How to Torrent Safely
What is a torrent? It is a pointer file which contains metadata information of digital contents ranging, for example, from documents or TV shows and other things, you can download through the torrent client, which allows you to download torrent files right to your PC. It is a file created by the BitTorrent file-sharing protocol, that uses URLs of torrent trackers.
Torrenting is, on the other side, a process of downloading torrents, by using a BitTorrent protocol and a Torrent client. It uses a principle of peer-to-peer file sharing, which means, that the user who gives data is known as the seed, and the user who downloads is known as the peer. Thanks to the BitTorrent protocol, you are downloading the original file from the source and the other users at the same time, which makes the whole process fast and smooth.
Is Torrenting Legal?
Even though it is entirely completely legal, it has been lately related to the illegal activities because of some users, who have been sharing pirated content, so it can carry some risks. It all depends on what material you are downloading because if your torrent is copyrighted material, there is a chance the authorities will punish you. Before starting to download, make sure you are downloading legal torrent content from websites, which offer torrents legally. You can check some of these websites providing a free and legal content you can download – Public Domain Torrents, Internet Archive, Vodo or Legit Torrents.
How to Download Torrents Safely
There is no guarantee of safe downloading because the other peers will be able to see your IP address while torrenting. However, there are some ways how you can protect yourself, and avoid getting caught with hiding your IP address. If you want to start torrenting, you should consider trying at least one of these options below, to make sure your download is safe.
VPN Service
If you need to protect yourself, you should try to connect to a VPN (Virtual Private Network), which allows users to change their IP address to any other IP address location, so that your downloading is anonymous.
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We can name many advantages of using a VPN service, for example, a secure connection, private access to geo-blocked sites, high-speed bandwidth, etc. You can select any country and a city you like, where everyone else will see you appear to be. However, it can cause a slow connection speed, it can even drop, and it is sometimes difficult to configure.
There are many VPN companies, so we can recommend at least some of them, which are the most popular – CyberGhost, PrivateVPN, NordVPN, ExpressVPN and PIA.
Tor
Users all over the world are using Tor for searching for products and communication with others. It’s a free software program you can download to your PC, and it hides your IP address, while you are online. Tor is based on the demanding encryption, that means your data is layered with privacy and protection.
But to be honest, it is the slowest choice available. If you are not patient enough, this is not the right choice for you.
Proxy Server
A Proxy server is used to redirect your browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Edge) around corporate or school content filters. There are many excellent proxy services we can recommend – BTGuard or HideMyAss, that allow you to hide your IP address from the public. It also works with all BitTorrent clients.
However, the Proxy server is one of the riskiest methods available, while it may slow down the Internet connection, and even not be legal in some countries.
BitTorrent Client
If you are downloading torrents, you have undoubtedly heard about BitTorrent client. It comes with some security features, for example, the option to encrypt your torrents to disguise the type of traffic you are using from your ISP. It is not the most reliable way to keep you safe indeed, but it is an option worth trying if it is available in your Torrent client.
With BitTorrent client, you should also consider to set up a Proxy server, which will route the torrent through a Proxy tunnel, to increase your anonymity, and use the torrent IP address checking to make sure your real IP address is not visible.
Selecting the best BitTorrent client seems to be difficult, while there are many factors to be considered. Here are some of the most popular and used BitTorrent clients available – Transmission, Vuze, qBitTorrent, Folx.
Cloud Torrent Downloader
With cloud torrent downloaders you can download torrents at high-speed connection, and also use their cloud storage so that you don’t have to waste yours. But the most significant advantage is that everything is secured and private.
There are many cloud torrent downloaders at this time, so here we’ve written you the top 5 and the most favourite ones by the users – Bitport, Cloudload, Filestream, Zbigz and Premiumize. If you want to be sure, and have some more benefits than others, you can also get their Premium plan, which allows your downloads to go through their SSL secured channel, so even your ISP can not see what you are downloading.
However, you have to consider, if all the benefits and security is worth the money, or if you would prefer an option of likely less secure downloading.
Conclusion
Many people are concerned about torrenting because of the high number of users who got caught by downloading illegal content. However, there are many legal ways on how to use torrents safely. If you want to be sure and secure yourself and your downloading, changing your IP address is one of the many security steps which you need to make. Remember, although torrenting itself is legal, a lot of the content available through other users is copyrighted material. Be careful to download only legal content, and always protect yourself with some of the methods mentioned above.
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