The 'Netflix For Pirated Movies' Has Figured Out A Way To Keep You Anonymous

Legally, Popcorn Time operates in a nebulous gray area. It works by allowing users to stream pirated movies and TV shows without having to worry about deleting the incriminating data afterwards - Popcorn Time does all the dirty work for you. With its streaming option, intuitive Netflix-style interface, and self-tidying service, it's no wonder Popcorn Time has taken off.

TorrentFreak reports Popcorn Time has now included a free virtual private network (VPN) service in its newest Popcorn Time beta. This VPN feature will now automatically mask users' web traffic from their cable service providers.

A VPN acts like a middleman between your computer and the Internet. Traditionally, when you visit a website, a record exists that says your computer requested access to that website using your computer's unique identifier, called an IP address. With a VPN enabled, your computer connects to an outside server first, which assigns a randomized IP address and then requests the website on your behalf, leaving no trace on your part.

Technically, VPN services can still sometimes be linked back to individual computers and users, but there's a few things that set Popcorn Time's VPN service apart. The company running the service, Kebrum, isn't located in the U.S., and the company doesn't keep logs. This acts like a one-two punch to U.S. authorities, as they won't be able to legally request Kebrum's user info - and even if they somehow could, there wouldn't be any user information stored to fork over.

It can be a little confusing, but Popcorn Time figured out an easy way to distill the goal of the VPN service into just one button: Just click the lock icon to turn the cloaking service on or off.

For current Popcorn Time users that want to use the new feature today, you can download the newest beta here.

There's no telling how long Popcorn Time will stick around, but it certainly just got harder for the average user to get caught.