Hotspot Shield is a VPN provider best known for its impressive user count and limited free version. It’s implemented as an app and browser extension and is perfect for beginners just starting out with VPNs.
Hotspot Shield was first released back in 2008 by AnchorFree as a completely free VPN. This means that what we today know as Hotspot Shield Elite was 100% free back in the day.
Our today’s blog post will cater to all users who use VPNs primarily for torrenting. So, keep on reading to learn if this is the right VPN for all your torrenting needs.
P2P File Sharing
Hotspot Shield does allow P2P on its servers, which means you can also download torrents. On the other hand, the company does warn its users not to break the law by downloading any copyrighted content, which is basically what torrenting is all about. So, we can’t really recommend this service if you’re an avid user of torrents and expect maximum security while downloading the latest movies, TV shows, and other “illegal” material.
Security
The company offers a solid level of security when it comes to encryption. Namely, it uses its proprietary connection protocol called Catapult Hydra which is one of the best and most secure options out there. It also uses AES-256 encryption, which has been the industry standard for some time now. The military also uses this encryption to protect its sensitive data and information traffic.
However, Hotspot Shield is located in the US, which is not good news for VPN users. The US is notorious for serving its companies warrants and gag orders and collecting private user data. This means government agencies can request and receive your personal information and you wouldn’t even know about it. Let’s remember that the US is home to the CIA and NSA for one. It is also a member of the Five Eyes Surveillance Treaty.
In its Terms of Service, Hotspot Shield states that it can collect user information and share it with third parties. So, it is not even trying to hide the fact that it keeps user logs and can potentially hand them over to the authorities. This does come off as a surprise, though, since the US still doesn’t have any mandatory data retention laws, meaning VPN companies want to keep user logs even though they don’t have to.
Torrenting On All Servers
Hotspot Shield does allow torrenting on all of its 3,200+ servers, which would be excellent news if not for the previously mentioned privacy concerns.