Proxy Torrenting
How to Completely Anonymize Your BitTorrent Traffic with a …
BitTorrent isn’t the quiet haven it once was. These days, everyone’s looking to throttle your connection, spy on what you’re downloading, or even send you an ominous letter. If you use BitTorrent, you absolutely need to take precautions to hide your identity. Here’s how to do that with a simple post originally detailed the setup of a proxy called BTGuard. Since its original publication in 2011, we’ve changed our recommendation to Private Internet Access due to BTGuard’s slow speeds, bad customer service, and other difficulties. If you’re still interested in using BTGuard, you can find instructions on their web have a few different options when it comes to hiding your BitTorrent activity, but we’ve found that a proxy is the most convenient and easiest to set up, so that’s what we’re going to cover here. We’ve talked about proxies a few times before, most notably with our original guide on how to set up BTGuard our guide to safe torrenting post-Demonoid. Unfortunately, BTGuard has never been a great service—it was just the most convenient. Thankfully, Private Internet Access—one of our favorite VPN providers—now provides a proxy very similar to BTGuard, but with faster speeds and better customer service. So we recommend using it instead, using the instructions below. If you don’t want to use a proxy, check out the end of the article for a few alternative a BitTorrent Proxy WorksG/O Media may get a commissionWhen you download or seed a torrent, you’re connecting to a bunch of other people, called a swarm. All of those people can see your computer’s IP address—they have to in order to connect. That’s all very handy when you’re sharing files with other netizens, but file sharers such as yourself aren’t necessarily the only people paying attention. Piracy monitoring groups (often paid for by the entertainment industry either before or after they find violators) also join BitTorrent swarms, but instead of sharing files, they’re logging the IP addresses of other people in the swarm—including you—so that they can notify your ISP of your doings. A proxy (like Private Internet Access) funnels traffic—in this case, just your BitTorrent traffic—through another server, so that the BitTorrent swarm will show an IP address from them instead of you. In this case, Private Internet Access’ proxy server is in the Netherlands. That way, those anti-piracy groups can’t contact your ISP, and your ISP has no cause to send you a harrowing wait, can’t the piracy groups then go to the anonymizer service and requisition their logs to figure out what you’re downloading? Theoretically, yes, but if you’re using a truly good anonymizer, they don’t keep logs, so there’s no paper trail of activity leading back to you. All the piracy monitors see is a proxy service sharing a file, and all your ISP sees is you connecting to a proxy service. If you encrypt your BitTorrent traffic (which we recommend), your ISP won’t even be able to see that you’re using too good to be true, right? Well, there are a few downsides. Most notably:Anonymity isn’t free. Well, at least the ones worth using aren’t. Private Internet Access costs $6. 95 a month or $39. 95 a year. That isn’t very expensive, though, and it’s well worth it for the privacy you ’ll get slower download speeds. Running your connection through another server inevitably slows you down, though how much depends on what torrent you’re downloading, who from, and a lot of other factors. In my experience, more popular torrents stayed at their top speed of 3. 4 MB/s (my bandwidth cap) with a proxy, while other less popular torrents slowed down from 1 MB/s to about 500-600 kB/s. Your mileage may vary. I lost significantly less speed with Private Internet Access than I did with BTGuard, every BitTorrent client supports proxies. uTorrent for Windows works great, but Mac and Linux favorite Transmission sadly does not support proxies. You’ll have to use something like Deluge instead (or try one of the alternatives listed at the end of this article). Nothing is foolproof. Using a proxy may bring you increased anonymity, but nothing is guaranteed unless you avoid BitTorrent entirely. Ready to get started? Here’s what you need to to Set Up the Private Internet Access ProxySetting up a proxy is actually very simple, and just involves signing up for a service and checking a few boxes in your BitTorrent client. We’ll be using Private Internet Access and uTorrent for Windows for this guide, but you can tweak things to fit your own setup pretty One: Sign Up for Private Internet Access Private Internet Access is primarily a VPN provider. We’ll talk a bit more about VPNs later in this post, but what we really want is the SOCKS5 proxy that comes with their VPN service. So, head to Private Internet Access’ web site and sign up for their VPN service. We recommend starting out with a monthly plan to see if you like it before buying a whole year’s you’ve signed up, Private Internet Access will email you your username and password. Log into the system with those credentials, and change your password from the client control Two: Generate a Proxy PasswordYour account credentials are only to manage your account—we’ll need a new set of credentials for the Proxy service. In the client control panel, click the “Generate Password” button under “PPTP/L2TP/SOCKS Password. ” This is what we’ll be using to configure our BitTorrent client. Write down the username and password that appears here (it’s different than your regular account credentials) and move on to step Three: Configure Your BitTorrent ClientNext, open up uTorrent and head to Options > Preferences > Connection. Under Proxy Server, choose Socks5 under “Type” and enter the following information:Proxy Type: Socks5Proxy Host: mProxy Port: 1080Username: Your Private Internet Access Proxy username (from step two)Password: Your Private Internet Access Proxy password (from step two)Check all of the other boxes under “Proxy” and “Proxy Privacy. ” Your Connection preferences should look exactly like the image Four: See If It’s WorkingTo ensure that it’s working, head over to Torguard’s IP Checker. This