uMap: Show Your uTorrent Peers in Google Maps
Written by Ernesto on July 27, 2010uMap is a new App that allows uTorrent users to display all the peers they are connected to on Google Maps. While the App provides a good visualization of global BitTorrent swarms, it also demonstrates that anonymity is hard to find for the regular torrenter.
In order for BitTorrent to work, clients need IP-addresses of people who are sharing the same files. Aside from being linked to a customer account at an ISP, IP-addresses also provide data on the geographical location of its users.
Although not always 100% accurate, IP-addresses can be linked to the physical location of users, or at least to the city they’re in. Quite a few BitTorrent users are probably already aware of this since most BitTorrent clients list the countries fellow downloaders come from.
One of the latest additions to uTorrent’s App directory takes location awareness a step further. Named uMap, the application displays all your peers on a Google Map, with the option to zoom into the street level. With uMap you can literally check where your peers live.
The App has several ways to display the data. File-sharers can be viewed by the BitTorrent client they use, the country they come from or the swarm they’re currently participating in. uMap was added to the App directory and can now be installed in the latest Griffin release of uTorrent.
uMaps in action
We’ve tried the App, and although it’s not really that useful, it is interesting to see the huge differences between various torrents and the sites one downloads from. On most public torrents uTorrent and Vuze were the dominant clients, but on a private tracker quite a few seedboxes showed up, some packed together near a big datacenter.
For some novice users uMap might be an eye-opener, since it shows that BitTorrent transfers are far from anonymous. Those who want to hide their real location from other BitTorrent users might want to consider renting a seedbox or signing up for an account at specialized privacy services such as BTGuard and TorrentPrivacy.
Zooming in
Previously: BitTorrent Releasers Slice The Top Off Movie Piracy Pyramid
Next: Pirate Party Offers Servers and Hosting To Wikileaks
86 Responses
Thank God for Hide my ass.
Cool but my isp says that I am 1.3 hours away from where I’m really @ so not exactly accurate.
Wow that isn’t good. Well I have a VPN on the server I have. Anyone want an account just email me: esclek@gmail.com and I can give you one for cheap.
Was this created by uTorrent developers or someone else made it and added it to the Apps list?
Bit strange if uTorrent have created this tbh, doesn’t really help them in anyway. I can only see it having a negative effect.
WTF, really?
Maxmind has been able to pinpoint IP’s to geographical locations for years. Why are you all wondering? The tech is been there.
This is something people really shouldn’t worry about. Anonymity will always be a future option based on applications like this. That’s what fuels creativity. Aside from the fearful look. I think it’s relevant to have. Say if you need to find out where most people are particularly seeding a torrent. This may prove to be helpful perhaps someone will use umap in conjuction to find out where the mpaa/riaa people are. That would make it fair. If people are exposed so are the mpaa/riaa/etc.. would be awesome to see an icon pop up to see where mpaa/riaa are.
This would also prove that mpaa used that torrent to gain ip’s would also help in court for those who fall into the mpaa’s trap.
That being said umap no longer looks like a threat. It looks like a can of whoopass ready to be opened.
Listen to this everyone, this is my awesome theory that’s probably true:
The Pirate Party made this site so that they could track you down and then report you to MAFIAA.
Down with the pirate party!
People need to make more apps like this, soon uTorrent’s popularity will be gone.
Flings a booger @8
Read Below the reply fold. Here I’ll paste it for easy viewing.
“Please be advised we will not tolerate off topic posts, spam, trolls or personal attacks. Please help us to help you by NOT responding to such posts. ALL posts which fall into this category will be removed, including those responding to such posts.”
Have fun now. cheers.
I think its to realise that we are not in privacy….
@9
Popularity always comes with a price of failure. This is what makes a great application. Let’s put it in this way for you. Let’s say there’s two teams of people one known as BoogerBenders and the other known as Trolls. Each team has their own tactics. Object of battle is to know your opponent. So how do you lure trolls?
Easy, remind them that boogers taste better when it’s your own. Don’t eat other people’s boogers ok. Thanks.
On with TF.
@10
Your point? My post doesn’t fall into any of those categories. I’m trying to warn people of what the Pirate Party is trying to do.
It’s a global conspiracy, trying to harm thousands/millions of proletariats!!!
(shakes head @13 in dismay)
What a waste of perfectly good virtual paper. I could use that to blow my nose. Additionally my point is that there’s no room for conspiracy theories for a news site. Why don’t you just chill and read the awesomeness of TF Ingenuousness. You never know .. maybe some really kick boogery news will come out. Excuse me ( blows nose on #13′s wasted virtual paper. )
Moving along mate nothing to see here..
