diff --git a/apps/files_sharing/composer/composer/autoload_classmap.php b/apps/files_sharing/composer/composer/autoload_classmap.php
index b42d1555263..400df9c9771 100644
--- a/apps/files_sharing/composer/composer/autoload_classmap.php
+++ b/apps/files_sharing/composer/composer/autoload_classmap.php
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ return array(
     'OCA\\Files_Sharing\\ISharedMountPoint' => $baseDir . '/../lib/ISharedMountPoint.php',
     'OCA\\Files_Sharing\\ISharedStorage' => $baseDir . '/../lib/ISharedStorage.php',
     'OCA\\Files_Sharing\\Listener\\BeforeDirectFileDownloadListener' => $baseDir . '/../lib/Listener/BeforeDirectFileDownloadListener.php',
+    'OCA\\Files_Sharing\\Listener\\BeforeNodeReadListener' => $baseDir . '/../lib/Listener/BeforeNodeReadListener.php',
     'OCA\\Files_Sharing\\Listener\\BeforeZipCreatedListener' => $baseDir . '/../lib/Listener/BeforeZipCreatedListener.php',
     'OCA\\Files_Sharing\\Listener\\LoadAdditionalListener' => $baseDir . '/../lib/Listener/LoadAdditionalListener.php',
     'OCA\\Files_Sharing\\Listener\\LoadPublicFileRequestAuthListener' => $baseDir . '/../lib/Listener/LoadPublicFileRequestAuthListener.php',
diff --git a/apps/files_sharing/composer/composer/autoload_static.php b/apps/files_sharing/composer/composer/autoload_static.php
index bb364256947..02bb6d08bb5 100644
--- a/apps/files_sharing/composer/composer/autoload_static.php
+++ b/apps/files_sharing/composer/composer/autoload_static.php
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ class ComposerStaticInitFiles_Sharing
         'OCA\\Files_Sharing\\ISharedMountPoint' => __DIR__ . '/..' . '/../lib/ISharedMountPoint.php',
         'OCA\\Files_Sharing\\ISharedStorage' => __DIR__ . '/..' . '/../lib/ISharedStorage.php',
         'OCA\\Files_Sharing\\Listener\\BeforeDirectFileDownloadListener' => __DIR__ . '/..' . '/../lib/Listener/BeforeDirectFileDownloadListener.php',
+        'OCA\\Files_Sharing\\Listener\\BeforeNodeReadListener' => __DIR__ . '/..' . '/../lib/Listener/BeforeNodeReadListener.php',
         'OCA\\Files_Sharing\\Listener\\BeforeZipCreatedListener' => __DIR__ . '/..' . '/../lib/Listener/BeforeZipCreatedListener.php',
         'OCA\\Files_Sharing\\Listener\\LoadAdditionalListener' => __DIR__ . '/..' . '/../lib/Listener/LoadAdditionalListener.php',
         'OCA\\Files_Sharing\\Listener\\LoadPublicFileRequestAuthListener' => __DIR__ . '/..' . '/../lib/Listener/LoadPublicFileRequestAuthListener.php',
diff --git a/apps/files_sharing/lib/AppInfo/Application.php b/apps/files_sharing/lib/AppInfo/Application.php
index 6c0d5ca0781..512309d0c55 100644
--- a/apps/files_sharing/lib/AppInfo/Application.php
+++ b/apps/files_sharing/lib/AppInfo/Application.php
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ use OCA\Files_Sharing\External\Manager;
 use OCA\Files_Sharing\External\MountProvider as ExternalMountProvider;
 use OCA\Files_Sharing\Helper;
 use OCA\Files_Sharing\Listener\BeforeDirectFileDownloadListener;
+use OCA\Files_Sharing\Listener\BeforeNodeReadListener;
 use OCA\Files_Sharing\Listener\BeforeZipCreatedListener;
 use OCA\Files_Sharing\Listener\LoadAdditionalListener;
 use OCA\Files_Sharing\Listener\LoadPublicFileRequestAuthListener;
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ use OCP\Federation\ICloudIdManager;
 use OCP\Files\Config\IMountProviderCollection;
 use OCP\Files\Events\BeforeDirectFileDownloadEvent;
 use OCP\Files\Events\BeforeZipCreatedEvent;
+use OCP\Files\Events\Node\BeforeNodeReadEvent;
 use OCP\Group\Events\GroupChangedEvent;
 use OCP\Group\Events\GroupDeletedEvent;
 use OCP\Group\Events\UserAddedEvent;
@@ -94,6 +96,9 @@ class Application extends App implements IBootstrap {
 		$context->registerEventListener(ShareCreatedEvent::class, UserShareAcceptanceListener::class);
 		$context->registerEventListener(UserAddedEvent::class, UserAddedToGroupListener::class);
 
+		// Publish activity for public download
+		$context->registerEventListener(BeforeNodeReadEvent::class, BeforeNodeReadListener::class);
