Do multihosters log and track my download activity, or are my downloads anonymous and private?

Premium multihoster services offer, by default, a layer of protection that enhances your privacy while downloading files. Due to the nature of how most multihoster services work, your IP address is not transmitted to a filehosting site when you download files using a multihoster account, rather the multihoster’s download server IP address is.

When you download a file from a filehosting site directly, without using a multihoster, whether you’re using a premium account or downloading files for free, your IP address is shared with that filehosting site. It is a direct connection between your computer and the filehosting site, as represented by this crude graphic:

Example of communications when downloading files

However, when using a multihoster service like LinkSnappy or Linkifier, your downloads from filehosting sites work like this:

Multihoster downloads with premium accounts

Thus, using a multihoster to download files essentially hides your IP address from the filehosting site. The only parties that know what you’re downloading are the multihoster service and your ISP. Well, them and whomever might be looking over your shoulder while you’re downloading files or if somebody is monitoring your network’s traffic.

The big question with anonymous downloads, then, is whether the multihoster service you use is logging and keeping track of your download activity. Your downloads using a premium multihoster account are anonymous to the filehosting sites, but not as much to the multihoster services that facilitate your downloads from the various filesharing and hosting sites.

This is one of the reasons I personally use and recommend multihosters like LinkSnappy. They do not log your IP address or files downloaded (it’s an option available to you), and they make it easy to delete your account, giving you total control over your privacy with their service.

If you really want to enjoy anonymous downloads where even the multihoster service you’re using doesn’t know who you are, I recommend using a multihoster account with a No-logging VPN provider. I’ve used VPNs regularly with LinkSnappy and haven’t run into any issues to date. It’s even mentioned on their FAQs page that they allow VPNs for downloads.

The bottom line here is that multihosters afford you a substantial amount of privacy when downloading files online. This is especially true if you like to download torrents and choose a multihoster that supports torrent downloads. For the largest majority of people, however, one of the recommended multihoster accounts above affords you more than enough privacy to keep your download activity private and anonymous.

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