-of-concept-website-displays-your-p2p-torrent-download-history
There are ways to find out who has been naughty or nice. :biggrin:
Snips:
Proof-of-concept website displays your P2P (torrent) download history
Do you torrent? My guess is many people do, legally or illegally. A new proof-of-concept website, YouHaveDownloaded, aims to prove your downloading is not anonymous and is being tracked.
YOU ARE BEING TRACKED
You may or may not know this but peer-to-peer downloads are increasingly being tracked as to who is downloading (and uploading) what. (How do you think lawsuits from the entertainment industry reach your doorstep?) Once download and upload activity is recorded, the data is inserted into publicly available archives/databases that can be viewed by anyone.
WHO IS TRACKING ME?
In most (all?) cases the tracking is done by the torrent network you are using. Private file sharing networks are more secretive about their members' activities but most public file sharing networks make this data publicly available.
HOW YOUHAVEDOWNLOADED WORKS
YouHaveDownloaded indexes publicly available data (they are not the ones doing the torrent tracking themselves) and displays it on their website for everyone to see. The data on YouHaveDownloaded is indexed by file name, torrent hash, and IP address. Type in a file name or torrent hash and YouHaveDownloaded will display who has downloaded said file/torrent. Type in an IP address and YouHaveDownloaded will display the downloads conducted by that IP address.
CAN ANYONE ACCESS DATA ON ME?
YouHaveDownloaded indexes publicly available data. As such, their database is searchable by anyone. Anyone can input any IP address and get data back on it. So, yes, anyone - who knows your IP address - can view your download activity. That includes your parents. And your wife (or husband). And your children. And your boss.
CONCLUSION
Want to avoid potentially embarrassing situations and costly lawsuits? Don't illegally torrent. Yes, yes I know everyone that torrents has their own justifications for it; and I am not knocking anyone. I am sure there are semi-legitimate reasons why some people torrent. I am not here to judge. All I am saying is if you torrent then be ready to accept the consequences.
You can visit YouHaveDownloaded from the link below; note that when you visit the website it automatically does a search on your IP address, listing your download activity (if you have one):
YouHaveDownloaded.com (http://www.youhavedownloaded.com/)
More at: http://dottech.org/tipsntricks/25185/proof-of-concept-website-displays-your-p2p-torrent-download-history