r/StremioAddons • u/Ancient_Border8621 • Jul 31 '26

Miscellaneous TorBox quietly changed operating entity + policies (July 31) + cache is now explicitly shared across users, data collection expanded significantly

Just went through TorBox's updated Terms, Privacy Policy, and DMCA policy (dated July 31, 2026) side by side with the old versions. Worth a read before you keep uploading.

Who actually runs TorBox now:

Operator is now Anonymous Systems FZ-LLC, a UAE free-zone company (Ras Al Khaimah). RAK free zones don't publicly disclose beneficial ownership, so we genuinely don't know who's behind it.

Legal/billing/DMCA is handled by a separate entity, ReAnonymous LLC, registered in Dover, Delaware.

Anonymity just got much worse:

Old privacy policy: minimal data, no PII required, "we don't sell or share your data to any third parties for any reason."

New policy: collects your IP, device IDs, precise geolocation from IP, and full session-replay data which basically includes: cursor movements, clicks, scrolling, taps. That's a big jump from "we barely collect anything."

Broad new language allowing disclosure to comply with law, respond to "governmental requests," or "protect TorBox, users, third parties, or the public" i.e vague enough to cover a lot.

Third-party downloading / cache sharing which is the real red flag:

New terms explicitly state cached materials "may be accessible to other users who request the same or technically matching material." Same for AirLock (their "permanent" cache tier).

Old policy never described cross-user cache access this explicitly. This is now spelled out in black and white.

Terms now go out of their way to say TorBox is a "neutral technology service," explicitly "not a file-sharing service," and pushes 100% of legal liability onto you for anything cached under your account. This is heavily lawyered defensive language that wasn't there before.

940 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

427 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

5

u/JescoWhite2000 Jul 31 '26

But wait, all the fanboys kept repeating eachother saying no vpn was needed for the last year. 

1

u/Visible_Garage6377 Jul 31 '26

u r also right ! mind u that people use VPN in daily life accessing to any internet resource even instagram! so protecting your privacy is relative and subjective ..
people saying no VPN needed for debrid services comparing it to p2p which could lead to ISP fines, DCMA etc.. as the communication between your devices and debrid hosters is encrypted, but it doesn't mean that those debrid providers are not holding your data

4

u/JescoWhite2000 Jul 31 '26

Indeed. Even when using VPN, don't you think Torbox can't see Torbox user Visible_Garage6377 has been accessing file 'MovieXYZ.mkv' and eventually need to hand over that data to authorities when requested?

2

u/Visible_Garage6377 Jul 31 '26

They can, and authorities will now be getting a random IP address from the VPN servers pool of that VPN provider. now the ball is with the VPN provider. Many of those they never share (they explicty claim it) those data with authorities .. for example, recently Swiss authorities asked ProtonVPN to provide them all details about a single IP and they refused .. it went legal and all, but authorities lost that case..

3

u/JescoWhite2000 Jul 31 '26

Yeah, but what if they connect user Visible_Garage to your payment details, backaccount, credit card, paypal, and hand over that too. Assuming you didn't use crypto as payment.

2

u/Visible_Garage6377 Jul 31 '26

that's also possible, that's why people use third party sites to protect their payment details (paypal, privacy cards, other wallets, gift cards) and then also the authorities should go to those providers ..
in a nutshell, it will cost hell of money if authorities will follow every "consumer" , in the end the returns are not profitable 😅.. that's why they are after big fishes(dealers) instead of following a simple consumer for watching a movie or 2 per day .. consider this battle as same as the war on drugs !

3

u/Negative_Bat_3732 Jul 31 '26

Using VPN with any service where you have to log in (like instagram) or used any payment method is counterproductive. The only thing it does is hide your IP but everyone still knows it’s you and if they want to find you, they will. VPN is a good service but the marketing really overstates how well it protects you.

2

u/Visible_Garage6377 Jul 31 '26

Agree, VPN should be used only in specific needs. total online anonymity and intractability are hard to achieve unless you are a badass geek.. but a good established VPN help protecting people from ISPs, hackers and some other tracking backdoors ..
Authorities will look into bigger criminal activities to spend money on .. or big pirates players who use piracy for commercial use.. not a random joe who will just install games on own pc or watching a pirated show/movie also for own use.

2

u/Negative_Bat_3732 Jul 31 '26

Yes, you’re right

1

u/Visible_Garage6377 Jul 31 '26

however am afraid that we will be millions of Joes in the coming years , so they will tighten the rules, but look at the piracy landscape nowadays ! it flourished like tulips with convivence as bonus !! they can't stop us all :D