site can tell you what your IP address is, and compare it to the IP address of your torrent client, which will let you know whether your proxy is working correctly. To test it, hit the “Generate Torrent” button, and open the resulting torrent in uTorrent. Then, go back to your browser and hit the Refresh button under the “Check IP” tab. If it’s the same as your browser IP—which you’ll see next to the Refresh button—then your proxy isn’t working, and you’ll want to double-check all of the above settings. If it shows a different IP address (which should be in the Netherlands), then Private Internet Access is successfully tunneling all your traffic for Ways to Anonymize Your BitTorrent TrafficA proxy like Private Internet Access is the most convenient way to anonymize your traffic, but it isn’t the only way. If you want to try something else, here are a few other tricks we a VPNA virtual private network (or VPN) is very similar to a proxy, but instead of rerouting just your BitTorrent traffic, it reroutes all your internet traffic. For some people, that’s a good thing—it gives you privacy all over the web. However, it can also be inconvenient, navigating you to different web pages for that VPN’s country or causing issues with streaming services. If you have a NAS, you can set up your VPN on it to route only your NAS traffic, which is a perfect option for downloading anonymously. VPNs are about the same price as most proxies, and I personally have found that I get better speeds with most VPNs than I do with a which VPN should you use? Check out TorrentFreak’s list of the best VPNs for BitTorrent, as well as our Hive Five on the subject to find a provider that works for a SeedboxUnlike proxies and VPNs, seedboxes don’t route your BitTorrent traffic through another country. Instead, you actually rent a dedicated server that resides in that country, and do all your torrenting through that machine. They usually have insanely fast speeds, and if you’re on a private tracker, they’ll seed 24/7, giving you a great ratio. Once you download a torrent on your seedbox, you can just connect to it via FTP and download the file as fast as your home connection allows. Note that seedboxes also require a bit of extra setup, and some may require a little command line work to get edboxes are more expensive than proxies and VPNs, ranging from entry-level boxes at $10 or $20 a month to fast boxes with more storage at $50 or even $100 a month. But, it offers a lot of advantages over proxies and VPNs—if you have the money to spare and want super fast speeds and a good ratio, we highly recommend getting a seedbox. Providers like Whatbox, Feral, and Bytesized come highly recommended, but a bit of searching can provide you with a ton of options. Shop around and see which one’s best for BitTorrent AltogetherYour last alternative is to try a new file sharing service entirely, like Usenet. It offers encrypted connections and doesn’t connect to peers, so others can’t track what you’re doing. It doesn’t always have the selection that BitTorrent has (depending on what you’re downloading), but it offers a ton of other advantages, most notably higher speeds and better privacy. Check out our guide to getting started with Usenet to see if it’s right for remixed from Simon and lynea (Shutterstock).
VPN vs. Proxy vs. PeerBlock for Torrent Privacy
If you’re looking to download torrents anonymously, the tools you use a make a big difference. And the biggest question we get is which offers more protection, a VPN or Proxy? In many ways they’re quite similar (route your traffic through a 3rd-party server, hiding your IP address). But there are several key differences that may lead you to choose one over the other. And some very cautious people to use both together for maximum portant Note: Fortunately, you don’t have to pay extra or choose between one or the other. Several torrent-friendly VPNs include zero-log proxy service at no additional charge. You can even use both simultaneously! VPNs that include Socks5 Proxy access: Our top picks are Private Internet Access and NordVPN (Special 72% discount)Quick Intro to your 3 OptionsBefore we dive in to the details, here’s a brief overview of the 3 torrent privacy tools, and the relative strengths/weaknesses of each:PeerBlock/iBlocklist/Other IP blockersTorrent IP blocklists attempt to do one thing. Prevent connections from certain ‘undesirable’ IP addresses or IP ranges. The theory is that if you can identify ‘suspicious’ IP’s, you can block them and minimize your risk of having your torrent downloads reality, it’s literally impossible to identify and block every IP address that might be malicous. And any professional torrent monitoring service can get new IP’s as easy as you can. Meanwhile, blocklists are made up mostly of good/harmless peers which will cause you slower speeds and reduced rdict: Blocklists might be better than nothing (barely) but it’s not a really a privacy tool. And it does nothing to anonymize your torrent downloads. Proxy / Socks5 Torrent ProxyA proxy connection is one that routes your traffic from a specific app/program (your torrent client) through a 3rd party server. The proxy server connects to all torrent peers on your behalf. The main benefit is peers will only see the IP address of the proxy server. Your ‘real’ IP address will remain best/most-secure proxy type for torrenting is Socks5 (don’t use HTTP proxies). A proxy allows your Torrent IP address to be different than the IP for all other internet traffic (good). Unfortunately, most torrents don’t encrypt their traffic, so your ISP could still monitor your downloads if they wanted rdict: A proxy is like a VPN without encryption. It’s also slightly faster. It will hide your IP address (the most important privacy feature). Your ISP can still see that you’re torrenting (through Deep Packet Inspection), so frequent torrent downloaders may prefer a commended Socks5 Providers: Private Internet Access, NordVPN, IPVanish, Torguard. Read our complete Torrent Proxy / Virtual Private NetworkA Virtual Private Network routes ALL of your internet traffic through a remote server, which interacts with the internet (and torrent peers) on your