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Private message privacy?


StinVec

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Greetings, NexusMods...mods.

 

I am a mod author and I correspond with a tester for my mods through PM here on NexusMods. I use a private file storage to host many of my private files, but also to host the file I am sending to my tester where only those who have the exact link are able to download the file. The link is not publicly accessible or able to be gotten by performing a search on the net. I must supply this private link for it to be known. Now, I only send this link to this one tester and this tester does not pass the link on to anyone else. I very much trust them on this.

 

The issue I am inquiring about is because my private storage also tracks how many times a file has been downloaded. Over the last few weeks I have noticed that my work-in-progress file is being downloaded anywhere from 9-18 times within a few hours to a day or so from my linking the file in a private message to my tester.

 

I've experimented to see where someone could be getting this private link, so I've tried to make a dummy update to my mod on my private storage to see if it gets downloaded without my including its link in a PM on this site. It has not been downloaded once, which tells me that the source for the unexplained downloads is due to my linking it in a PM here on this site.

 

Now, I also perform mod merges for a few other players, but the files I link to them are only being downloaded one time, by the intended recipient. The mod test file I send to my tester is the only one that these third parties seem to be interested in. The file is an unreleased and test version of an update to my mods as well as a few custom mods I only share with my tester. The excess downloads have gone from a couple unaccounted for downloads over the period of a few days, up to 18 downloads unaccounted for within hours of my including it in a PM on this site. So it appears that this link is being acquired from my PM on here and then being shared to several others who are downloading it also. It's not like it is a national security, super-classified file so I know it is not that big of a deal. But it is concerning to me nonetheless.

 

So far for August:

File linked to tester on August 3: 2 downloads

File linked to tester on August 8: 10 downloads

File linked to tester on August 18: 9 downloads

File linked to tester on August 28: 18 downloads

 

Are my private messages to another member that include a link to a file being read by moderators on this site, and are they downloading this private build of my mod that is only intended for my tester? I can understand if they are. I'm sure moderators do check private messages that include links to files to verify no "illegal" files are being traded via private messages. That is entirely reasonable. However, I would think that should only account for one, maybe two downloads of the file to check it out. However, my private test build of an update to my mod, which is between me and my tester, has been reaching several dozen downloads now each time I send them a new link to test. I do not consider that amount of downloads to be reasonable if moderators are the source of the downloads for verification purposes.

 

I'm not claiming that moderators of the site are using and sharing my work-in-progress mod update file. I would just like some kind of comment on the matter to alleviate my concerns so I can exclude this as a source for the excess downloads on my private file so I can focus on finding some other potential source.

 

Any thoughts on this matter from a site moderator would be very much appreciated.

Edited by StinVec
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None of the moderation staff can access other peoples private messages - even if reported, they may see the link if it is in the reported contents - but so far I see no reports listing you or any contents by you.

 

It takes Admin staff level, and even there it has to be reported to us first - and there is at present only three people with the level of access to do so. The site owner, myself and one of the coders, but as I said - it has to be reported first. So no, no one on the staff here is reading your private messages. I would have a word with your tester about this - and perhaps setup a new link for your mod builds and give that to them only and then clear/delete the link that is causing the multiple downloads, and then check to see if the new link shows a similar pattern.

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Thank you very much, The Vampire Dante, for your detailed and reassuring response to my concern. I am glad to hear more of the privacy side of messaging on the Nexus and that it is not something I should be concerned about.

 

Each of the files I had linked to my tester had a unique link, which only added to why I was concerned about private message access due to it being the only source where each link to a file update was made available.

 

Thank you too, blove, for your additional thoughts on the matter. Thinking back, my tester had been using a desktop computer that died and they switched to using a laptop temporarily at about the same time the unexplained download increase started. I'll follow up with them about checking their laptop for any potential vulnerabilities. I'm also going to switch to an entirely different file storage site to see if it was simply a case of my current provider's "security and privacy" not really being as secure or private as they say it is. If the issue persists on a new hosting site then it may, indeed, be tied to something local to my or my tester's computers.

 

Thank you both again for your input on this issue I've been having. It has been driving me a little nuts trying to figure it out.

Edited by StinVec
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Thinking back, my tester had been using a desktop computer that died and they switched to using a laptop temporarily at about the same time the unexplained download increase started

 

That means your tester must have downloaded the file at least twice. Who's to say he/she didn't just download it multiple times?

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To confirm, the only way we can read private messages that haven't been sent to us is if:

 

  1. The private message is reported to the moderation team, at which point they join the conversation, and you'd be made aware the moderator has joined the conversation
  2. If I go in to the MySQL database and actively search for the PM within the database itself. There's no direct way of me (or other Admins) accessing PMs I haven't been invited in to, and searching the MySQL database is a chore which I've only done about 5 times in 12 years for serious issues

One thing to take in to account is what mail programs and messenger apps like Facebook do these days. I noticed a similar issue to yours recently when I was sharing Google Docs with friends over Facebook Messenger. Google Docs shows you who else is looking at and/or using your document as the same time as you. Immediately after sending a link to the doc to friends, 2 anonymous users would be viewing my document. That's Facebook, scouring the document so it can return that more detailed link they do sometimes.

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StinVec - Hello!

Also worth considering is if your tester is using a download manager to obtain the file, they can use multiple download threads to speed up the process & will show as several downloads even though only one copy has actually been downloaded.

That would happen when the file is first downloaded & then never again so multiple downloads that never rise again afterwards would fit with a download manager.

I frequently use "DownloadThemAll!" in Firefox & that registers as multiple downloads on some sites.

Of course if it's clocking up downloads days later that would not be due to a download manager.

Prensa

Edited by prensa
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Ah, Dark0ne, thank you very much for the additional information and assurances of private message privacy. It was not much of a concern of mine as I do not really discuss anything of a truly private nature in private messages, but I wanted to exclude it as a potential source for the additional access to the 'private' download link to the files. It is no longer a concern of mine whatsoever and, again, I thank you for your additional information on and assurances of privacy in regards to private messages.

 

Prensa, thank you very much for your additional thoughts on the subject. I had not previously considered the possibility of a download manager's multiple connections to the file as being a potential source for the additional download counts. I'm going to perform a test to see if they can be attributed to a download manager program on my tester's end. Again, thank you very much for your suggestion as something to look into.

 

I've now gone to another private storage site to use for linking the test file to my tester. It includes IP logging of downloaders instead of simply a number, so I'll see if the problem continues with that site. I'll also check out the download manager situation to see if that could have been the cause.

 

I thank you all again for your time and your very helpful thoughts on my issue!

Edited by StinVec
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