Although you might’ve read that torrenting is fairly safe in the UK, it’s important to stay cautious. British authorities often block popular torrent sites, and repeated torrenting of copyrighted content can lead to significant fines and/or prison time.
So-called copyright trolls often exploit this fact to threaten you with outrageous legal fees. Even legitimate torrents carry their own set of risks, as hackers can misuse your exposed IP address for malicious purposes or hide malware within the files you want to download.
In this article, we examine how your torrenting activity can be monitored in the UK and the potential fines or prison time you face if caught. We also look at how to torrent safely with a VPN and include some top-rated recommendations. At the end, we answer a series of related questions that came up during our research.
How do people get caught torrenting in the UK?
Organizations like the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) and FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft) monitor and pursue legal action against illegal torrenting in the UK. They may track torrent activity and collect evidence on infringers, such as their UK IP address.
If you weren’t aware, your IP can be found in the peer list for any torrent you download, as seen below.
This set of numbers reveals a few details about you, such as your city and Internet provider. The BPI, FACT, or other agencies may use this info to contact your ISP if you’re caught torrenting unlawfully.
What happens if you get caught torrenting in the UK?
As mentioned, anti-piracy organizations will contact your Internet provider about any infringing downloads. Your ISP will then send you an email or a letter asking you to stop, usually telling you exactly which movie, game, or other media you’ve pirated.
Repeated infringements could lead to fines of up to £5,000 or—according to the CDPA—prison sentences between six months and 10 years. Of course, this all depends on how serious the offense is.
First-time offenders are typically fined, while large-scale pirates who upload all the latest releases or profit off of their activities could face much harsher penalties, including significant prison time.
While you may find people discussing that torrenting is safe in the UK on Reddit and similar websites, we don’t recommend risking it. Torrents are also rife with copyright infringement scammers and could expose you to denial-of-service attacks, port scanning, and similar cyber threats.
How to stay safe when torrenting in the UK
Our guide to torrenting safely goes into more detail, but here are the key facts you should remember.
1. Install a VPN
Staying safe while torrenting in the UK is all about masking your IP address in the swarm and the fact that you’re torrenting from anyone monitoring your connection. Fortunately, you can do both of those things by simply using a fully-featured VPN for torrenting.
Not only do VPNs keep you safe against any copyright trolls skimming the IP lists on various torrents, but your Internet provider will have no clue about what you’re doing online. At most, they’ll know your real IP (as they assign it in the first place) and see that you’re downloading high volumes of data.
Of course, not every VPN is a great fit. It’s essential to sign up with a provider that doesn’t keep user logs, has bulletproof encryption and leak protection, and ideally offers P2P-optimized servers for fast downloads and seeding.
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How to set up a VPN for secure torrenting
Even the best VPN needs a few tweaks to fully safeguard your torrenting in the UK. Here’s what you need to know:
- Unless the VPN’s entire network is torrent-enabled, always connect to your provider’s P2P servers.
- Activate the VPN kill switch to protect your IP in case the VPN disconnects. If your app has a setting to shut off internet traffic when disconnecting manually, enable that too. It’s a safety net in case you forget to turn off the torrent client first.
- Double-check your VPN for IPv6, DNS, and WebRTC leaks with a service like Browserleaks.
- Want to use split tunneling to enhance torrenting speeds? Then see how to route torrent traffic through a split tunnel to avoid accidental leaks. We’ve also included a step-by-step guide to test if your traffic is correctly routed.
- For uTorrent users: You can bind your VPN IP address to uTorrent to prevent downloads/seeding when not connected to your chosen server. Note: may require re-binding when reconnecting, even if you use the same location.
- For qBittorrent users: Head to Tools > Options > Advanced. Click the Network interface field and choose your VPN’s virtual adapter from the list (e.g. NordLynx). This setting disables torrent traffic if you’re not connected to the VPN.
If the adapter has a non-specific name (e.g. “Local Area Connection/Ethernet 2”), you can access the list of networks on your system to find the correct one. Here’s how to do so on Windows and Mac:
- Windows: Press the Start button, search for Control Panel, then navigate to Network and Internet > Network Connections.
- Mac: Click the Apple icon, then select System Settings > Network.
You can test if this works by trying to download a copyright-free torrent (e.g. public domain movies, free open-source software) without a VPN. The torrent status should be “Stalled” until you connect to the VPN.
2. Use anti-malware
While some VPNs (such as NordVPN or Surfshark) can scan small files for dangerous malware and block malicious domains, they do not replace a complete antivirus package.
An antivirus provides full system scanning capabilities with no file size limitations, which is highly useful for beefier torrents. And let’s face it: they’re not getting any smaller.
