Kodi 21.2 — the first minute without a single click

How we tested: a clean Debian 13 in a disposable container; source — package kodi 2:21.2+dfsg-4 from the Debian repository. Run as a regular user on a virtual screen, 60 seconds, nothing clicked. 18.10.2026. Every network request and every file written was recorded; the code was not decompiled. The container was deleted afterwards.

Program website: https://kodi.tv/

Package SHA-256: 74aa7546d14c64a079e3da90d9263fe3f6fafcb45abee26c3a400254c36f2408

Summary

What we checkedResult
Built-in telemetry, crash reporting, analytics, ad SDKsnone
Network requests in the first minute7 server names
Known trackers among the serversnone
Files written in the first minute300+
The program ran the whole timeyes — process alive at the end

The program’s screen at the end of the test

What is built in

2089 files (100 MB) were checked.

No code of known telemetry, crash reporting, analytics or ad SDKs was found.

Addresses of known trackers in the program’s files — addresses in code, not requests:

TrackerAddressesMentions
YouTubewww.youtube.com1

Where it connected

ServerHowFrom secondTimesKnown tracker
ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.deconnection17.52—
ftp.snt.utwente.nlconnection21.03—
mirror.karneval.czconnection19.32—
mirror.math.princeton.educonnection11.71—
mirror.netcologne.deconnection15.64—
mirror.umd.educonnection22.82—
mirrors.kodi.tvconnection10.31—

A DNS lookup is not yet a connection: the program looked up the server’s address. But the lookup itself is visible to the ISP and the DNS server.

What it wrote to disk

Folders the program wrote files to during the minute:

FolderFiles
~/.kodi/addons198
~/.cache/mesa_shader_cache_db102

How to read this card