They only play a probability game by sending a plethora of emails, and those who reveal their identity are targeted. For instance, your ISP has the power of throttling your internet connection , while others might work with the copyright trolls by timely submitting your personal information. Torrenting takes a lot of bandwidth, which costs ISPs money. Also, ISPs could receive kickbacks from the content owners as well as their associates.

As much as the situation could seem dire, common-sense precautions have saved many torrent fans from the world of hurt. Using the best torrent-friendly VPN has proved to be the best way to torrent while keeping safe. But how do VPNs benefit secure torrent downloads? BitTorrent could land you in trouble in some countries, and even if torrenting is legal in your region, there still might be some hidden dangers such as malware ; and hence, bolstering your online security should be your priority.

Using a top-notch VPN for torrents is the best way to do it, but unfortunately, not all the VPNs even if everyone advertises to be so will provide you with the protection you need while BitTorrent. Therefore, when choosing the best VPN for torrenting , your pick must have the following features;. A quality VPN offers more than merely providing you with protection while torrenting because it also boasts other advantages such as enabling you to avoid censorship while traveling abroad, bypass geo-blocking , escape data-throttling and assert your right to internet privacy to name a few.

It was during the s that torrent downloads incidents spiked with several folks getting into the wrong side of the law. Since then, torrenting has taken another route whereby the fight to do away with it is being tightened each day.

But still, little indicates that such efforts are indeed affecting at all. In fact, torrent programs such as BitTorrent are even more popular than ever. Your guess is as good as mine, given what a VPN can offer for torrents. However, BitTorrenting without a VPN is undoubtedly dangerous and rest-assured it more likely will keep getting menacing.

Unfortunately, depending on your location, just like using BitTorrent can be illegal, a VPN can be considered equally unlawful or you might find it to be banned. Nevertheless, with several identities looking to put an end to torrenting forever, how long it will be around is something that only time will tell.

Given the copyright trolls that could be watching, you simply need to be smart and privacy-oriented torrenter. For example, you need to avoid the latest games, movies, and music as they could be the main target for copyright trolls as much as you also want them. Sometimes a little wait is better for you.

Also, you could transform to streamed content or install and use some software tools, such as Plex and Kodi, which are open-source software media centers. They allow streaming as well as playing any kind of content on different devices. The first thing you need to know when downloading torrent, securely, is to verify the security conditions of the site where you download torrent files. When downloading torrent you should know that there are two categories of access: public and private.

And as the name implies, the public access pages allow the entry of any user, while you can access the private ones only if one of its members sends you an invitation. Therefore, it is important to thoroughly review information related to any site you are accessing , specifically if there are reports related to your operating system, software security flaws, and, in general, data with interference from the downloads that are made on that website.

Another important security recommendation is to hide your IP address when downloading torrent using a VPN so that when you make these downloads your address should not be visible to other users, your ISP, or authorizes online.

Let it be agencies, ISPs, or hackers, Tor keeps everyone at bay from tracking your internet connection down. It encrypts your internet data via Tor relays multiple times , which creates multi-layer encryption — thereby, keeping your identity safe online. Although there are inherent risks for sharing and downloading files through P2P, it is still a very popular way to get your hands on the data you need.

The risks, however, can be significantly reduced with some defensive actions and judgment. Legal or illegal?

Torrenting is legal, but using BitTorrent to download copyrighted material is very much illegal in most countries. Also, you should not forget that your ISP, as well as copyright trolls, are watching your networks and could take action if they get hold of you while downloading copyrighted material.

Therefore, the best way to torrent safely is first to be a smart torrenter use your common sense and always use the best torrent-friendly VPN like ExpressVPN. Also, you may always connect to a VPN server in a country where torrenting is deemed legal and allowed such as Switzerland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, or the Czech Republic.

Subsequently, on top of using a VPN, you should make sure that all your device security features , such as antivirus, antispyware, and operating systems are updated to their latest versions. Gannicus Oliver is an experienced tech journalist he loves writing on emerging techs and digital privacy issues and an online business consultant.

He boasts over four years of writing experience. In his free time, Gannicus enjoys uncovering thrilling adventures and traveling around the world. Exclusive offer. Fastest among the VPNs we tested. Unblocks virtually all the streaming platforms. Unlimited bandwidth and torrent downloads. No thanks. Home Security Torrents Is torrenting safe? Is it legal or illegal? What happens if I get caught? Is torrenting safe? Last updated May 28, by Gannicus Oliver.

Disclosure The readers like you support PrivacySavvy to help keep up the good work. Next, they look for the internet service provider who provides that IP address and contact them by saying some IP addresses share illegal materials.

We want to warn them for doing so. The service provider will then look for the IPs and check the accounts. They will first send warning letters to the account holders. But if this sharing activity continues, the copyright trolls will seek a court order to force your service providers to provide your account details.

They will also comply with their lawyers to send a legal notice to you. But if that is ignored, you would be dragged to legal court for further proceedings and action. If you get caught while torrenting, it may hit you harder than purchasing the content with the original price.

Mentioned below are the things which can happen when you can get caught torrenting any copyrighted movie, music, TV shows, or some other stuff:. The Copyright Act of covers all kinds of illegal downloading and streaming of copyrighted stuff. Under this act, people are prohibited from copying, republishing, or using other works without the permission of copyright trolls. Copyright infringements are implemented through civil suits where the owner takes legal action for monetary damages.

Technological advancement has made it easy to share information and files over the internet. In this situation, the copyright trolls now antagonistically target sites like the PirateBay.

The copyright owners not only target individuals but also go after big companies too. The price for illegal downloading or streaming material can be a bit expensive. If the charges are not enough of a warning, then some jurisdictions apply criminal punishments for online piracy. Consult an experienced intellectual property attorney if anyone is charged with copyright violations.

The copyright trolls take help from agencies to search for people who download the copyright content. They receive the IP address details from the service providers and take legal action against them. The victims have shared their experiences and stories on Reddit as they were caught while torrenting. Some victims have just received a legal notice to consult a lawyer, but further proceedings are upheld.

What does my ISP see when I'm torrenting? What if I'm encrypted, or under a VPN? Can you help clear this up? How to Legally Download Torrent Files without being Caught: Downloading Torrent files in India have been banned by the government and can cause some serious problems for you if you got caught downloading torrent files illegally.

Using BitTorrent is not illegal or unsafe. You're right; we've written a lot of articles about how to protect yourself over the years, but sometimes it can be confusing as to exactly what's happening behind the scenes.

And while it's difficult to know, since every ISP is different, you generally have two different entities to worry about: your ISP, and the media companies looking to quash illegal downloading. Here's what each of them monitors for and how you can keep yourself anonymous. In general, ISPs these days aren't so interested in what you're downloading. They leave that to the folks being stolen from. Instead, ISPs are more concerned with how much bandwidth you're sucking up, and whether that's slowing everyone else down.

As such, many ISPs will throttle your connection—that is, slow it down—if they see you're using BitTorrent. They don't usually look at what you're downloading even though they could, if they wanted to , but they will check what kind of traffic is coming from your machine.