If I use IPFS, it’s my understanding that my node not only caches content that I request but also content that other nodes might request. What stops illegal content from being cached on my computer? For instance, what happens if my laptop gets confiscated by the TSA and they find a block which contains part of an image of child pornography (even if I never requested that image)?
1 Like
If I use IPFS, it’s my understanding that my node not only caches content that I request but also content that other nodes might request.
By default, your node will only cache content you request. It’ll only cache content on behalf of others if you run a public gateway (or some website you visits requests the content through your local gateway).
If a peer asks for content your node doesn’t have, you node just won’t give it to them (it won’t go looking for it).
OT: Digital searches are performed by the CBP (at the border as a part of customs), not the TSA (they only care about the physical security of the airport): Digital Privacy at the U.S. Border: Protecting the Data On Your Devices | Electronic Frontier Foundation
2 Likes
Is this configurable?
Thanks for the clarification (about IPFS and TSA). The reason for my confusion is this statement in the whitepaper (section 3.4): “In the case that a node has nothing that its peers want (or nothing at all), it seeks the pieces its peers want, with lower priority than what the node wants itself. This incentivizes nodes to cache and disseminate rare pieces, even if they are not interested in them directly.”
Is that quote out of date or am I just misinterpreting it to mean that nodes go out and get information that isn’t what the user of that node requested?
That was the original design but that’s not how it currently works. We may add that feature in the future but it will be configurable (and off by default). We’re also planning on using Filecoin to incentivize caching of content (basically, barter versus pay).
Not at the moment.
1 Like