Can your isp know you are downloading torrents files

I gave stored email messages as an example of client data that the ISP possesses and may not disclose without a court order. Now, Bruce, you know better. Web sites aren't ISPs. You're just muddying the water. There is more capturing of data than can be imagined. You agree to all of it when you signed your contract with your ISP, cellphone provider. That's not entirely the case. Some types of data may be collected, some legally may not, regardless of the terms of the contract, and "agreeing" to allow an illegal activity doesn't make it legal unless the law specifically provides for the exception.

For example, giving permission for a grow-op on your property doesn't make the grow-op legal — it makes you an accomplice. That is in fact how Comcast was able to throttle downloads of certain users, but not othera. Don't treat "monitor traffic" and "record data" as synonyms. Monitoring and recording data transfer rates, volumes, and endpoints is fine — recording the transferred data is not, and violates at least wiretap laws which do not apply only to law enforcement.

I recently went with Comcast about 5 weeks ago, the other day I went to their web site to pay my first bill, now I have never been to the Comcast web site before but when I clicked "create an account" they already knew who I was because my user name and password popped up.

I had to call Comcast because I did not know the password they gave me. I asked how could I have an online account set up already, without any previous cookies mind you they only thing they told was that I could change my password and they would be happy to do that. This got really political really fast so maybe I can help with some simplicity. I have comcast as well. As younger guys and girls we don't always have the money for stuff and what happens when you're looking to watch a movie that came out in the 90's that isn't sold anymore?

Torrents can come in handy. I've had a couple emails sent to me about downloading some movies and threatening to suspend my service.

To avoid this though, I recommend using Peerblock. I have friends who use it and basically, when you start it up, it blocks big brother from getting in your business.

I don't have much money this year, and I wanted to buy more presents for my granddaughters. I couldn't afford it, but I didn't go out and steal others property because I didn't have the money for stuff. As for applications like "peerblock" you make the mistake of assuming your ISP somehow needs to monitor your computer. They don't, in fact it really doesn't matter what is on your computer. They simply and very easily monitor the traffic to and from your modem.

Applications like peerblock may work to keep third parties, and some websites from seeing that information, it doesn't stop your ISP from knowing what you are doing. As Bruce points out, these 3rd party applications have no impact on an ISP being able to monitor the traffic on it's network.

From peerblock themselves: The only way to be "safe" with P2P downloading is to not share copyrighted content! PeerBlock is good at what it does - keeping your computer from "talking" with ip addresses on your configured blocklists.

If you're stuck in a country with an oppressive government and are trying to get out your plans regarding the upcoming revolution, and those in power break down your door and haul you away, it's not our fault. If you're sharing some secret footage of Area 51 and the "Men in Black" come knocking on your door, it's not our fault!

If you choose to download copyrighted material from the Internet, be aware that you may be breaking the law. Roll the dice if you wish, but don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

I know they used my ip addy to know who I was on their site, but I had an account that I was not aware of and a password that I did not make. Well it depends on your own sense of morality I guess. I don't really care about "stealing" from a multimillion dollar company. If your friend gives you a DVD do you reject it because you didn't pay for it? Either way, when it comes to peerblock, I guess you guys are right.

You're the computer techs, not me. You are not just stealing from a corporation, you are stealing from the artist, the writers, the guys that cleans the film studio floor. The way they get the loss back is to put prices up, which affects everyone Would you go into Walmart and steal an original DVD after all you " Don't really care about stealing from multimillion dollar companies"??

If a friend of mine "gives me" a DVD or anything else it is given to me, that is a legal transfer of the item, I didn't "steal it". It's the same deal. You could say it's just "my friends giving me things over the internet" regardless, right and wrong are non-existent. What Is svchost. Browse All Buying Guides.

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Windows 11 Emoji. GoDaddy Breach. TikTok Samsung TV. Spotify Shuffle Play Button. Windows 11 Performance. And if so, how do I get it all to stop? Run up-to-date scans. And would they care? Depends on the specific program. I use uTorrent and have gotten warnings from my ISP telling me exactly what movie i was downloading.

My landlord was not happy about this because he is paranoid about get the service shut off. He could even be fined for copyright violations. It happened to me, Luckily, the guest who downloaded the movie willingly paid it.

Thankyou for such a lovely article. ISPs can track anything which goes through their servers unless it is encrypted and rerouted by a VPN. In askleo. On non-https sites they could.

I have been downloading movies and for the last couple of days I cant download from any site why is that please help. It is not illegal to download anything of the internet what so ever.. They are looking at the traffic which is passing through their computers. I may be wrong, but I believe they have the right and possibly even the responsibility to police their servers for illegal activity of which downloading pirated material is in most countries.

Downloading pirated copies of movies, for example, is illegal in most jurisdictions. Comments violating those rules will be removed. Comments that don't add value will be removed, including off-topic or content-free comments, or comments that look even a little bit like spam. All comments containing links and certain keywords will be moderated before publication. I want comments to be valuable for everyone, including those who come later and take the time to read.

Search Ask Leo! Do this Subscribe to Confident Computing! I'll see you there! I'll review what those are, whether to panic, and how I'm looking forward. It could be getting in your way. I'll look at some ways to become less fearful and more adventuresome. When you receive one in an email, you may want to do some detective work to see where it's going before you click. I'll walk through one common solution. The comments are getting spammed… I watch for spam religiously.

Live without it. Bill Gates? He has had nothing to do with the operation and policies of Microsoft for years. Mike Reply. Kind of like banning cars because some people drive when they are drunk… Reply.

Would love to see the reference for that. My understanding is that port is a full-on encrypted connection — credentials, message, and so on. In fact I just confirmed that by packet sniffing my own email send.

Assuming that law enforcement takes it as a priority. Most problem sites are in the later category. I use a VPN! You want this article: How does a VPN protect me? If you Have or use a Elite Proxy your untraceable! I would expect direct downloading sites to come under the same scrutiny as P2P.

If not now then eventually since direct download is definitely becoming a larger repository for illegally shared files. Last I checked usenet was not encrypted so they can probably see everything — groups, files, file contents — everything. Great article Leo, I just bought an elite proxy for a few dollars per month. Your input is much appreciated, Leo.

I do believe that various government agencies are indeed asking, or perhaps even requiring ISPs to act as their enforcers. B Illegal? I do have to say, though, that regular backups — particularly one taken just before this incident, could have restored your bookmarks. If you want movies use yifi-torrent. Lesson learned. That was the point. Sky my ISP has given my ip information to an internet troll I am now waiting on a letter from them demanding money is this legal Reply. Hi Leo if you get warning from your isp about downloading illegal content and you stop downloading it for a while how can you tell them to remove the warning stars that you get from them Reply.

I will be grateful for any contributions. An ISP would only be able to see the traffic which passes through their own servers Reply. Ed Reply. Thanks for the article. Never occurred to me they can see the type of data from ports Reply. Does downloading videos from YouTube trigger the alert too or just torrents? I have been downloading movies and for the last couple of days I cant download from any site why is that please help Reply.

As mentioned in the article, if they are illegal downloads, perhaps your ISP is blocking them. Leave a reply: Before commenting please: Read the article.