August 19 marks International VPN Day – 24 hours dedicated to raising awareness about the crucial role that these security apps play in boosting online privacy, security, and internet freedom. Yet, this year, VPN usage has never been at greater risk in a democratic country like the UK.
As reported by the BBC, the children’s commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, said the government “needs to stop children using VPNs to bypass age checks” on adult-only sites.
While the government reiterates that an outright VPN ban is off the cards, Brits have turned to the best VPN apps en masse since mandatory age verification was enforced on July 25, 2025, making these new rules mostly ineffective. So, what could a VPN crackdown in the UK look like?
The UK VPN debate
A virtual private network (VPN) is security software that millions of adults, in and out of the UK, use to boost their online privacy, security, and overall internet experience.
VPNs not only encrypt all your internet connections to minimize the risk of third parties snooping on your online activity, but they also spoof your real IP address, making you appear as if you’re browsing from another country.
The latter is exactly why the likes of Proton VPN experienced hourly spikes in usage as high as 1,400% starting from July 25. Yet it’s impossible to determine if these stats represent adults who are unwilling to provide sensitive details to prove their age, or under-18s looking to evade the checks altogether.
Nonetheless, according to de Souza, this trend is “absolutely a loophole that needs closing,” and justifies a call for VPNs to adopt age verification measures of their own.
Specifically, she wants authorities to consider forcing VPN firms to stop underage users from accessing adult-only sites. However, this requirement is impossible to implement for all no-log VPN providers, as they don’t collect or store user activity.
The outcry comes as a new report indicates that the number of minors accessing adult-only websites has increased since the Online Safety Act became law in 2023.
It also follows a pledge from the UK science secretary, Peter Kyle, that the government would be looking “very closely” at how VPNs are being used, while insisting there are no plans to ban VPNs.
The UK regulator, Ofcom, is also strongly suggesting against VPN use to bypass age checks, arguing it will be illegal for tech platforms to encourage their use – the BBC reported.
If not a VPN ban, what then?
Only last week, the Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA) publicly stated that VPN services should not necessarily be an obstacle to effectively enforcing age verification, explaining why governments don’t need to ban VPNs to ensure compliance.
“Digital services using age assurance to remain compliant, can do so by detecting VPN use, assessing risk using behavioural clues, and giving flagged users the option to verify their age or prove their location,” recommends AVPA experts.
It’s worth mentioning, though, that some of the most reliable VPNs used to access streaming platforms and censored content implement obfuscation technologies to mask the fact that people are using them in the first place. However, less advanced VPNs would be easily detectable with the right monitoring techniques.
Some users in the UK have already started to lament that YouTube, for example, now detects active VPN and proxy connections.
VPN’s are now being detected and blocked in the UK. from r/libertarianmeme
Also, according to experts at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), VPNs aren’t a foolproof solution to age checks.
That’s because your IP address isn’t the only piece of data online services use to track down your location. Tech providers could also use GPS tracking, web cookies, mobile ad IDs, tracking pixels, or device fingerprinting to determine if you’re based in the UK.
Plus, as the EFF explained back in January, as age verification laws spread, VPN apps will become less effective in circumventing these requirements as enforcement methods may improve.
A prediction that could soon become a reality, as UK authorities are committed to ensuring minors cannot bypass these checks at ease. It’s now only a matter of when, not if, this will happen.
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chiara.castro@futurenet.com (Chiara Castro)