@14
This isn’t a conspiracy theory.
This is fact. Down with the pirate party!! They’re the neo-conservatives of this decade!!!
Psst, they’re trying to take away peoples’ freedom and privacy.
@15
start a blog. You’ll probably have more voice there than here. Only the BoogerBender knows.
@14
Son, u b g3ttn’ tr0lld!
@17
Dad? I’ve been looking everywhere for you. where have you been? Trolls don’t have the infamous BoogerBender. Just keeping things in check (blows nose on more wasted virtual paper)
Hi Everyone,
Thanks for covering uMap!
I’d like to tell you a little of the background of how uMap came to be.
Bittorrent is very excited about the new apps platform, and they generously ran an internal contest to see what ideas we could come up with.
You should have seen how much was implemented in those two days! (Well, you will see most of it eventually) It was amazing to see how much could be implemented so fast. In less than two days, we implemented more than 8 prototypes.
As a previous commenter said, the little dot on the map doesn’t (and can’t) show your exact location. There is a little more to that. When I implemented this feature, I made sure to sanitize the peer data passed along to the app side of the client. We do that by cutting off the last part of your IP address.
Let’s say your IP address was 128.70.4.199. Here is the IP that the app would see: 128.70.4.0 Without that last octet, someone can still identify your ISP, but not you. For me, it shows the center of my city, which is about 2.5 miles from where I am.
Ironically, even though uMap shows your peers on a map, it actually exposes far less information that would be available to a rogue client in your swarm.
Also, it hardly needs to be said, but uMap does not transmit any information about your peer list back to Bittorrent. Do a packet capture. Believe me, we don’t want it!
As Ernesto pointed out this is not the most utilitarian of apps, but I really like the feeling I get when using it. It feels good to be able to see the community of people I’m sharing with.
I’d also like to say that the version you see before you is the result of a massive beautification effort by one of our engineers who knows way more about the language used in our apps API than I do.
Thanks, and enjoy using it!
back 2 Umap.. ( moron trolls , give it a rest)
Umap is nothing special. It directs you to the nearest connection hub.
Info that has been out there for years.
Is stupid of Utorrent to allow this Plugin ( No I won’t call it an app. Nor , will i call mp3 players ipods )
All this plugin does is , spread paranoia to it’s users. Nice move.
USE Anonymous and Encrypted BitTorrent http://anomos.info/
hey look at my vpn location lol
I got to try what someguy is smokin :D
Isn’t that application only needed in France and nederlands? where paranoia is bigger? just sayin.
I was also reminded of this
http://xkcd.com/713/
@19
How much is the Pirate Party paying you to sell out the personal data of uTorrent users?
Give us a straight answer, and don’t beat around the bush.
@25
I’ll give you $2 if you post your IP.
127.0.0.1
@26, please fax me the $2.
I really don’t understand why so many people oppose this app. The information is publicly available and apparently, they change the last octect to 0, so it’s not very privacy invading at all, and if you really don’t want people using publicly available to track you down to the city you live in, maybe you shouldn’t be handing out your IP.
127.0.0.1 haha good answer
thats the city i live in haha
We will be sending the police to 127.0.0.1 immediately.
You should have used uMap! They would have changed your IP to 127.0.0.0 sure, its next door, but still bettar than getting the cops at ur house.
Interesting plug-in. While it didn’t make my choice, I have been wanting to get the newest uTorrent for a while. I plan on filling it up with various plug ins to do whatever..(Yes, I know it will make my uTorrent a hog, but my laptops powerful so I don’t really give a sh1t.)
But yeah, thanski for that.
@ Someguy, are you the same someguy who used to post around the Reasoned Mind & Neostyles days?
(Havn’t seen other in months)
I have a question. Is there a way I can see what my own location is on uMap? And how can I tell what my IP is (what do other people see as my IP)?
I have a question. Is there a way I can see what my own location is on uMap? And how can I tell what my IP is (what do other people see as my IP)?
@4: Yes, this has been developed by BitTorrent irc.
And yes, it DOES “help” them, by showing your and others that your not as anonym as you think you are.
@33
I was going to put that in, but I ran out of time. I think you’ll see that feature soon.
Right now there is no UI in uT to show what your own IP is, but you can visit this website for a quick answer: whatismyip.com
This is GREAT NEWS!
Now it will be even easier to track down all those stinking pirates so that we can later sue them for every penny they’ve got!
What do you know!? Piracy is turning out to be hugely profitable!
@37
you can still try. we’re not interested in your old obsolete scare tactics or trolling. whoever you are I don’t care. however, you look like an idiot because even you would be vulnerable from both sides.
so your rant is really pointless. moving along nothing to see here. let’s wait for the next kick ass article. Boogerbender begs for moderation power.