behalf. All communication between your device and the VPN server is encrypted with incredibly strong encryption. A VPN give you the highest level of protection & privacy for your torrents. It accomplishes two important things:Hide your real IP address from torrent peers (they see the VPN server’s IP). Encrypt all internet activity so your internet provider (ISP) can’t see what you do/download of the top torrent-friendly VPNs also include SOCKS5 proxy service with your subscription. So you can use both simultaneously, changing your IP address twice and keeping a local IP address for web browsing, but downloading torrents from a torrent-friendly location like the rrent IP Blocklists (Peerguard, iBlocklist, etc…)A torrent IP blocklist is simply a giant database of IP addresses that you tell your torrent client (uTorrent, Vuze…) not to connect to. There many different blocklists, and IP’s tend to get included in a blocklist for a variety of reasons:Non-Residential IP addressSchools/UniversitiesKnown torrent monitoring companies‘Suspicious’ activity from an IP addressWhat is a Blocklist? The idea behind torrent blocklists is if you can create a list of all the ‘BAD’ IP addresses, then you can only connect to ‘safe’ connection from a ‘blocked’ peer will be refused, and they won’t be able to connect to you to download/seed torrent all sounds great (because several blocklists are free) but there are MANY security issues that make a blocklists nearly worthless…Why Torrent Blocklists don’t work…There are many reasons we hate (and never recommend) blocklists. Here are the most important ones:Block way too many peers (mostly safe IP’s)Bad peers can still use an unblocked IP addressTorrents can be monitored via DHT or tracker lists, even by blocked IP’s1. Too many blocked IP addressesLet’s be honest, most torrent peers aren’t threats. They don’t want to infect you, monitor you, or hack you. They just want to share torrent files the top torrent blocklists contain MILLIONS of IP addresses. Are all these peers all dangerous? Of course ’s kind of like firing a machine gun blindfolded. You might get the bad guy, but there will be alot of collateral damage. And every ‘good’ peer you block will reduce your number of available peers, your speeds, and your download you combined all the blocklists, you’d block over 30% of all the IPv4 addresses in the world. 2. Bad Peers will just use a new ‘SAFE’ IP addressIt’s incredibly easy to get a new IP address. You can use a commercial VPN service or proxy to switch IP’s in 5 seconds. Any individual/person that makes a living from monitoring torrent downloads will have a never-ending supply of unblocked IP’s to continue their business if you use a blocklist that blocks all commercial VPN/proxy servers, they could just use a residential IP address by running a home VPN/proxy server on a $100 router, or run the monitoring software from a residential address. 3. Blocked peers can still see the IP’s of downloadersIn order to connect to torrent peers, you need to know their IP address. That’ show the whole p2p system works. These IP’s are collected and shared via torrent trackers as well as DHT (trackerless peer lists). And anybody can see these peer lists, whether their IP is blocked or; a blocklist WILL NOT prevent bad peers from seeing your torrent IP address and the files you’re downloading. Torrent trackers have that data already. The only good solution is to use a technology that actually hides your IP address (VPN or proxy). Virtual Private Network/VPN (best for most users)A VPN is the ultimate torrent privacy tool. You’ll see them recommended across all the top tech sites, from Lifehacker, to Reddit, and even torrent sites VPN is simply the best tool for the job (and really easy to use) section will discuss how a VPN works, what it’ll do for you, and how to choose the best one for torrents. Choosing the right VPN is extremely important, as there are many that aren’t torrent-friendly, even some that are outright ivate Internet Access and IPVanish are two of the best and most reputable options. We’ll discuss others as a VPN makes your torrent downloads (WAY) more secureThere are two main ways that torrent downloads are monitored:Gathering IP addresses from a torrent swarm (can be done by any 3rd party)Directly inspecting your internet traffic (your ISP or network admin can do this)A high-quality VPN can protect against both these threat vectors, for as little as $3. 33/month. A VPN protects your torrent privacy by doing two things:Hide your ‘real’ IP address and replace it with the IP of the VPN server in torrent swarms. Encrypt 100% of your internet traffic, so even your internet provider (ISP) can’t monitor your traffic or see what files you’re sounds simple (and it is really easy to use). But it’s also incredibly powerful. Which is why VPN usage is growing exponentially, especially in the file-sharing oosing the ‘BEST’ VPN for torrentsAt a basic level, most VPN services are very similar. They will route your traffic through a 3rd-party server, assign you a new IP address, and encrypt all the data you transfer between your device and the VPN server. But that doesn’t mean you should just use any VPN when are still very important differences between standard VPN services, and ones that are ideal for ’s some of the most important things to consider:Logging PolicyMost VPNs keep logs. This means they keep a record of your connection history, IP address assigned, server location, etc. Some even keep records of websites you visit or other traffic a VPN keeps IP address logs (with timestamps), then there is a clear link between your torrent ip address (assigned by the VPN) and your real IP address. If you’re serious about privacy, you should choose a VPN that doesn’t keep any logs at of our favorite zero-log VPNs are:Private Internet Access (Logging policy actually tested in court by the FBI)NordVPNIPVanishSpeedNo matter what you’re doing online, you want to get the speed you’re paying for. If you pay for a 20mbps internet connection, you want to get most of that speed when connected to a VPN service. But servers and bandwidth are expensive, so many of the ‘cheap’ and ‘lifetime’ VPN services are