Government spying and ISP tracking and logging can become so overwhelming that you assume all your Internet traffic is being watched. It's time to stop worrying and sign up for a VPN service that can shield your activity.
Read on to see what it means to be anonymous, what VPN service to choose, and what you need to get started.
What Makes Me Anonymous?
Being anonymous on the Internet (for this example) doesn't mean that no one can know who you are, but instead simply means that some people don't know. By some people, I of course mean your ISP and government officials.
Everyone's IP address is assigned to the household or business that signed up with their ISP. If Netflix, for instance, reports to your ISP that a particular IP address tried to hack into their website, your ISP can simply look up that IP in their records and know that it was you.
Look through these websites that show your public IP address and you'll see that it's very simple to see what your address is.
To avoid this, you want to use just one connection through your ISP - a VPN connection. This lets you connect to a different network than your own so that you can access the Internet using their Internet details. Think of it like when you use your neighbor's Wi-Fi connection; you are using your own computer or device but you're connecting through their network. Anything you get "caught" doing appears to have been coming from your neighbor, and not you.
What's even more private is using two VPN services to access the internet. In this scenario, one VPN connects to the other, which then connects to the internet, hiding you behind not one but two unique, anonymous IP addresses.
How to Pick a VPN Service
There are different types of VPN services. Some are hosted in your home country while others aren't. Some don't allow sending email, video streaming, P2P traffic (torrenting), etc., and some do. It's important to find one that works best for what you need it for, which is torrenting.
When looking for a VPN service for torrents, it's important to make sure it: allows P2P traffic, has no cap on download usage (or a small cap), doesn't keep logs, and allows for a good amount of upload usage (if you plan on seeding).
See this HUGE list of dozens of VPN services that I update every month to find one that includes the aforementioned features (P2P traffic, etc.), like Private Internet Access and Kepard.
Data Usage: From the VPN list, find one that allows a good amount of monthly data. If you're not going to be using a huge amount of data, like if you only need a few things from some torrents, then just find a VPN service that allows 10 GB /month or something near it that fits your needs. Similarly, if you'll be downloading tons and tons of files, it's best to choose one that has absolutely zero data caps (which a lot of services offer).Logging: This is very important - you want to make sure the VPN service doesn't keep logs of their users. If there is a possibility they may keep traffic logs pertaining to what websites you visited or files you transferred, then don't use the service. If you want true anonymous torrenting, you need true anonymous torrenting, which means the service will have no way to look back on any record or log to see what you did in the past, nor will they have any ability to actively monitor what you're dong in real time.
Resources
This is everything you need to get a VPN service and start downloading torrents anonymously:
- VPN Services: List of VPN services, with some costing money and most being completely free.
- Best Torrent Websites: Huge list of torrent websites to find everything from movies and TV shows to books and pictures.
- Free Torrent Clients: Free torrent clients for downloading the torrents through the VPN.
- Antivirus Software: Free and commercial antivirus software to make sure you aren't contracting computer viruses from all your anonymous torrenting.