I found out today using a network monitor that Tom_BMX's Xmodel Utilities application makes outbound connections to tom-bmx.com every time you export a model, GDT file, or otherwise. I cannot fully tell what data is sent to his server but I can verify that:

1) All data sent is associated with your private global IP address.
2) Data includes the name of the model that you've exported.

Also be aware that Tom has administrative privileges with the MySQL databases of ZM, so theoretically if he wanted to know the identity of any of the IP addresses he is tracking, he could cross reference the database of ZM and find the username that matches the IP address. Once someone has your IP address, depending on your ISP configuration, one can get an approximate location of where you live (within 10-20 miles usually, which means the city you live in can almost always be found).

I am in no way saying that the usage data Tom is collecting within itself is a serious matter, but the fact that he is silently logging everything you do with your program and the fact that is is NOT anonymous data and that you did NOT consent to this secret data collection when downloading or installing his program, is a serious breach of privacy and trust in my opinion.

If this concerns you and you would like to stop this silent data logging from happening, follow these steps:
Navigate to

C:\\Windows\\System32\\drivers\\etc\\

Right click the file named "hosts" and choose "Open". Select Notepad from the list. Scroll to the bottom of the file and use your Enter key to make a new line. Add:

127.0.0.1 tom-bmx.com

to the bottom of the file. File->Save the file, then close it.

By adding that line, you are telling your computer to redirect all outbound tom-bmx.com requests to 127.0.0.1, which is a fancy way of saying that you are blocking all outbound connections from your computer to tom-bmx.com. This will prevent him from collecting data from your computer.