Torrent Website Shares User Data with Anti Piracy Law Firm
| Torrent Website Shares User Data with Anti Piracy Law Firm | |
|---|---|
| Short Title | YTS Torrents Site Shared Users Emails and IP Addresses With an Anti Piracy Law Firm |
| Location | United States |
| Date | August 2020 |
| Solove Harm | Breach of Confidentiality |
| Information | Computer Device, Communication, Identifying |
| Threat Actors | YTS torrents website |
| Individuals | |
| Affected | YTS torrents downloaders |
| High Risk Groups | |
| Tangible Harms | Financial Cost |
A torrent site YTS was found to be sharing user IP addresses and email with an anti-piracy law firm after being sued by them.
Description
Second biggest torrent website YTS.ag (which operates with different domains like YTS.ag and YTX.mx) was found to be sharing IP addresses and emails of people who download content from their site with an anti-piracy law firm Culpepper IP LLC. Torrent downloaders trust torrent sites to be very careful with this data, since the sites themselves are on the wrong side of the law too. YTS sharing user data with law firm can be interpreted as Breach of Confidentiality.
The law firm sued YTS in January 2020, and the lawsuit was settled by agreeing to pay $150,000 in damages. Later is appeared that they also agreed to share torrent downloaders’ information. YTS.ag users who downloaded torrents could face penalties up to $1000.
Breakdown
Threat: Torrent company sharing user information with a law firm
At-Risk group: Torrents users
Harm: Breach of Confidentiality
Secondary Consequences: Financial Cost