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Comment by mrcharles | Hacker News Reader

Can someone give me a quick rundown on how this works, vs security of files? If it's using the bittorrent protocol, wouldn't that mean that all your files, even though encrypted, are easily gathered by a third party?

Or does this simply make direct connections between PCs you own and people you have authorized to share your files?

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From the article:

> While Sync uses BitTorrent technology, people’s files are not accessible to outsiders. Only those who have the unique private key can access the shared folder.

> “All the traffic is encrypted using a private key derived from the shared secret. Your files can be viewed and received only by the people with whom you share your private secret,” BitTorrent explains.

I read the page, but that doesn't seem clear to me. If they have encrypted versions of my files, they still don't technically have access to them.

No. Only key holders have access to the data being shared. It is up to you to authorize every share with a key. Single use keys can also be generated.

There are relays if you need them due to firewalls:

"We also provide such additional methods of ensuring connectivity as relay and tracker servers."

But you can opt out of this config.

Security wise, is this that different from just making a private torrent yourself and giving it to someone you know?

It’s equivalent of making a private torrent of your encrypted content then giving your friend the torrent metadata AND decryption key. That is not including additional features.

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