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Questions Regarding Privacy Issues


NumberNine

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Issue: After seeing a horrific post on another site I have some questions regarding privacy:

Is it true that Utorrent logs every download that you have ever attempted and/or completed?

Also, it appears that these logs are kept even after uninstalling and/or re-installing the program!

So, how do I clear/delete any of these logs so they can't be retrieved? Assume a very high Paranoia Factor*.

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Hi Everyone,

New to Utorrent and file sharing but not my first time at the rodeo!

Yes, I've read the Instructions and FAQs at the Utorrent website and the 'Rules' for this forum. So, please assume that I've done steps 1, 2 and 3 of any preliminary trouble shooting.

In addition, I've searched this and other forums plus Google but the information I have found either does not apply or is over my head [sometimes I need a little hand-holding]. I'm comfortable with editing the Registry and the Command Line.

Any information or help will be greatly appreciated and I welcome any question, comments, suggestions or concerns.

Thanks,

NN

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PC: AMD 2.0 GHz w/ 2 GB Ram

Modem: Siemens SpeedStream DSL-6520

OS: Win XP SP 2

Apps: Utorrent 1.7.6, PeerGuardian, Firefox, Trillian, Skype

Protection: Ad-Aware, AntiVir, Avast, SnoopFree, Spybot, Spyware Guard, Spyware Blaster, Zone Alarm, Grisoft: Anti-Spyware, Virus & Rootkit

OS, Programs, Utilities and all other non Utorrent related Applications are legal, up to date and patched

TCP/IP Patched to 50

Port Forwarded and I have a Green Circle

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Utorrent Settings [Changed Per Instructions, FAQs & Forum Posts]

Downloads:

Append - Unchecked

Preallocate - Checked

Prevent Standby - Checked

Connection:

Upload - 0

Download - 0

Bittorrent:

Global Max - 400

Peers - 70

Slots - 2

Additional Slots - Unchecked

Additional Features - All Checked

Encryption - Forced

Legacy Connections - Unchecked

Queueing:

Active Torrents - 1

Active Downloads - 1

Seed While Ratio - 150%

Seeding Tasks - Unchecked

Seeding Goal - Unchecked

Other:

Nothing Checked

Advanced:

net.max_halfopen - 50

peer.lazy_bitfield - True

peer.resolve_country - False

Disc Cache:

Override - Checked 50 MB

Reduce Memory - Checked

Advanced Cache Settings - All Checked

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* Paranoia Factor of 10 out of 10!

Examples: Angry Wife, Sea Eye Aye, Jealous Boyfriend, Men in Black, Ambitious Co-Worker, Nosey Neighbor, Suspicious Boss, Crazy Roommate, et cetera.

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Your general purpose "show me the wireshark" response doesn't work here.

The OP asked about every download attempted or completed being logged, possibly even after a reinstall. That would be logs on the local HDD.

The answer is, yes, it does in a way.

c:\documents and settings\<user>\application data\utorrent

Every file you ever loaded into uT is copied there. I have some going back to november 06.

@ OP: it's easy enough to delete all the torrent files in that folder once you have finished with them.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks guys for the info so far.

Found the file:

C:\Docs & Sets\User\App Data\Utorrent

DreadWingKnight check it out... Mine contains all the embarrassing and incriminating files that I have ever downloaded or even attempted to download.

However, I could not find the second folder that is mentioned above by jewelisheaven.

Also, there are some other files in this folder:

dht.dat

dht.dat.old

resume.dat

resume.dat.old

settings.dat

settings.dat.old

utorrent.lng

Are these safe to delete?

Can these files be used to start an old re-seed that I thought was gone forever?

I'm assuming that these are the files that keep all the information from uninstall to re-install.

By the file names I can assume that utorrent.lng is the English files; the settings.dat file preserves the Preferences and the resume.dat stores the current torrents after crash or re-start. No clue about the dht.dat file.

Does anyone know if deleting these file re-set my Help> Show Statistics numbers? I'm proud of my high ratio but I don't mine starting over if required.

Again, any information or help will be greatly appreciated and I welcome any question, comments, suggestions or concerns.

Thanks,

NN

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By the file names I can assume that utorrent.lng is the English files; the settings.dat file preserves the Preferences and the resume.dat stores the current torrents after crash or re-start. No clue about the dht.dat file.

utorrent.lng is actually the non-english languages.

settings.dat and resume.dat you have right.

dht.dat is a DHT node cache.

The .torrents are a cache for the .torrent information itself, they are NOT there for logging purposes. uTorrent NEEDS that information to actually complete the downloads.