Why hasn’t @19 or @37 answered yet???
How much has the Pirate Party paid to snitch on users to the MAFIAA?
Down with Rickard Falkvinge, for being corrupt!
@ 38
This Plug-in won’t make it easier for the Mafiaa to track you down. They already have the ability to see what ISP your from and with a court order, they can get your name.
This Plug-in changes nothing, just a cool addition to utorrent.
@ To Someguy and his aliases.
Go suck a fat one..
I’m scared , MPAA Will cut off my head .
This is nothing new, sites have let you do this one IP at a time, but as many others have said, it just shows the HQ for your ISP, which can be very far away from you’re actual house.
If a company wanted to pursue you they would have to contact your ISP’s HQ and get them to release your adress and name etc. Which sometimes they do if they are pressured enough, but normally they just forward you a cease and desist letter and leave you be
If I encrypt and tunnel my connection then I AM as secure and anonymous as I think I am. Besides, my ISP doesn’t give a shit so long as I pay my bills on time. And what are you going to do if I erase my harddrive? LOL
I love how these fucking idiot morons threaten to sue billions of people and are willing to pay for the lawyers to do that, but then go on a rant about how poor they are and how we are taking so much of their money. The idiocy makes my stomach to twists and turns. And if I delete my shared folder 155+ times then just WTF are you going to do about it? When all that is said and done, I will push a counter lawsuit and force you to pay for my lawyer.
So you can suck my fat american dick. This was a really stupid fucking article.
Absolutely amazing!
I can now clearly see where my OVH/LW/NetDirekt seedboxes are located, and in relation to other OVH boxes within peers to SCC. Neato! We’re still anon, lol.
Every TF thread there’s mention of seedboxes, but no one ever explains how they are safe. From my naive point of view, it seems that buying a seedbox means linking your personal identity (your CC) to the seedbox. If the IP address attached to that seedbox downloads something illegal, it seems the copywriter could just get the court to order the seedbox company to hand over the information on that IP.. thus the seedbox, thus your CC, thus your name, address, etc.
Can’t see how that makes anyone anymore ‘safe’.
Similar issue with private trackers.. seems like with private trackers you are giving a more solid link to your identity and the content you download, compared to an open tracker that doesn’t need to store seed ratios and all the data needed around that.
dont ever use closed source bt software !
long live open source and Transmission
Bloatware.
@45
Ok I wrote that and I realize it was kind of mean. I didn’t mean to direct that at TF or Ernesto. Sorry if I made anybody angry. :)
Power to the people.
so much opportunistic pseudo-truths going around here, and all this for a benign plug-in every a§§hole can code in five minutes, showing what is known since the net exists. it´s disgusting…
Some things always prevalent in replies for ever article is the..
Nothing to be worried about people (the dopes)
Just use software to block known IP’s (ignorant also)
then there’s the one’s who have a fucking clue.
This uMap bs is only entertaining to me but helps nobody. Doesn’t help me do what my main goal is. Doesn’t help me be more secure, actually less. Doesn’t tell me anything useful, where you live I couldn’t care less. If anything is a tool to screw with your mind and make you more paranoid which is healthy these days but a useless application. I can look up Ip’s from any pool already without this jsut like the anti P2P agencies do already. Having a map of this makes no difference to anything.
I keep reading about people who pay for seedboxes is the way to go but why pay that amount for what can be revealed as easy (although not easy either way) with a much cheaper VPN service?
In fact it’s easier to court order a seedbox to get user info than it is a VPn because of the many ways you can add step to the court order process which you can’t do with a seedbox.
Bottom line is uMaps has no use to anyone except for temporary novelty and nothing more.
The one’s claiming above that this could be used to pinpoint where the anti P2P agencies are or are working will never happen and can’t with this. That doesn’t even makes sense if you understand how easily these agencies can jump into any pool.
Educate yourselves
This all means nothing
Not new Spanish site has used this,shows all their connectors worldwide
some guys in here dont really understand what ip protocol is ok let me tel you they have done this for years they dont need a map they are using there on programs just telling you that its not gonna afekt you one bit sorry for my bad wretting om from sweden :P
free VPN!
SecurityKISS Tunnel
http://www.securitykiss.com/sk/index.php?m=Download
@ TorrentFreak, what’s the best free method to download anonymously?
The MAFIAA is run by pirates
My conspiracy theory
@53 hej :)
ITT: People who don’t know that YOU COULD ALWAYS FIND THIS FUCKING INFORMATION out, this simply makes it easier to consolidate.
