Are torrenting VPNs legal?

(Image credit: ExpressVPN)

Torrenting is one of the fastest ways of sharing files available today, which is the biggest reason it's come to be associated with sharing media, like movies and music. However, this means that it's oftentimes used to share copyrighted fabric, which is illegal. For this reason, you may be wondering whether torrenting VPNs are legal themselves.

Tom's Guide in no way condones the use of torrents for illegal purposes, but when sharing P2P legally it's notwithstanding widely recommended to apply a VPN. In this article, nosotros'll take a look at why that is, whether doing then is legal or not, and which is the all-time VPN for the task.

Is using a VPN to access torrents illegal?

No. Information technology is fully legal to use a VPN to access torrents, just as it'due south legal to employ a VPN to admission Netflix and other streaming websites. Except in countries where the use of VPNs is explicitly banned, like China, Russia, and Iran (and that's withal a grayness area in terms of legislation), the use of a VPN itself is perfectly legal, regardless of the context in which it'southward used.

All the same, not all the textile beingness shared through torrents is legal, and sharing copyrighted content is a common torrenting exercise. This is illegal, and can result in heavy fines and other legal action past copyright holders. These vary by country, but can amount to tens of thousands of dollars, or even jail time.

Call back of using a VPN like wearing a full suit of armor. It protects y'all from threats and ensures anonymity, and there'southward nothing illegal almost wearing a accommodate of armor. If y'all use that suit of armor to rob a store, though, yous've committed a crime and may face dire consequences.

Why would I utilize a VPN when torrenting?

Using a VPN when doing anything online is simply proficient practice, torrenting or otherwise. The top providers evangelize a service that dramatically improves the security of your online activities by using powerful encryption methods to connect you to secure servers.

Depending upon the VPN, it can as well provide a high level of anonymity, protecting you in case you lot inadvertently do download copyrighted fabric. It volition also proceed your activity safe from prying eyes, like hackers, unscrupulous third-party advertisers, and even strange governments who may have an unsavory interest in your personal data.

Finally, using a VPN makes it virtually impossible for your internet provider to throttle your connectedness, something many ISPs do when they discover torrent activity. This is besides a useful feature of gaming VPNs and Netflix VPNs.

What torrenting VPN should I use?

There are some important criteria a VPN should see to exist used for torrenting.

Showtime of all, yous'll want a fast VPN – otherwise, it defeats the whole purpose of using a VPN for torrents. A few factors contribute to the speed of a VPN, but main amongst them are a big number of VPN servers (and server locations) to avoid bottlenecks, infrastructure that supports high speeds, a lack of active throttling by the service, and P2P-optimized servers.

For security purposes, y'all'll also desire a VPN with strict a zilch-logging policy and DNS leak protection. Shared IP addresses too assistance in this regard, and y'all'll definitely want to take a kill switch in place.

Christian is a freelance writer and content project manager with over six years' feel writing and leading teams in finance and engineering for some of the world's largest online publishers, including TechRadar and Tom's Guide.