How safe is torrenting in Germany?

With strict copyright laws and close monitoring by ISPs and law firms, torrenting in Germany carries significant legal and privacy risks. Therefore, it’s important to understand these risks and learn how to protect yourself for a safe torrenting experience in Germany.

In this article, we examine how torrenting can expose your identity online and the consequences of torrenting copyrighted content in Germany. We also explore how you can torrent safely with a VPN (including a brief setup guide) and answer some related FAQs.

How would you get caught torrenting in Germany?

German law firms (such as Frommer Legal) attach themselves to specific torrents and check the peer list for any German IP addresses. Here’s an example of what it looks like using a Debian distro we downloaded.

IPs reveal quite a bit of information about you, including:

• Your country
• Your general location, such as your city or ZIP code
• Your Internet service provider (ISP)

German ISPs may also keep track of any DNS requests you’ve made towards torrent websites. Another possible indicator of torrenting activity is multiple upload streams from bandwidth-heavy connections. Basically, downloading or seeding a lot will put you on the radar no matter your location, and ISPs will issue service cancellation warnings if you don’t stop.

What are the consequences of being caught downloading illegal torrents in Germany, though? Read on for the details.

What happens if you get caught torrenting in Germany?

Once they have your IP, German lawyers contact your ISP and ask for your address, and ISPs usually comply. Afterwards, you’ll receive an “Abmahnung” (warning letter) or “Unterlassungserklärung” (cease-and-desist letter).

If you get caught downloading copyrighted materials through torrents in Germany, you risk paying between 500€ (£420.15) and 1,500€ (£1,260.44) in settlement fees or getting taken to court. The same applies if you watch content through illegal video streaming sites.

Users have reported hiring lawyers to reduce those fees significantly, especially if it was their first offense or if they come from regions with lax attitudes toward torrenting. Naturally, hiring a lawyer is pretty costly, so it’s best to avoid torrenting such materials in the first place.

Another thing to note about German law is that you are legally responsible for everything that happens on your network. This is called the “Störerhaftung” or “intermediary liability.” In short, warn your guests not to torrent on your wi-fi if you don’t want an Abmahnung in your mailbox. Also, make sure to secure your wi-fi with a strong password.

Now, it’s important to understand that torrenting itself isn’t illegal anywhere, including in Germany. Torrenting clients like qBittorrent are just used for file-sharing, but they have plenty of legal uses (e.g., downloading Linux distros and distributing large video files for editing).

The act still carries many risks, such as copyright trolling or cyber attacks like DoS/DDoS and port scanning.

How to stay safe while torrenting in Germany

We’ve previously covered how to torrent safely from anywhere, but it’s worth repeating some key aspects.

1. Use a VPN

The best way to stay safe while torrenting in Germany is to use a reliable VPN for torrenting, complete with strong encryption, leak protection, dedicated P2P servers (or network-wide torrenting support), and a strict no-logs policy. 

VPNs (or virtual private networks) mask your IP address from everyone online, including anyone sifting through torrent peer lists, such as a copyright troll looking for an easy payday. Note that your ISP still knows your actual IP since they assign it to you.

Otherwise, VPNs encrypt your online traffic, making it virtually unreadable by anyone, this time including your Internet provider. The only thing your ISP will see is your high bandwidth/data usage, but not the fact that you’re torrenting. For all they know, you could be downloading a game off Steam or uploading family photos to Google Drive.

How to set up your VPN for safe torrenting

Here are some things you should look out for when torrenting with a VPN in Germany:

• Connect to a server that supports P2P traffic. Some VPNs allow torrenting on the entire network.
• Enable the VPN’s kill switch to prevent IP leaks when disconnected.
• Ensure the VPN doesn’t leak your data with a service like Browserleaks.
• If you intend to use split tunneling for better speeds, read our guide on how to route torrent traffic through a split tunnel for proper setup. There’s also a section for Android devices, so it’s worth looking into if you prefer to torrent on the go. 
• Bind your VPN IP to the torrent client, or use the torrent client settings to ensure it only works when the VPN is on. On qBittorrent go to Tools > Options > Advanced and select your VPN’s network adapter from the Network interface drop-down.

To identify the right network adapter, you might have to navigate to the list of networks on your system. That’s because the interface could end up with a name like “Local Area Connection 2” or “Ethernet 2” after installing the VPN.

In my case, I just selected NordVPN’s NordLynx option, and the torrent had the “Stalled” status until I turned on the VPN. 

Here’s how to find a list of networks on Windows and MacOS:

• Windows: Click on the Start button, look up and click Control Panel, then go to Network and Internet > Network Connections.
• MacOS: Click on the Apple menu, then System Settings > Network.

We recommend verifying the binding setting with a test torrent to ensure everything works properly (fosstorrents.com is a good resource).

Related: Is a VPN really all I need to be safe while torrenting?

2. Install anti-malware

While VPNs secure you against cyber threats and maintain your privacy online, they don’t protect you against malware.

Sure, some of them have built-in malware scanning (see: NordVPN, Surfshark), but it’s usually limited to smaller files, such as email attachments, PDFs, and so on. If you plan on torrenting anything more substantial in Germany, you need a fully featured antivirus on your system.

What are the best VPNs for safe torrenting in Germany?

If you’re short on time, here’s a quick list of top-notch torrenting VPNs:

1. NordVPN: Best VPN for safe torrenting in Germany. NordVPN offers amazing speeds and a full security suite to keep you under the radar in Germany. Maintains a strict no-logs policy and has virtually unbreakable encryption to secure your torrenting activity. Comes with a 30-day money-back plan.
2. Surfshark: Highly affordable VPN for torrenting in Germany. Surfshark’s network is fully P2P-enabled, and the VPN comes with the lightning-fast WireGuard protocol for safe and speedy torrenting. 
3. IPVanish: Capable torrenting VPN for safe downloads in Germany. Offers great speeds, unlimited concurrent connections, and a good variety of P2P-friendly locations worldwide. 
4. ExpressVPN: Beginner-friendly VPN, with great security features and excellent speeds for downloading torrents in Germany. Offers an audited no-logs policy and TrustedServer technology to maximize your privacy online. 
5. PrivateVPN: Straightforward and secure VPN, with fast and stable connections for torrenting and other activities. Comes with a port forwarding feature, a robust no-logs policy, and supports major streaming platforms.
6. PureVPN: Budget-friendly option to torrent securely in Germany, and one of the fastest VPNs on the market. Includes a useful port forwarding add-on for a small extra fee.
7. Proton VPN: Great VPN for privacy-conscious users. Offers stable connections, reliable speeds for torrent downloads, and a VPN Accelerator feature for boosted performance. Offers port forwarding at no extra cost.

How safe is torrenting in Germany FAQs

Related: The best VPNs for Germany