Why the UK is talking about age-restricting VPNs
Over the past few months I’ve been following the UK government’s online-safety conversations closely. Ministers have launched a three-month consultation to look at a range of measures aimed at protecting children online — and that consultation explicitly includes options to age-restrict or limit children’s use of VPNs where they “undermine safety protections.” TechRadar reports this development in detail and the government has explained the move as part of a broader push to close safety “loopholes” created by fast-changing tech and the Online Safety Act see government guidance on related changes.
I want to unpack what this could mean for families, educators, and technology companies — and offer practical alternatives parents can use today.
Quick primer: what is a VPN, really?
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a service that encrypts your internet connection and routes it through a server in another location. The everyday benefits are straightforward:
- privacy: it hides your IP address from websites and local networks,
- security: it protects data on untrusted Wi‑Fi,
- location flexibility: it can make it look like you’re browsing from another country.
But that same ability to mask location and identity also lets some people bypass geofences and age‑verification systems — and that is exactly the worry the consultation aims to address.
Why the government is considering restrictions
The stated reasons are familiar and worth taking seriously:
- to prevent children from evading legally required age checks (for example, on adult-content sites);
- to reduce the risk that young people are pushed into less-moderated or harmful online spaces;
- to ensure that the protections in the Online Safety Act and related rules are effective in practice.
The government’s consultation is framed as evidence‑led: they say they want input from parents, civil society, tech firms, and experts before deciding on any measures. I note that the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, Liz Kendall (liz.kendall.mp@parliament.uk), has been publicly involved in announcing and guiding that consultation. (TechRadar coverage)
Potential impacts — a short survey
Children:
- Positive: fewer simple workarounds to access content meant for adults.
- Negative: reduced access to privacy tools that can protect young people (e.g., LGBTQ+ teens seeking confidential help), and potential risks if age checks require submitting sensitive ID.
Families and educators:
- Burden of enforcement could shift to parents or schools, straining relationships and resources.
- Teachers may find it harder to rely on students’ private devices for safe learning if privacy tools are limited.
Tech companies and the VPN sector:
- VPN providers could be required to implement age assurance or block underage sign-ups, a major departure from how privacy-first services operate.
- Collecting stronger identity evidence raises data‑protection and security risks and could undermine the core privacy promises of many services.
Legal and technical challenges
Several thorny issues stand out:
- How do you verify age without collecting intrusive ID? Government ID checks are effective but create a new registry of who uses privacy tools — a clear privacy trade-off.
- How would enforcement work for free or open-source VPNs, or international providers outside UK jurisdiction?
- Could requirements be circumvented by tech-savvy users (e.g., proxy chains, alternative encrypted tunnels)?
These are not merely implementation details: they go to the heart of whether any restriction can be proportionate and targeted.
Practical alternatives and recommendations for parents
If you’re worried about your child’s online safety, there are steps you can take today that don’t rely on controversial legal changes:
- Talk openly and regularly about online risks and boundaries — conversations matter more than single rules.
- Use parental controls at device and home‑network levels (router-level filters, age-based profiles in app stores).
- Consider privacy-preserving tools that support safety: supervised accounts, family password managers, and trusted safety apps that don’t require invasive identity collection.
- If your child is using a VPN for legitimate security reasons (e.g., on public Wi‑Fi), help them learn safe practices rather than banning tools outright.
Hypothetical quote: “Parents want practical tools, not intrusive ID checks — education plus sensible controls is the way forward,” — hypothetical parent and teacher coalition statement.
Balancing safety and privacy: my take
I believe protecting children online is imperative. But any policy that weakens privacy for entire populations in the name of child safety should be scrutinised carefully. Age‑verification rules that force VPNs or other privacy tools to collect government IDs would create new risks for vulnerable people who rely on anonymity for safety. We need narrowly scoped, technically informed solutions that preserve legitimate uses of privacy tools while preventing clear harms.
The consultation is an opportunity. If it genuinely listens to a wide range of voices — parents, educators, privacy advocates, cybersecurity experts, and the companies that build these services — the result could be sensible middle-ground policies that strengthen safety without throwing away privacy.
Regards, Hemen Parekh
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