incredibly are a zero-log VPN services that are also quite fast, and we’ve tested PIA, Torguard, and IPVanish at speeds above FeaturesMany VPNs also include other features like a kill-switch/IP leak protection, Socks5 proxies, and p2p-optimized servers that make them even better for torrent users. For more info, read our complete torrent VPN guide below…Read Next: The ultimate list of the best VPNs for Torrents/P2PHow to use a VPN for torrentingThe beauty of a VPN is it’s simplicity. While the actual technology is incredibly complex, the user experience is follow these steps to get up and running the 1st up for a VPNDownload/Install the VPN software/appRun the AppChoose a server location (we recommend Switzerland/Canada/Netherlands)Click Connect (The VPN will switch your IP and encrypt your data automatically). a VPN looks like for users:It’s basically just an App you run on your computer. Choose any server location you want:Connecting to Canada server (IPVanish)In 5-15 seconds, you’ll be connected to your preferred location. Your new IP address will be shown in the top left corner of the software (with IPVanish) and all communications will be encrypted with 256-bit encryption (basically unbreakable). Connected to a Canada server locationThat’s it. You can now torrent as normal. It’s usually a good option to turn on the kill-switch if your VPN software has one. You should also verify that your torrent identity as anonymous by using an IP tracking torrent. Disadvantages of using a VPN for torrentsWhile a VPN is the best tool for the job, there are still some drawbacks/tradeoffs to be aware of:Connecting to a distant server will result in slower speedsEncryption uses bandwidth/computing power (slower speeds again)Your torrent IP and web browser IP will be the sameSlight Speed decrease:A high-quality VPN will have plenty of available server bandwidth and speeds should still be quite fast, but don’t expect to get 100% of your ISP connection. For example, if you pay for 25mbps speeds, you will probably only get 10-20mbps while connected to the VPN, depending on the encryption strength you use and how far away (or crowded) the VPN server ivacy and security have tradeoffs, and you’ll have to sacrifice a bit of IP address for web browser and torrentsThis isn’t a major negative, but it’s something to be aware of. People usually use a VPN server in a torrent-friendly country like Switzerland or the Netherlands. But now your web browser will use that IP location as well, meaning you may get foreign google results (though you can change Google’s settings to always show results from your preferred location) you prefer to have a separate IP address for your browser and torrents, you can add a proxy inside the torrent client, while staying connected to a local VPN server. This will give you a local (same country) IP address for most web activities, and change your torrent IP to wherever the torrent proxy server is located (usually Netherlands). Socks5 ProxyThe 2nd best option for anonymous torrents is a proxy. Instead routing 100% of your internet traffic through a 3rd-party server, the proxy will be configured only inside your torrent all desktop torrent clients support proxy connections (SOCKS5 only). Also, 2 android torrent apps (Flud and tTorrent) also support anonymous proxy Proxy Info:Changes the IP address for 1 app (torrent client)Needs to be Socks5 proxy to work properly w/ torrent peers (never use HTTP proxy)Hides you’re real IP address from torrent peers but doesn’t encrypt dataSome torrent clients route proxied connections insecurelyHow a torrent proxy worksWhen properly configured, your torrent client will route all peer and tracker communications through the SOCKS5 proxy server. Torrent peers and trackers will only see the IP address assigned by the proxy server, not your real oxies typically don’t have built-in encryption, meaning the data will still be readable by your ISP. This usually isn’t an issue (since they don’t actively monitor the content of downloads). However, some ISP’s block/throttle torrent traffic. In this case, you should either use a VPN or turn on your torrent client’s built-in vs. HTTP/HTTPSThe best proxy type for torrents is a SOCKS version 5 (SOCKS5) proxy. This is a multi-function proxy protocol that can handle tracker and peer connections. You should never use an HTTP proxy (the most common type of ‘free’ proxy) reason you should never use HTTP proxies: HTTP proxies only can transport HTTP traffic. They can handle things like tracker connections (which use HTTP). But they can’t handle peer connections. This is because peer connections use TCP, which is a different protocol. If you try to use an HTTP proxy, most torrent clients will just ignore the proxy settings when connecting to peers. This means peers will see your REAL ip address which is a major privacy risk (and defeats the the entire purpose of using a proxy) if your torrent client doesn’t route HTTP proxy connections insecurely, you still won’t actually be able to connect to peers (because the HTTP protocol doesn’t work for torrent downloads). Summary: NEVER use a HTTP proxy for torrenting. Always use SOCKS5. Check out our summary of the best socks5 providers Zero-Log Socks5 Proxy servicesThese are our favorite anonymous Socks5 proxy services for torrenting. All of them are true zero-log services, meaning they don’t log your activity or keep records of your IP address the best part…Most of these proxy subscriptions also include VPN service at no additional charge (Torguard is the only exception). #1 – IPVanish Proxy/VPN (Fastest option)IPVanish is a zero-log VPN/Socks5 provider based in the USA. They keep no logs whatsoever and have a reputation for excellent software and incredibly fast speeds. If you have a 50mbps+ internet connection and want to keep most of your speed while connected to a VPN, then go with Review: Read our complete IPVanish review for speedtests, software overview, and setup subscriptions include both VPN & proxy service (for the same price). IPVanish’s proxy server is based in the Netherlands and doesn’t log IP addresses. It works great with all major torrent clients. We even have a dedicated setup guide