What are some potential methods to secure digital product downloads for customers who have paid through PayPal, without spending a lot of money?

One potential method to secure digital product downloads for customers who have paid through PayPal without spending a lot of money is to generate unique download links that expire after a set period of time. This can help prevent unauthorized access to the digital products and ensure that only paying customers can download them.

// Generate a unique download link with an expiration time
$download_link = 'https://example.com/download.php?token=' . md5(uniqid(rand(), true));
$expiration_time = time() + (24 * 60 * 60); // Link expires in 24 hours

// Store the download link and expiration time in a database
// Replace 'your_database_table' with the actual table name
$query = "INSERT INTO your_database_table (download_link, expiration_time) VALUES ('$download_link', '$expiration_time')";
// Execute the query to insert the download link and expiration time into the database

// Send the download link to the customer
echo 'Your download link: <a href="' . $download_link . '">Download</a>';