Torrenting anything potentially problematic without using a reputable VPN service is foolish. And make sure that the machine is firewalled, to block all traffic (including DNS requests) not using the VPN. Only the VPN client should have direct Internet connectivity.
For extremely sensitive material, it's prudent to use nested VPN chains. So no one provider knows both who/where you are, and what you're doing. The bandwidth hit for chaining is smaller than you might think.
You can also setup your own VPN server on a VPS. But make sure to lease that VPS anonymously, and pay with well-mixed Bitcoin. Do all that through Tor.
But do not torrent through Tor. It's usually very slow. And it screws up Tor for people who really need it.
Thanks, mirimir. I live in a country that's been having a lot of trouble recently with crimes against the freedom of the press and this may actually help me recover some peace of mind when writing anything that might upset powerful people.
And it's arguably good practice for everyone. Good OPSEC.
Why do I say that? Well, even in "free" countries, one never knows how stuff will go down. What will change. It's better to be safe, than to be sorry.
Also, mass adoption helps protect me, and others who love their privacy. Because it makes us less unusual. That's one of the standard arguments for widespread Tor use. But even so, I prefer to obscure my Tor use with VPN services. Because VPNs are still far more common than Tor. In some areas, VPN usage is over 50%.
And finally, it's a great hobby. Better than puttering in the woodshop. Or whatever.
Do you have recommendations for actually anonymous leaseable VPS/Seedboxes? Just buying some bitcoin on Coinbase defeats the purpose. Can I mail cash somewhere?
I've come to like Host Sailor. Some consider their reputation to be iffy. But their prices are reasonable, and their reliability is good. And their customer support is fast and capable. Bithost is also OK. They're a Digital Ocean reseller. But their prices are too high for anything but testing.
Back in the day, I sent cash to Nanaimo Gold for Bitcoin. But I can't vouch for them now. In mailing cash, use printed labels, because handwriting attracts attention. It's best to use a B&W laser printer. Most inkjet printers use watermarking. And use a valid return address, because they're typically scanned. But not yours, obviously. I would often use an address for some charity, so they might get the money if something went wrong. And mail from a public box, not a post office, at some distance from your area.
If LocalBitcoins works in your area, that's a good option. But there's always risk of surveillance. Or theft.
These days, I mostly just use mixing services. Any one service could be incompetent or compromised. So it's best to mix at least twice, using different mixers.
Let's say that your Bitcoin are in some hosted wallet, and aren't anonymous. You need at least two ~anonymous wallets. One gets Bitcoin from the first mix. The other gets Bitcoin from the second mix, and spends.
I use Whonix instances in VirtualBox, each with a local Electrum wallet. The Whonix instances (VM pairs) reach Tor through a VPN service, running in the host machine. DeepDotWeb runs CoinMixer, which seems OK. I've used Bitcoin Fog for years, at http://foggeddriztrcar2.onion/ but it requires creating an account.
Edit: re Host Sailor and Bithost, I've typically gotten 800-900 Mbps (iperf3) for their gigabit uplinks, measured between VPS on each. And ~700 Mbps using such public test servers as iperf.volia.net and bouygues.testdebit.info
LocalBitcoins has sellers who accept cash or cash-equivalent payments. Alternatively, you can buy on Coinbase then exchange for some Monero, or use a mixer.
Torrenting anything potentially problematic without using a reputable VPN service is foolish. And make sure that the machine is firewalled, to block all traffic (including DNS requests) not using the VPN. Only the VPN client should have direct Internet connectivity.
For extremely sensitive material, it's prudent to use nested VPN chains. So no one provider knows both who/where you are, and what you're doing. The bandwidth hit for chaining is smaller than you might think.
You can also setup your own VPN server on a VPS. But make sure to lease that VPS anonymously, and pay with well-mixed Bitcoin. Do all that through Tor.
But do not torrent through Tor. It's usually very slow. And it screws up Tor for people who really need it.