for using the IPVanish socks5 proxy for torrents. #2 – NordVPN Socks5/VPNNordVPN is one of the best all-around VPNs in the world. All subscriptions include both VPN & proxy service (more than 20 Socks5 server locations)’re a true zero-log VPN based in Panama (a privacy haven). And you’ll be thrilled to learn that NordVPN is one of the last VPN’s in the world that still works with Netflix. In fact you can unblock more than 50 video streaming services including Hulu, HBOgo, MLBtv and more! SPECIAL OFFER: Save 72% when you buy a 2 year subscription of NordVPNNordVPN For Torrenting:NordVPN has p2p/torrent-optimized servers in more than 10 countries. They also have torrent-friendly SOCKS5 servers in more than 10 countries. You can have up to 6 simultaneously connected devices with NordVPN, allowing you to protect all your devices on 1 Review: Read our NordVPN review for more info about their software, speed, and SmartPlay technology. #3 – Private Internet Access VPN/Socks5 ($40/year)Private Internet Access basically invented the zero-log VPN category, and they’re still one of the most torrent-friendly vpn/proxy companies in the world. They’re also incredibly cheap with 1-year subscriptions costing a mere $3. 33/rdict: Proxy vs. VPN vs. Blocklist/PeerblockIn the end, the tool you use to anonymize your torrents will be a personal decision. If speed is most important (and security less so) then go with a proxy. If you value greater security and/or ease of use, then go with a remember, blocklists like peerguardian/peerblock are nothing more than a bandaid solution. They don’t offer real privacy, and usually just give users a false sense of security. Any serious torrent downloader will tell you that a VPN/Seedbox/proxy is the only real option for serious erblock/PeerGuardian/BlocklistsList of IP addresses to blockLike carpet-bombing, rather than precision targetingDoesn’t encrypt torrent traffic or change your IP addressDangerous blocked peers can easily get unblocked by getting a new IP addressProxy SummaryAlways use a SOCKS5 proxy (HTTP proxies route torrent traffic insecurely)Manually Configured inside your torrent built-in encryption but you can use your torrent client’s built-in encryption (will reduce available peers) around $4-6/ remember, you can always use a proxy and VPN simultaneously for extremely secure torrent downloads. The main tradeoff with this setup is speed, but not price. Many VPN services include Socks5 proxy access at no additional SummaryEasily installed on most devices as software/appMany server locations (some VPNs have 100+)Strong encryption prevents your internet provider from monitoring your internet usageWill slow your connection slightly (because of encryption and server distance)Cost: $3. 33+ per monthNext step: Choose one of our top-rated Torrent VPN companies and start torrenting securely in under 10 minutes.
What is Torrenting? Is it Safe? Is it illegal? Will you be caught?
Looking to find out more about torrenting? We explain exactly what torrenting is, how to torrent safely, and what to do if you get caught.
@pabischoff UPDATED: April 8, 2021
Three questions I’m often asked are: Is torrenting safe, is torrenting legal, and what happens if I get caught? This post answers those questions and looks at the methods torrenters use to stay safe and anonymous.
What is Torrenting?
Torrenting is the act of downloading and uploading files through the BitTorrent network. Instead of downloading files to a central server, torrenting involves downloading files from other users’ devices on the network. Conversely, users upload files from their own devices for other users to download.
Torrenting is the most popular form of peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing, and it requires torrent management software to connect to the BitTorrent network. Such software can be downloaded for free for a number of different devices.
Everyone downloading or uploading the same file is called a peer, and collectively they are known as a swarm. Because of how BitTorrent works, a peer can download a file from several other users at once, or upload a file to multiple other users simultaneously.
Torrenting is often associated with piracy because it’s frequently used to share files that are protected by copyright, including movies, games, music, and software. However, torrenting has many legitimate uses as well, such as lessening the load on centralized servers by distributing the hosting burden among users.
Torrenting safety and legality: In short
Is torrenting legal or illegal? Torrenting itself isn’t illegal, but downloading unsanctioned copyrighted material is. It’s not always immediately apparent which content is legal to torrent and which isn’t. Some fall in a gray area, so you may find yourself unwittingly on the wrong side of the law.
Your internet service provider (ISP) and copyright trolls monitoring the BitTorrent network can take action if they catch you illegally torrenting. This can range from a warning letter and throttling (slowing down) of your internet connection speeds to legal action – although the latter is increasingly rare.
Digital privacy-conscious torrenters will use VPN services, or virtual private networks, to keep their internet activity hidden from their ISP. With a wide range of applications, some VPNs are better suited for torrenting than others. If you want to keep your ISP from snooping on your activity, choose a VPN connection that: a) doesn’t keep a log of your activity, b) isn’t based in a country where the legal system can be used to demand customer records, and c) is fast enough that it won’t slow entire downloads. We’ve rounded up the providers that fit these criteria and others in our list of the best torrenting VPN services.
How to torrent safely
It is relatively simple to torrent safely and keep your online activity private. Note that while a VPN for torrenting will keep your activity private and safe from prying eyes you may still be susceptible to malware from some public torrent sites. Follow these 5 steps to torrent privately with a VPN.
Here’s how to torrent safely:
Download and install a VPN matching the criteria mentioned above. We recommend NordVPN.