What are the best VPNs for safe torrenting in the UK?
These are the best torrenting VPNs for the UK at the moment:
- NordVPN: Best VPN for safe torrenting in the UK. Features industry-standard encryption, full leak protection, and thousands of lightning-fast servers in 111+ countries, including 600+ optimized for torrent traffic in the UK. Does not log user activity.
- Surfshark: Affordable option for torrenting safely in the UK. Offers unlimited simultaneous connections, a no-logs policy, and comes with a 3,200+ torrent-friendly server network. Comes equipped with Nexus technology for fast and stable connections.
- IPVanish: Reliable VPN for secure UK torrenting. Provides strong encryption, a robust zero-logs policy, and a network of 2,400+ high-speed servers in 90+ locations. All servers support torrenting traffic and you can connect unlimited devices simultaneously.
- ExpressVPN: Known for its excellent speeds, ExpressVPN provides 3,000+ torrent-capable servers in 105+ countries. The provider doesn’t log your online behavior and offers strong security options to keep you safe in the UK.
- PrivateVPN: Speedy VPN for torrenting with servers in 63+ countries around the globe. Offers port forwarding at no extra charge, maintains a strict no-logs policy, and has beginner-friendly apps for most popular platforms.
- PureVPN: Extremely fast torrenting VPN that won’t break the bank, with an optional port forwarding add-on for avid torrenters. Follows an always-on audit model for its no-logs claims, and offers a 31-day money-back guarantee.
- Proton VPN: Highly secure no-logs VPN for torrenting in the UK. Comes with reliable connections (aided by an advanced VPN Accelerator feature), 6,300+ servers in 100+ countries, and open-source apps on all major systems.
Torrenting safely in the UK FAQs
Do UK ISPs care about torrenting?
UK ISPs only care about users torrenting copyrighted materials, such as the latest movies, music, and video games. Torrenting free and public domain content from various sources is perfectly acceptable and won’t get you in trouble.
What is the fine for torrenting in the UK?
The fine for torrenting in the UK can reach up to £5,000, with a possible prison sentence of between six months and 10 years depending on the severity of the offense. Longer sentences are usually reserved for large-scale distributors and pirates that profit off of copyrighted content.
Can you get in trouble for downloading movies in the UK?
Yes, you can get in trouble for illegally downloading movies in the UK, with fines reaching up to £5,000 and possible prison sentences ranging from six months to 10 years.
Do you need a VPN to pirate games in the UK?
Comparitech does not condone using a VPN to pirate games in the UK (or anywhere else). While a trusted VPN may hide your torrenting traffic from your ISP, one slip-up could cost you a fortune in fines or up to 10 years in prison.
Is a VPN safe enough for torrenting?
With proper setup, a VPN is safe enough for torrenting, though we still recommend using a proven antivirus for scanning large files. Even if you only download public domain and legal torrents, you never know when a bad actor might upload a malware-infected file instead.
Should you use a VPN when torrenting in the UK?
Yes, you should use a VPN when torrenting in the UK and overseas. VPNs mask your torrenting activity through encryption, even from your ISP. Moreover, they hide your IP address in the torrent swarm, keeping you safe against potential copyright trolls and IP-based cyber attacks.
How do ISPs know you’re torrenting?
ISPs in the UK can detect torrenting by monitoring traffic patterns (e.g. downloading/uploading high volumes of data), using deep packet inspection (DPI), and employing P2P detection tools. They may also act on legal requests from copyright holders or enforcement agencies that provide evidence of torrenting activity.
Are free VPNs OK for torrenting?
There are a couple of reliable free torrenting VPNs available, but you should know they have data caps of up to 10 GB a month. If you were planning on downloading more than that, then we recommend going with a premium VPN that doesn’t cap your data.
On a related note, you should check your free VPN’s logging policy before torrenting. Some free providers might offer unlimited data, but log your internet activity for a profit, which could also leave you open to copyright trolling attempts.
Is NordVPN safe for torrenting?
Yes, NordVPN is completely safe for torrenting. It offers solid encryption, fantastic speeds, and a robust no-logging policy to maintain your privacy while torrenting. Moreover, its Threat Protection feature blocks malicious URLs and ads, which can be useful with certain torrent sites.
Is torrenting with a VPN slower?
Yes, torrenting with a VPN is slightly slower than using your ISP’s servers. That’s because your data needs to travel longer distances to reach you. Plus, the VPN adds so-called encryption overhead to your traffic, which means more data to handle and a bit of extra processing time, further slowing down your connection.
Fortunately, you won’t feel the difference with high-speed VPN providers (such as NordVPN), especially since they have specialized servers optimized for P2P traffic.
