I don't use VPN, never have. I prefer to download using newsgroups and this is oneway traffic unlike torrents where you can get done for distribution as you are uploading as well.
I download over 6tb most months and at or close to my 300mb speed. No VPN can match that anyway.
Also with the newsgroups you are connected to 1 server and not 100's of computers that you cannot verify the IP's of and they could be anything, hackers, law, ISP's etc...
Most of the free VPN's will hand over the logs and sell your data at a whim, and quite a lot of paid ones do the same.
Do a search on here as someone posted a list or link to a list of VPN's that do or don't keep or supply your data to third parties.