Enable your VPN’s kill switch, if it has one.
Connect to a VPN server, preferably in a P2P-friendly country
Once the connection is established, open your torrent client and start downloading as usual
Your online activity is now encrypted by your VPN
WANT TO TRY THE TOP VPN RISK FREE? NordVPN is offering a fully-featured risk-free 30-day trial if you sign up at this page. You can use our #1 VPN for torrenting with no restrictions for a full month—great if you want to try its P2P-optimized servers first-hand.
There are no hidden terms—just contact support within 30 days if you decide NordVPN isn’t right for you and you’ll receive a full refund. Start your NordVPN trial here.
Torrenting without a VPN
Torrenting without a VPN means your internet service provider (ISP) can see your online activity including the sites you visit and the content you view. In certain countries, including the US, ISPs are allowed to share this information with third parties including intellectual property owners. A VPN will keep your online activity private from your ISP.
Is uTorrent safe?
uTorrent is the official torrent client from the creators of the BitTorrent protocol. It is proprietary—not open source—software maintained by a legal US company. Like BitTorrent, the uTorrent software itself is legal, although it can be used for digital piracy. The official uTorrent is free of malware and can be used safely and privately in combination with a VPN. It does not, however, prevent users from downloading malicious files that can infect their device.
In detail
The BitTorrent protocol rose to become the most popular medium for peer-to-peer file sharing in the world after the demise of centralized services like Napster and Limewire. Unlike those services, torrenting is almost completely decentralized save for the trackers that allow users to search and download torrent files and magnet links. Torrent files and magnet links are used to find other users on the network who host the desired file or files but do not actually host those files for downloading.
Is BitTorrent safe and legal?
The BitTorrent protocol is not in itself illegal or unsafe. It is just the means to share any type of file, and plenty of legal torrenting services do exist. The most popular torrent trackers, such as ThePirateBay and KickassTorrents, however, operate in a legal grey area, offering users free access to copyrighted content. Sharing and downloading copyrighted content by BitTorrent, or other means, is illegal in many countries and can be unsafe since sites including KickassTorrents have been shown to host malware.
These trackers would argue that they simply find and organize information that is already out there, and they do not illegally host any copyrighted content on their own servers. Just like the BitTorrent protocol itself, they are the means to an end. Not everyone is convinced. Major trackers have come under heavy legal scrutiny from content creators and distributors who argue the trackers enable and encourage theft.
The blame ultimately shifts to the users, the millions of individuals who host files on their personal computers, downloading and uploading movies, games, software, music, ebooks, and more. Users connected to the same tracker are called peers, and they fall into two categories. A leech uses a torrent file or magnet link to download the file from other users on the network who already have the file. These users who already have the file are called seeds. When a leech is finished downloading a file (or even just part of a file), he or she becomes a seed, allowing other leeches to download the file from his or her computer. As a general rule, it’s considered proper pirate etiquette to seed as much as you leech.
Comparitech does not condone or encourage any violation of copyright law or restrictions. Please consider the law, victims, and risks of copyright piracy before downloading copyrighted material without permission.
Legally speaking, seeding and leeching copyrighted material fall into different criminal categories. Think of it like buying illegal drugs: purchasing the drugs for personal use is definitely a crime, but a relatively minor one. Turning around and selling those drugs to others is a much more serious offense. Finding the original source of the drugs, or in this case the HD rip of the new Avengers movie, would be the best case scenario for law enforcement, but that isn’t always possible. The trackers act as the shady back alley marketplaces where all of these transactions go down, but they don’t personally handle any of the drugs.
What happens if you are caught torrenting?
The prosecution of torrent users has been sporadic. The chances of actually going to court or having to pay a settlement are pretty slim, but the penalties can be extremely high. The frequency of copyright holders suing torrenters for copyright infringement peaked in the late 2000s. Copyright pirates were sued for wildly disproportionate amounts of money, and most settled out of court.
These public scare tactics shone poorly on the recording and movie industries because they were portrayed as petty millionaires bullying poor college students. Direct lawsuits are much less common these days, but the campaign against torrenters is far from over.
Copyright trolls
Now the job of going after individual copyright pirates has been outsourced to a growing number of small businesses known as copyright trolls. These companies locate torrenters who illegally download copyrighted content through their real IP addresses. They then approach the copyright owners and sign a deal that lets them take legal action on their behalf. Others are hired directly by Hollywood production companies to sniff out pirates.
With legal leverage and a list of names, the copyright trolls then go after torrenters via mail, email, or even by going door to door and handing out settlement letters. These letters are not legally binding documents or injunctions. Copyright trolls use intimidation, fear, and shame to make torrenters pay without ever going to court. A common tactic is to threaten to sue for over $100, 000 but only ask for $3, 000 or so in the settlement. That makes the $3, 000 look like a good deal, but going to court is costly and risky for them, so don’t give in if you receive such a letter.
What to do if you receive a settlement letter
The most common way to receive a settlement letter is through your internet provider. A copyright troll will go through the court system to subpoena your ISP and force it to email customers with a legal threat and hand over personal details.
According to US law, an IP address is not a person. If you were contacted through your ISP, chances are that’s because the copyright troll doesn’t know your actual identity yet. If the letter doesn’t contain any identifying information on you, keep it that way and do nothing. Your case could be dismissed before the date that your ISP is set to reveal your personal details to the troll. If you respond and identify yourself, that gives the troll a more direct means of targeting you.
