Many people assume that turning on a VPN automatically makes them invisible online. The reality is a little more complicated. A VPN can protect your traffic effectively, but only if the connection is properly configured and working as intended. If you’re torrenting or streaming movies and live sports from unofficial sites, certain leaks or routing issues could still expose information about your real connection without you realizing it.
The 5 Big Traps: How Your Identity Can Be Exposed
1. Kill Switch Failure
If your VPN connection drops, even briefly, your torrent client or streaming device may continue sending and receiving data over your regular internet connection. Without a working kill switch, this could expose your real IP address to the services you’re using and potentially to third parties monitoring the connection.
Fortunately, leading VPN services such as Surfshark VPN include built-in protection against unexpected VPN disconnects, including a Kill Switch. Just make sure you enable it before you start torrenting or streaming. Surfshark also offers Auto-connect, which automatically establishes a VPN connection whenever your device connects to the internet.
In the Surfshark app, go to Settings → VPN Settings and enable Auto-connect and Kill Switch. The exact layout may vary slightly depending on the device and app version, but the same basic options are available across supported platforms.
There’s another potential problem on Android TV: the operating system may restrict background activity to save power. If that causes the Surfshark app to stop while you’re streaming, the VPN connection could be interrupted.
To reduce that risk, open your device’s Settings → Apps → Special app access → Battery optimization, find Surfshark, and set it to Don’t optimize. This prevents Android from applying battery optimization to the Surfshark app.
2. DNS and IP Leaks While Streaming
A DNS leak is a subtle privacy gap that can undermine the protection you expect from a VPN. With a misconfigured VPN, or one that doesn’t properly handle DNS requests, some of your DNS traffic may bypass the VPN tunnel and be routed through your regular DNS provider.
When you visit a streaming site, other types of leaks can also matter. For example, a WebRTC leak can potentially expose your real IP address through your browser, while a DNS leak can reveal the domains your device is looking up. In either case, some information may bypass the VPN’s protected connection.
If you’re using Surfshark, the service automatically assigns Surfshark DNS addresses when you connect to its VPN servers to help prevent DNS leaks. Surfshark also provides built-in WebRTC leak protection.
Still, it’s worth checking that everything is working as expected. If you’re using another VPN, you can use the two online tools below to check whether your connection is leaking your IP address or DNS requests.
VPN Privacy: 5 Browser Settings That Could Expose Your Online Activity
3. Not All VPNs Are Suitable for Torrenting
Using a VPN doesn’t automatically mean you have the right protection for torrenting. Some VPN providers restrict or block P2P traffic, while others may allow torrenting but offer less suitable performance for long-running downloads and seeding.
Before you start, check whether your VPN explicitly supports P2P traffic and whether the servers you plan to use are marked as P2P-compatible. This can make a difference when you’re torrenting for extended periods.
Surfshark supports P2P traffic across designated servers. To find them, simply type P2P into the server search field, and the relevant locations will appear for you to choose from.
Surfshark also works with popular torrenting clients such as qBittorrent. If you don’t manually select a specific server, the app can still connect you to an available location that supports P2P traffic.
4. The Trap of Free VPNs
Just because a VPN is free doesn’t mean it offers the same level of privacy and security as a reputable paid service. Some free VPNs may have limitations when it comes to leak protection, logging, server availability, or connection speeds. Instead of adding another layer of protection, choosing an unreliable VPN could actually introduce another privacy risk.
So, simply having a VPN isn’t enough. You need a service that supports P2P traffic, protects against IP and DNS leaks, includes a reliable Kill Switch, and provides enough speed for the way you plan to use it.
And there’s one important distinction to keep in mind: a VPN can protect your connection and hide your IP address, but it doesn’t make copyrighted or otherwise illegal content legal to access.
5. The Fake No-Logs Policy
If a VPN provider secretly keeps logs of your online activity, those records could potentially be requested by authorities. And even when a provider claims not to keep activity logs, it’s worth looking at how its server infrastructure is designed and whether those claims have been independently verified.
This is where RAM-only servers can provide an additional layer of protection. Because RAM is volatile memory, data stored there is automatically lost when a server is powered down or rebooted. That means information stored only in RAM cannot remain on the server after a reboot.
Surfshark uses 100% RAM-only servers across its VPN infrastructure. The company says that its servers automatically wipe their data whenever they are rebooted or powered off, while most of its servers are also regularly destroyed and rebuilt.
However, RAM-only infrastructure should be viewed as an additional security measure, not as proof of a no-logs policy by itself. A trustworthy VPN should also have a clearly defined logging policy and, ideally, independent audits that verify how that policy is implemented.
That independent verification is particularly important because a VPN provider’s no-logs claim ultimately depends on how its systems and processes are actually configured. In Surfshark’s case, Deloitte conducted independent assurance procedures in 2025, reviewing areas such as server configuration, deployment processes, and privacy-related settings. The report confirmed that Surfshark’s infrastructure was implemented in accordance with its stated no-logs policy.
The Deloitte report also states that Surfshark does not store incoming or outgoing traffic data, including user and destination IP addresses, browsing history, DNS queries, or downloaded files. It also notes that the VPN servers run entirely on RAM disks and that data associated with a server is deleted when the server loses power or is rebooted.
Surfshark VPN + Extra Features
Surfshark offers more than just a VPN connection, with a range of additional privacy and security features. A single subscription also supports unlimited simultaneous connections, so you can use Surfshark on as many devices as you need at the same time.
There’s also a 7-day free trial that lets you use the full VPN service on up to three devices simultaneously. That means you can protect all three of the following during the trial:
- Your Windows desktop or laptop
- Your Android or iOS smartphone or tablet.
- Your Smart TV, Android TV, or TV box.
You can follow our previous guide for step-by-step instructions on activating the 7-day free trial and trying the full version of Surfshark. The trial is currently available with the 12-month and 24-month plans.
If you decide to keep the service after the trial, Surfshark offers three subscription options: 1 month, 12 months, and 24 months. The longer-term plans currently include 3 extra months, although pricing and available offers may vary.
A VPN Isn’t a Magic Shield
A VPN can significantly improve your privacy while streaming or torrenting, but it isn’t a magic shield. Kill Switch, leak protection, P2P support, and a verified no-logs policy all matter. The key is to know what your VPN actually protects—and what it doesn’t.
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