Privacy Policy
- Free
- Pro Unlock
- Pro Master Seeder
The short version
rtorrent remote contains no ads, no analytics, no tracking, and no crash reporting, and the developer operates no servers. Everything you configure stays on your device, encrypted. The app talks to exactly three places: the rtremote server you set up yourself, the GitHub API (a version check), and Google Play (purchases and a font). The developer never sees your torrents, your settings, your peers, or your payment details.
1.Who this policy covers
rtorrent remote is developed and published by trog (swmud.net). The app is a remote control and monitor for a rtorrent BitTorrent client that you run, reached through the open-source rtremote companion server that you install next to it. There is no intermediary service: the connection goes directly from your device to your server.
This policy covers everything the app can do — monitoring all torrent views, the torrent details screens (files, peers, trackers), editing global settings, per-torrent actions, adding torrents, file priorities, tracker and peer management, labels, throttle groups, scheduled rate caps, bulk actions, moving and erasing data, custom views, multiple server profiles, the home-screen widget and quick-settings tile — on every plan. Paid plans unlock features; they never change what data is handled or where it goes.
2.Data stored on your device
The app stores the following, and only the following, on your device — never anywhere else:
- Connection settings and server profiles — for each rtremote server you add: hostname, port, the security key used to authenticate to it, TLS options, and the keystore password if you use certificate mode. Saved in the app's private storage as an AES/GCM-encrypted file. The encryption key is derived on-device from a device identifier (Android ID); this identifier is used only for that purpose and never leaves your device.
- Preferences — startup screen, list sorting and display options, notification settings, and similar choices, stored in the same encrypted file.
-
An optional TLS keystore file (
rtr_keystore.jks) that you place in the app's files directory yourself if you use certificate-based trust. The app only reads it to establish TLS. - Purchase entitlements in memory only — whether your Google account owns Pro Unlock or Pro Master Seeder is queried from Google Play when the app starts or resumes and is never written to storage.
The app keeps no history, no logs, no account, and no identifier of you. Data received from your server (torrent lists, stats) is held in memory while the app runs and is gone when it exits.
3.Where the app connects
The app makes network connections to exactly three endpoints:
All functional traffic, over an encrypted WebSocket (wss://). Sent: your
security key (to authenticate), view subscriptions, and the commands you trigger — changing global limits
and the listen port; starting, stopping, pausing, checking, announcing, or erasing torrents (including
“erase with data”); file priorities; enabling, disabling, or adding trackers; banning, snubbing, or
disconnecting peers; setting labels; creating and resizing throttle groups; day/night rate schedules;
moving torrent data; and bulk versions of these. When you add a torrent via the share sheet or
“paste many”, the contents of that .torrent file or magnet link (plus any directory or
label you choose) are transmitted to this server and nowhere else; magnet links are read from your
clipboard only at the moment you paste them, and queued items are held only until sent.
Received: torrent metadata, file lists, tracker details, peer addresses, transfer stats,
and disk usage. This server is chosen, hosted, and controlled entirely by you — the developer has no
access to it or to any of this traffic.
api.github.com
Third party
A single anonymous request that checks the latest released version of rtremote, so the app can tell you when your server is out of date. It carries no personal data beyond what any web request exposes (your IP address), and is subject to GitHub's Privacy Statement.
Google Play Billing, to process purchases and to check which products your Google account owns, and Google's downloadable-fonts provider, which supplies the app's display font (Abhaya Libre). Both are subject to Google's Privacy Policy.
There is no fourth endpoint. The developer runs no backend and receives no telemetry, usage statistics, analytics, crash reports, or personal data of any kind. Nothing in the app “phones home”.
4.Data displayed, never collected
The app displays whatever your own server reports: torrent names, file names and sizes, tracker URLs, transfer rates, and the IP addresses of peers in your swarms. This information lives in app memory only while the screen shows it. It is not stored on the device, not logged, and not transmitted to the developer or to any third party. Peer addresses belong to other people; the app only ever shows them to you and — when you use peer actions like ban or disconnect — sends the corresponding command back to your own server.