+
 		// Handle download events for view only checks
 		$context->registerEventListener(BeforeZipCreatedEvent::class, BeforeZipCreatedListener::class);
 		$context->registerEventListener(BeforeDirectFileDownloadEvent::class, BeforeDirectFileDownloadListener::class);
diff --git a/apps/files_sharing/lib/Listener/BeforeNodeReadListener.php b/apps/files_sharing/lib/Listener/BeforeNodeReadListener.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..69f97e2a7c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/files_sharing/lib/Listener/BeforeNodeReadListener.php
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+/**
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2025 Nextcloud GmbH and Nextcloud contributors
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+ */
+
+namespace OCA\Files_Sharing\Listener;
+
+use OCA\Files_Sharing\Activity\Providers\Downloads;
+use OCP\EventDispatcher\Event;
+use OCP\EventDispatcher\IEventListener;
+use OCP\Files\Events\Node\BeforeNodeReadEvent;
+use OCP\Files\File;
+use OCP\Files\IRootFolder;
+use OCP\Files\Storage\ISharedStorage;
+use OCP\IRequest;
+use OCP\IUserSession;
+use OCP\Share\IShare;
+
+/**
+ * @template-implements IEventListener<BeforeNodeReadEvent|Event>
+ */
+class BeforeNodeReadListener implements IEventListener {
+
+	public function __construct(
+		private IUserSession $userSession,
+		private IRootFolder $rootFolder,
+		protected \OCP\Activity\IManager $activityManager,
+		private IRequest $request,
+	) {
+	}
+
+	public function handle(Event $event): void {
+		if (!($event instanceof BeforeNodeReadEvent)) {
+			return;
+		}
+
+		$node = $event->getNode();
+		if (!($node instanceof File)) {
+			return;
+		}
+
+		try {
+			$storage = $node->getStorage();
+		} catch (NotFoundException) {
+			return;
+		}
+
+		if (!$storage->instanceOfStorage(ISharedStorage::class)) {
+			return;
+		}
+
+		/** @var ISharedStorage $storage */
+		$share = $storage->getShare();
+
+		$this->singleFileDownloaded($share, $node);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * create activity if a single file was downloaded from a link share
+	 */
+	protected function singleFileDownloaded(IShare $share, File $node): void {
+		$fileId = $node->getId();
+
+		$userFolder = $this->rootFolder->getUserFolder($share->getSharedBy());
+		$userNode = $userFolder->getFirstNodeById($fileId);
+		$ownerFolder = $this->rootFolder->getUserFolder($share->getShareOwner());
+		$userPath = $userFolder->getRelativePath($userNode?->getPath() ?? '') ?? '';
+		$ownerPath = $ownerFolder->getRelativePath($node->getPath()) ?? '';
+
+		$parameters = [$userPath];
+
+		if ($share->getShareType() === IShare::TYPE_EMAIL) {
+			$subject = Downloads::SUBJECT_SHARED_FILE_BY_EMAIL_DOWNLOADED;
+			$parameters[] = $share->getSharedWith();
+		} elseif ($share->getShareType() === IShare::TYPE_LINK) {
+			$subject = Downloads::SUBJECT_PUBLIC_SHARED_FILE_DOWNLOADED;
+			$remoteAddress = $this->request->getRemoteAddress();
+			$dateTime = new \DateTime();
+			$dateTime = $dateTime->format('Y-m-d H');
+			$remoteAddressHash = md5($dateTime . '-' . $remoteAddress);
+			$parameters[] = $remoteAddressHash;
+		} else {
+			return;
+		}
+
+		$this->publishActivity($subject, $parameters, $share->getSharedBy(), $fileId, $userPath);
+
+		if ($share->getShareOwner() !== $share->getSharedBy()) {
+			$parameters[0] = $ownerPath;
+			$this->publishActivity($subject, $parameters, $share->getShareOwner(), $fileId, $ownerPath);
+		}
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * publish activity
+	 */
+	protected function publishActivity(
+		string $subject,
+		array $parameters,
+		string $affectedUser,
+		int $fileId,
+		string $filePath,
+	): void {
+		$event = $this->activityManager->generateEvent();
+		$event->setApp('files_sharing')
+			->setType('public_links')
+			->setSubject($subject, $parameters)
+			->setAffectedUser($affectedUser)
+			->setObject('files', $fileId, $filePath);
+		$this->activityManager->publish($event);
+	}
+}