🤖 Overview

Tracemyfile is a web crawler operated by the company TraceMyFile (tracemyfile.com), a digital asset tracking service founded to help content creators and rights holders detect unauthorized distribution of their files across the internet. The bot's primary purpose is to crawl publicly accessible web servers, indexing files by cryptographic hash and metadata to locate copies that may be infringing on copyright. It feeds its findings into the TraceMyFile platform, which provides clients with actionable reports.

🌐 Technical Behavior

Tracemyfile employs a distributed crawling architecture, scanning websites for files matching specific hash values or filename patterns provided by its users. Requests are made over HTTP/HTTPS using standard GET and HEAD methods, often targeting static resources like images, PDFs, documents, and audio files. The bot's crawl frequency varies based on the number of files being tracked; it can be aggressive, generating thousands of requests per day from a single IP. IP addresses are drawn from a pool of cloud-hosted servers, primarily from providers like AWS and DigitalOcean, though exact ranges are not publicly documented. The crawler does not execute JavaScript or follow complex redirects, focusing solely on directly accessible file URLs, and it typically requests a single file per connection without pipelining. The bot's crawls are triggered by user uploads and can be scheduled, leading to bursty behavior.

📋 robots.txt Compliance

According to TraceMyFile's official documentation (available at tracemyfile.com/robots), the Tracemyfile bot respects robots.txt directives and will obey Disallow rules for paths or patterns specified. However, numerous webmaster reports indicate that the bot sometimes ignores these directives, particularly when crawling is initiated by a user request to trace a specific file. The company acknowledges this and recommends explicitly blocking the User-Agent string to prevent unwanted crawling.

🔍 Detection Indicators

The primary User-Agent string is "Tracemyfile/1.0" (and variants like "TraceMyFile/1.0" or without version), often accompanied by a contact email such as [email protected]. Additional behavioral fingerprints include a high request rate to static file endpoints, lack of Referer header, and a distinct IP pattern from cloud provider blocks. The bot identifies itself via the User-Agent header and sometimes includes a From header with the contact address. The IP ranges can be identified via WHOIS lookups on the cloud provider blocks.

📊 Data Usage

Collected data—file locations, metadata, and associated URLs—are used exclusively to populate the TraceMyFile platform, which provides copyright monitoring and enforcement services. The platform does not train AI models or index content for search engines; instead, it serves as a forensic tool for rights holders to identify infringing copies and take down requests. The platform also provides analytics on geographic distribution of file copies. No client data is reused for other purposes or shared with third parties.

⚙️ Rate Limiting Policy

Because Tracemyfile can be aggressive when tracking many files, server administrators are advised to implement rate limiting to prevent excessive load. The policy rationale is that while the bot performs a legitimate copyright monitoring function, it does not contribute to search indexing or user experience, and its high-frequency requests can degrade performance for other visitors. Threshold-based blocking (e.g., >100 requests per minute per IP) is recommended if the bot impacts normal operations.

ⓘ Data Notice: The information presented above has been compiled from publicly available internet sources. Boteraser aggregates this data solely for informational purposes and does not independently classify, evaluate, or endorse any findings about the bots listed. The accuracy and completeness of this information is the sole responsibility of the original publishers. Boteraser and its operators accept no liability for any decisions made based on this data.