None of us can see what you download by way of that folder.

Your paranoia is beyond tinfoil hat level.

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? what statistics are you talking about? Torrents' status are in resume.dat as you surmise. And your preferences are in settings.dat.

If you do not select the option "delete torrent" when you remove old torrents, YES, the torrent storage directory stores all torrents you've ever used on that install. utorrent.lng is a ZIP containing all the relevant translation files. It allows you to translate the interface via Preferences.

Why do you want to delete your settings? All I can say about the "post on the other site" you mentioned ... 1) they're spouting FUD or 2) you don't understand what they're saying. uT is as safe as and in more cases safer than other bittorrent clients. It doesn't implement unnecessary features and as such doesn't have the extra vectors for attack other clients have such as ones which implement messaging or other protocols.

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Okay... Not sure what's going on here but I'll address all the questions and comments in the hopes that someone will actually help me or answer my questions with answers and not more questions. This post has drifted way off topic and the responses are not making any sense. I urge everyone to re-read the original post.

Now, we're all adults here [ I assume ] so I don't think I have to put in a bunch of smileys ;-> as my response is not intended to start a flame war or to piss anyone off. If you sense anything in reading this post then its frustration on my part. I'm not used to asking for help and then having to respond to further questions or to justify 'why' I'm asking what I'm asking. Especially, since it was so clearly stated in my original post asking for information and help. These are my 'issues', I own them and they go way back.

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DreadWingKnight ~~The .torrents are a cache for the .torrent information itself, they are NOT there for logging purposes. uTorrent NEEDS that information to actually complete the downloads.

Yes, but there are files in there that are not current and apparently are not needed for any logging purposes and are *NOT* deleted after the program is uninstalled.

**Again, are these files safe to delete?

DreadWingKnight ~~None of us can see what you download by way of that folder. Your paranoia is beyond tinfoil hat level.

That's obvious and its not what I asked about. For example: a Crazy Roommate [from the list above] can just sit down at my PC and after a few clicks see every file that I have ever downloaded and the tinfoil hat wont help.

**Again, how do I clear/delete any of these logs so they can't be retrieved? Assume a very high Paranoia Factor*.

jewelisheaven ~~? what statistics are you talking about?

As mentioned above: 'Help> Show Statistics' or to be more specific: 'Click on the Start button> Click on 'All Programs'> Click on 'Utorrent'> After Utorrent opens Click on 'Help' then Click on 'Show Statistics' a window will open that Shows your Statistics. These number do not change when you uninstall and re-install the program.

**Again, does anyone know if deleting these files will re-set my Help> Show Statistics numbers? Is there a way to preserve the Stats?

jewelisheaven ~~Why do you want to delete your settings?

Re-read the original post above. I'm not talking about 'Settings'. I'm asking for help and information regarding 'Privacy'.

jewelisheaven ~~All I can say about the "post on the other site" you mentioned ... 1) they're spouting FUD or 2) you don't understand what they're saying.

Okay, here's the Cliff's Notes version of this poor man's blog: Wife, girlfriend and receptionist put a keylogger on his PC and read all his e-mail, files, finances and saw all the porn that he had downloaded. They made all this information public. He was fired. Wife divorced him and he's paying a huge amount of alimony. Girlfriend is extorting money from him. His Personal Assistant / Receptionist is suing him. The police took all of his PCs for evidence and even though all of the the porn was 'on the edge' it was still all legal and they're not pressing any charges. However, it been over 18 months and he still has not had anything returned to him and has since replaced everything out of pocket.

This is pretty clear to me and I don't think I want my Crazy Roommate, 16 year old Nephew or 13 year old Niece [who know everything about computers!] finding a file called 'Nasty_Asian_Lesbo_Girls_Kissing_and_More' that I downloaded a year ago.

jewelisheaven ~~uT is as safe as and in more cases safer than other bittorrent clients. It doesn't implement unnecessary features and as such doesn't have the extra vectors for attack other clients have such as ones which implement messaging or other protocols.

**Again, not talking about safety, code bloat or security. Re-read my original post. It's about 'Privacy'.

Still awaiting help...

NN

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Uninstallation removes the settings.dat ... which is where Alt-H-S is stored along with all of your Preferences. More specifically the TD and TU keys.

In the toolbar, there is a button called "Remove"... with 4 options. These are explained in the µManual so I'm not going to go any further in explanation. It is not retroactive. In every post I make I try to be clear, I guess I'm not as clear as I think. There are no logs stored.

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