This is a game of probability for copyright trolls. If they send out 1, 000 threatening emails and 50 people reply, they only need a handful to actually cough up money to make it worth their time. Chances are it’s more cost effective for them to move on to the next swarm of torrenters than pursue the remaining 950 people.
If things escalate and you decide to take action, lawyer up. Here’s a list of attorneys compiled by the Electronic Frontier Foundation that specialize in these sorts of cases.
ISP penalties
Depending on your ISP, it may take actions against you on its own behalf. That could mean throttling your internet connection or threatening to hand over personal details to a copyright troll. Why does your ISP even care? Because torrenting takes up a lot of bandwidth, and that bandwidth costs ISPs money. On top of that, an ISP could be receiving kickbacks from content owners and their associates.
How to protect yourself
To avoid any legal ramifications, it’s best to simply not torrent. However, if you insist on torrenting, take the time to protect your online privacy and keep copyright trolls at bay.
Use a VPN when torrenting
The best way to torrent safely is by using a VPN. A VPN accomplishes two things: first, it re-routes all your internet traffic through a server in a location of your choosing, which changes your real IP address to one used by hundreds or thousands of other people (assuming your VPN uses shared IP addresses, which most do). This adds a significant layer of anonymity and makes it much more difficult for anyone to track you. Second, a VPN encrypts all your torrent traffic before it leaves your computer. That means your ISP cannot monitor your internet activity, nor can anyone else. And because all your traffic heads to the VPN server first, ISPs can’t even tell where it’s going.
Using a quality VPN is key; don’t settle for a “free” service or VPNs that log your activity, cap your bandwidth and data, or don’t provide sufficient DNS leak protection. Not all VPNs tolerate torrenting. You can check out our list of the best VPNs for torrenting here, which are services with fast download speeds and a focus on online privacy, security and anonymity like NordVPN, Surfshark, and ExpressVPN among others.
Other alternatives
If you don’t want to pay for a VPN, you might be considering Tor. Tor is similar to a VPN in that it routes your traffic through several volunteer “nodes” while encrypting traffic. We recommend a VPN over Tor for a couple reasons. First, Tor is slow, and usually best for simple browsing and other low-bandwidth activity. Second, connecting to Tor could actually draw more attention from your ISP and law enforcement, as it’s a well-known tool for hackers and criminals.
Another popular app among torrenters is Peerblock. Peerblock is a desktop firewall with a regularly updated blacklist of IP addresses. These IP addresses belong to entities that try to track your activity online, especially on peer-to-peer networks. Unfortunately, the blacklist is only updated once upon installation. After that, users must pay to keep them updated. Even if you’re willing to pay, it’s unlikely that the blacklist could contain every possible IP address for copyright trolls, universities, and law enforcement. A copyright troll just needs to connect to the swarm–all the devices connected to a single torrent–with an IP that isn’t on that blacklist to get your IP address.
Usenet
Instead of torrenting, another alternative is Usenet. Usenet is a paid service-usually between $10 and $20 per month–where you download files from centralized servers instead of a network of peers. Usenet downloads are much, much faster; often as fast as your ISP can handle. Usenet is more private as well. The connections take place between you and the provider’s network of servers, and the best providers offer an SSL-encrypted connection. Some even throw in VPNs for good measure. Torrents, on the other hand, require that you share at least some identifying information to connect to the tracker and peers.
Finally, downloading a Usenet file doesn’t mean you have to seed it for other internet users afterward. Legally, this makes you less of a target because you’re not supplying strangers with copyrighted content, at the same time consuming fewer computer resources and internet bandwidth.
Usenet providers make files available for a certain number of days. How many depends on the provider, but the standard is 1, 200 days after the original posting. Until that time is up, users have full access to that file. Torrents only stay up as long as people seed the file.
We’ve rounded up some of the best Usenet providers here.
Public vs private trackers
A “tracker” is like a search engine that indexes files on the BitTorrent network. Trackers can be private or public, and the former usually requires an invitation from an existing member.
ThePirateBay, KickassTorrents, and Demonoid are all examples of public trackers. Anyone can just go to their respective websites and search without logging in or requiring any sort of authentication. Likewise, anyone can upload files for others to download. These uploads are not moderated, so users must judge whether a download is safe and accurate based on comments and the reputation of the uploader.
Private trackers are more exclusive both in terms of who can upload and who can download within a group. They vary wildly in terms of content and quality, but many members of private trackers attest that they have higher quality files, faster downloads, longer retention, and an overall more consistent and safe experience.
The law views private trackers the same as public trackers. Internet piracy is piracy whether you do it in public or within a private group.
Streaming vs torrenting
Many people have moved away from downloading entire files through BitTorrent and opt instead to stream video content either on their web browsers or through customized programs like Kodi. When it comes to safety and the law, what’s the difference?
Legally speaking, you’re probably still breaking the law when you stream illegal content from a pirated source. However, this depends largely on your country. In the UK, it’s outright illegal. In India, a court ruled that it is absolutely not illegal. In the US, it’s still a grey area, as there’s been no precedent of anyone being convicted for copyright piracy after streaming copyrighted video content from an unsanctioned source.
