Security and Privacy
Peer privacy
Peer connections use encrypted WebRTC data channels. Sudden does not request camera or microphone access. It does not share application profile data, cookies, login credentials, or DRM keys between peers.
As with other direct WebRTC connections, a connected peer may see network address information exposed by the browser. The peer also receives the playlist and segment URLs needed for the transfer. Depending on your URL structure, these can indicate which video is being watched.
Viewer disclosure and resource use
Peer-assisted delivery means a viewer’s browser can connect to other viewers, upload portions of video, and use network bandwidth, browser storage, processing power, and battery. Include this behavior in your privacy assessment and user-facing notices.
Bandwidth, mobile data, and battery use
Uploading segments uses the viewer’s upstream connection and can count against a metered or mobile data plan. WebRTC, caching, and uploads also use device resources and may affect battery life. The impact varies with the device, network, video bitrate, viewing time, and how often that browser supplies data to peers, so Sudden does not state a universal data or battery cost.
Browser storage
Sudden stores segments in the browser’s origin-scoped Cache Storage. It manages its cache toward the lower of 500 MB and 33% of the origin’s browser storage quota, accounting for storage already used by the site, and evicts entries when it needs space. This is not a hard cap; the browser controls the final quota and may also evict cached data independently.
Sudden caches the bytes in the form delivered by your CDN. DRM-encrypted segments remain encrypted; Sudden does not add content encryption to otherwise unencrypted segments.
Cached segments do not have a fixed time-based deletion guarantee. They remain until Sudden or the browser evicts them, the site clears its storage, or you call sudden.clearCache().
DRM and protected content
Sudden does not handle DRM licenses, keys, or decryption. For compatible protected HLS video on demand, peer-delivered segments remain encrypted and the player continues to use its existing DRM flow. A viewer must still obtain the license and entitlement required by your DRM system.
Sudden does not add anti-recording or anti-redistribution controls. Continue using the DRM policies, license entitlements, watermarking, and account-abuse controls required by your content model.
This applies only to supported HLS video-on-demand configurations. See Compatibility for the current format and browser scope.
Content access and geographic rights
Sudden does not replace viewer authentication, content entitlements, or geographic restrictions. For protected content, use controls that remain effective when encrypted segments are cached and exchanged between browsers, such as your existing DRM and license workflow.
Content integrity and fallback
Sudden validates peer-delivered segments against integrity metadata before caching them. A tampered or mismatching segment is rejected and the normal HTTP path remains available.
If Sudden is unavailable, unsupported, or unable to obtain a valid peer response, the request falls back to the existing browser cache or CDN path. Your CDN remains the availability baseline.
Site integration
Sudden uses a service worker on your site origin to handle supported HLS playlist and media-segment requests. Other requests continue through their normal path, including DRM license and key traffic.
Sites with a Content Security Policy must permit the Sudden script and control-service connections. Use the canonical script-src and connect-src requirements for the current configuration.
See Service worker for setup and integration details.
Operational data and compliance
Sudden collects operational data used to coordinate delivery, measure offload, prepare usage reporting, and diagnose failures. Depending on the event, this can include:
- Customer and client identifiers.
- Ephemeral peer identifiers and connection counts.
- Playlist and segment URL metadata.
- Transfer source, byte size, timing, and error details.
- Browser and device information.
- Request IP address and derived network geography.
Peer transfers are direct between browsers rather than proxied through Sudden. When calculating integrity metadata, Sudden services can transiently retrieve a segment from an allowed asset origin. They persist the resulting metadata, not the segment payload.
IP addresses and media URLs may be personal or sensitive data in your context. Include Sudden in your privacy assessment and user disclosure. Confirm current retention, data location, subprocessors, contractual terms, and incident-response requirements with your Sudden contact.