How can PHP be used to ensure that downloaded files remain "hidden" on a website?

To ensure that downloaded files remain "hidden" on a website, you can use PHP to control access to the files by checking user permissions before allowing the download. This can be achieved by storing the files outside of the web root directory and using PHP to serve the files only to authorized users. 

<?php
// Check user permissions before serving the file
if($user_has_permission) {
    $file_path = '/path/to/hidden/files/secret_file.txt';
    
    // Serve the file for download
    header('Content-Type: application/octet-stream');
    header('Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="secret_file.txt"');
    readfile($file_path);
} else {
    echo "You do not have permission to access this file.";
}
?>

Keywords

PHP file permissions .htaccess server-side scripting file security

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