--- title: "What is actually in place · DuplicateDuster" description: "Fully local, read-only until you confirm, an original that cannot be selected, and protected system locations." url: "https://royalsoftworks.com/products/duplicate-duster/security/in-place/" source: "https://royalsoftworks.com" format: "markdown" note: "Markdown rendering of the HTML page at `url`. Same content, same canonical URL." --- Security & privacy · 1 of 3 # What is actually in place. Fully local, read-only until you confirm, an original that cannot be selected, and protected system locations. ## Not one byte leaves the machine. DuplicateDuster never transmits file names, hashes, or content anywhere. Scanning works with the network cable pulled, which makes it safe for material that is not allowed to leave the room. The only outbound calls it ever makes are a licence check and an update check — and there is an offline licence file for machines that never go online. 0 Bytes transmitted during a scan 0 Telemetry events, ever Read-only Until you confirm a cleanup Recycle bin The default reclaim mode ## Fully local processing Scanning, hashing and reclaiming all happen on your machine, with no network connection required at any point. No file names, hashes or content are ever transmitted anywhere. ## Read-only scanning A scan lists and reads; it never writes. Nothing is removed without an explicit confirmation naming the file count, the total size, and what is about to happen to those files. ## The original cannot be selected Source-side files are rendered with a keep badge and no checkbox at all. Deletion is structurally limited to the target folders you nominated — this isn't a default you can click past, it's the shape of the screen. ## Protected system locations Windows, Program Files, ProgramData, the recycle bin and System Volume Information — and on Unix /bin, /usr, /etc, /boot and friends — are skipped during the walk and refused again at delete time, whatever ends up selected. Paths are resolved first, so a traversal like ..\\Windows\\System32 can't slip past. [Previous Security: all 3 pages](https://royalsoftworks.com/products/duplicate-duster/security/) [Next Links, overwrites and licences.](https://royalsoftworks.com/products/duplicate-duster/security/safeguards/) [All of DuplicateDuster security](https://royalsoftworks.com/products/duplicate-duster/security/)