5.Plans and purchases
The app offers one free plan and two one-time (non-subscription) purchases. Plans differ only in which controls are unlocked — the privacy behaviour described in this policy is identical on all three:
| Plan | What it is | Personal data involved |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Every read-only feature: all torrent views, details screens (files, peers, trackers), global stats, disk usage, labels, and new-download notifications. | None. No purchase, no billing data. |
| Pro Unlock | One-time purchase unlocking write actions on existing state: global limits and listen port, per-torrent start/stop/priority and other single-torrent actions, adding torrents, file priorities, tracker enable/disable, labels, and peer actions. | Processed entirely by Google Play (see below). |
| Pro Master Seeder | One-time purchase that includes everything in Pro Unlock, plus creating and restructuring: throttle groups, scheduled caps, custom views, bulk actions, erase with data, move data, add-with-directory and label, tracker adding and forced announces, multiple server profiles, and the widget / quick-settings tile. | Processed entirely by Google Play (see below). |
Purchases are made through Google Play Billing. Your payment details (card numbers, billing address, and so on) go to Google and never reach the app or the developer. The app asks Google Play only one question — “does this Google account own these products?” — when it starts or resumes, and keeps the answer in memory. Refunds and purchase management are handled through your Google Play account.
6.Notifications
When enabled, the app posts a local notification when a new download appears on your server. Notifications are generated on your device from the data your server pushes; no notification service of the developer's is involved. The torrent name appears in the notification, so it is visible wherever your device shows notifications (for example, your lock screen — controlled by your Android settings). You can decline the notification permission or disable notifications at any time without losing any other functionality.
7.Android permissions
| Permission | Why the app requests it |
|---|---|
INTERNET |
Connecting to your rtremote server, the GitHub version check, and Google Play. |
ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE |
Noticing when connectivity changes so the app can reconnect to your server. |
POST_NOTIFICATIONS |
Showing new-download notifications (Android 13+; optional — you can deny it). |
The app requests no location, no contacts, no camera, no microphone, and no storage access.
8.Device backups
The app participates in standard Android device backup, so your encrypted settings file may be included in the device backup associated with your Google account, under Google's Privacy Policy. If you prefer to exclude it, disable app backup in your device's Google backup settings. The developer has no access to your backups.
9.Security
-
In transit: the connection to your server always uses TLS (
wss://). In certificate mode, the server's certificate is verified against a keystore you provide, which can also carry a client certificate for mutual authentication. - At rest: settings — including your security key — are stored AES/GCM-encrypted with a device-derived key. This protects against casual reading of the file, but like any on-device key derivation it cannot protect against an attacker with full control of your device.
- Destructive actions (erasing torrents, erase with data, moving data, changing the listen port) are guarded by in-app confirmation dialogs, and file operations they trigger happen only on your own server.
The “accept self-signed certificates” option
Settings include an explicit opt-in to accept self-signed TLS certificates for people who run rtremote with one. Enabling it keeps the connection encrypted but disables certificate and hostname verification, so it cannot detect an impostor server. Use it only for servers you control, and prefer certificate mode where you can.
10.Retention and deletion
Everything the app stores lives on your device. To delete it, clear the app's data in Android settings or uninstall the app — there is nothing to delete anywhere else, and no deletion request to the developer is necessary or possible, because the developer holds no data about you. Your purchases remain attached to your Google account (Google Play restores them if you reinstall). Anything on your server — torrents, files, schedules, throttle groups — belongs to your own rtorrent/rtremote installation and is unaffected by uninstalling the app.
11.Children
The app is a technical utility for administering a BitTorrent client, intended for a general audience. It is not directed at children under 13, and since it collects no personal data, it collects none from children either.
12.Changes to this policy
If the app's data handling ever changes — for example, a new feature requiring a new endpoint — this policy will be updated at this address with a new effective date before the change ships, and material changes will be called out in the app's release notes on Google Play.
13.Contact
Questions about this policy or the app's data handling:
Trogious · rtorrentremote@swmud.net
The companion server is open source: github.com/Trogious/rtremote.