Those who upload the videos without compensating or asking permission from the copyright holder do so illegally. That’s pretty much standard no matter where you are.
Not only do laws tend to be more lenient toward streaming content, but it’s also more difficult for copyright trolls and law enforcement to catch users in the act. When you download a torrent, you can see the IP addresses of everyone else you’re uploading to or downloading from. But streaming transmits a video directly from a website to your device, with no third parties involved.
Don’t get too comfortable, however, as there are still risks. The website could be logging IP addresses or other information about its users, which it could then hand over to law enforcement or a copyright troll. Your ISP could monitor your activity and see that you are watching pirated content. These are risks that can be mitigated by connecting to a reputable VPN.
When it comes to security, streaming video carries just as many risks as torrenting. Websites that stream pirated content tend to be chock full of intrusive ads, malware, and phishing threats. Kodi users are subject to man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks and other threats from the add-ons they download.
More tips
As a rule of thumb, avoid downloading movies that were released on DVD and Blu-Ray in the past 60 days, especially big-hit blockbusters. That’s when movies make the vast majority of their post-box office money, after which their income significantly drops off. Copyright holders will put most of their anti-piracy resources into going after torrenters of new releases to minimize the financial damage. The same goes for TV series, shows and video games.
Users of Popcorn Time, the free movie-streaming app, should tread just as carefully as torrenters. Many Popcorn Time users don’t realize that the app actually streams directly from torrents and will even seed a file so it is uploaded to other users. All the risks associated with Popcorn Time apply in equal measure to torrenting.
Choose your torrents wisely. The most popular torrents on ThePirateBay and KickassTorrents are probably the ones being most closely monitored by copyright trolls. However, don’t pick totally unpopular ones either. Read through the comments section, where users often run virus scans on torrent downloads and post the results. They will also give you a general review of the quality.
Even if the comments are positive, run your own virus scans as well. Ideally, use multiple antivirus programs to run an array of scans, as each of their virus libraries can differ. Not all antivirus programs play nice with each other, however, so mixing two or more must be done with care. We recommend Bitdefender to scan all downloads before opening. This is especially important when downloading games and software, which are often “cracked” by the uploader. Cracks make it easier to bypass DRM schemes that validate content with the publisher, but they also make it easier to distribute hidden malware, spyware, and viruses. Check out Comparitech’s antivirus reviews section here.
Torrenting FAQ
Why did BitTorrent install adware on my computer? BitTorrent is a network and protocol used to share files, so BitTorrent itself cannot install adware on your computer.
However, the programs used to connect to the BitTorrent network and download files, called torrent managers or torrent clients, can and often do come with adware. The files you download can also contain malware and adware.
Stick to reputable torrent managers and, if prompted, refuse any offers to install additional software alongside them. These additional programs are often adware.
Likewise, be sure to only download and upload torrents you downloading a shared torrent from Google drive illegal? If you’re downloading something from Google Drive, then it’s not a torrent. It’s just a download. The file might have originally been downloaded through BitTorrent, then uploaded to Google Drive where others can download it.
Semantics aside, if the content of the file is protected by copyright, then yes, it is illegal to download pirated files from Google I just download a torrent from a public place? Most torrenters use public trackers to find and download files through BitTorrent. So in that sense, yes, you can download a torrent from a public place provided you have a torrent client installed on your device.
The files themselves are downloaded from other BitTorrent users who have downloaded the file and are now uploading it to fellow users.
Private trackers are also available and are often safer, but typically require an invitation from an existing I go to jail for torrenting? It depends on the circumstances, but no, it’s highly doubtful you would go to jail for torrenting. Most lawsuits regarding torrenting are civil suits, not criminal ones, so if a penalty is levied, it’s usually a fine or some other monetary compensation.
That being said, it also depends on what country you’re in, what you torrent, and whether you also seeded the file so it could be downloaded by other users. Check your local laws and are the risks of torrenting music? The music recording industry has, on occasion, aggressively targeted torrenters who engaged in music piracy. These days, litigation is mostly done by copyright trolls who target torrenters on behalf of recording studios. They’ll send out settlement letters demanding hundreds or even thousands of dollars to torrenters whom they can identify. They usually go through internet service providers to contact torrenters. Your ISP could throw you under the bus, and that’s not a gamble we recommend taking. By using a VPN, you can greatly reduce the risk of being identified by a copyright troll.
Frequently Asked Questions about proxy torrenting
Is proxy good for Torrenting?
The best/most-secure proxy type for torrenting is Socks5 (don’t use HTTP proxies). A proxy allows your Torrent IP address to be different than the IP for all other internet traffic (good). Unfortunately, most torrents don’t encrypt their traffic, so your ISP could still monitor your downloads if they wanted to.Jul 5, 2017
Can you go to jail for Torrenting?
It depends on the circumstances, but no, it’s highly doubtful you would go to jail for torrenting. Most lawsuits regarding torrenting are civil suits, not criminal ones, so if a penalty is levied, it’s usually a fine or some other monetary compensation.Apr 8, 2021
Is Torrenting actually illegal?
Torrenting is one of the fastest growing ways to share files on the internet, and in principle, it is legal. However, sharing and downloading unsanctioned copyrighted material is illegal, and this leave torrents, those that provide the services, and those that use them in a very grey area.Oct 19, 2021