@H 50mb limit on security kiss :/
look kiddies grow up it all boils down to download or not im a grown ass man and i choose to download pick a side or shut the hell up ………..as for the app i use it cause i trust our side of this war you kids are no better than the mpaa cant accept change like i said shut the hell up and enjoy :) aka chill out
I can’t believe this. Not only is this totally useless, but in fact it may be harmful. TF also took another cheap opportunity to advertise their sponsors.
And you STILL haven’t fixed the “You are posting comments too quickly” bug. That’s pretty bad!
uMap plus some app to chat to peers would be better than fucking facebook.
You would actually meet people who like the same stuff as you, people close to where you live.
And it would create even more share, since you could recommend other torrents or vice versa.
What might be useful: to be able to set utorrent to ‘don’t connect to peers in my own country’
Not cool.
I’m with #2, my IP geographical location shows up as being in a town that’s in A WHOLE other state hours away from my real location….lol So if me and post #2 are just two people, how “accurate” could the data really be? lol
What a crap news.
All this app does is to link IP addresses to geographical locations.
An it will never show you address, but the ISP address.
In my country in order to get the address associated with the IP you need a court order, which you will never get for (ab)using P2P.
Where can i find or get that application? :D
TorrentPrivacy is mentioned in the article as an option of a vpn service.
Please don’t waste your money. Their service crashes daily. They won’t or can’t fix it. I personally think it’s their way of limiting bandwidth usage. I’ve ended up u$ing another service even before my ”time” ran out at Torrentprivacy.
@SomeGuy: you keep saying the Pirate Party sells data to the MAFIAA.
I just wanted to remind you that TPB is supported by the pirate party, and their former host and site operators are the operators or PRQ, which currently hosts wikileaks…
Therefore, as you can see, it’s impossible for the pirate party to have any involvement with the MAFIAA or the US government. It’s quite obvious, I believe.
And things like this are why I go to such lengths to anonymize my IP when I use torrents. Also, TorrentPrivacy is a shitty service.
I guess it uses same/similiar database as link below i.e. ISP adress.
Try your own IP
http://www.ip2location.com/free.asp
What a useless piece of garbage for a useless piece of software.
@71
The Pirate Bay steals money; they stole the money they made from advertisements on the site, and every few years they have “fund raisers” such as for buying Sealand, but they always end up taking the money and not following through on their promises.
The Pirate Party was founded by them, according to you. So why should we trust those corrupt politicians?
Maybe they can get an app that will show where on the map a guy is who cares about it.
#71
Your mind is gone! Give it up, any fool knows the TPB is the coolest site around. Long live sharing!!!
Sorry, I mean #75
i don’t know why you always like to scare people and tell them to not download from torrent because NOTHING HAPPENED TO NOBODY for download from bittorrent
Nah, this won’t be that useful for them. As many have already stated, the copyright holders have been collecting and using IP data for a long time now. The issue is that they can only get the hop before the connection enters your home. That is why it usually only gets your location down to the city. Along with that, they ONLY have the city, nothing else, no names, street addresses, or anything else.
That is why it is still necessary for them to contact our internet providers and give them the IP they want information on. Only our internet providers have the data which directly links our IPs to our names and street addresses. (Unless we have made the connection ourselves somewhere else on the net, be careful who you give your name and address too.)
For example, my IP address locates me to Summerville, SC. While my postal address is in Summerville, I am only barely within the border and that puts me about 7.5 miles from the center of Summerville. So if they went around knocking on doors in an outward spiral from the center, it would take them 15 square miles of searching and 1000′s of doors before they found me. Of course, even if they did knock on my door, all they would have is an IP address which they would have no way of knowing was mine or not unless they got it from my internet provider or they did something illegal like tapping into my physical internet connection.
So as TorrentFreak says in this article, this app will have little effect on anything, except making those who know little about the workings behind the internet feel more vulnerable.
Minor edit to my post:
“The issue is that they can only get the hop before the connection enters your home.”
Should have been written as:
“The issue is that they can only get the geo-location of the hop before the connection enters your home.”
to improve the clarity of the statement. Oh, and thanks for reading.
Good thing my IP address shows up as half an hour away from my house…
Ouch im away 180 miles form the current location….amazing accurated :P
I can’t find it under Apps, anywhere I can dl it?
With SecurityKISS Tunnel you don’t need an account. Just download, install, connect and you are anonymous in VPN.
http://www.securitykiss.com/sk/index.php?m=Solution
does that security kiss thing actually work or is it jus another fake piece of shit software full of viruses???
2 references to this post
Responses are closed
All remaining responses will continue to be archived. Use the TorrentFreak forums if you want to discuss something.