- Privacy tech advocates urge UK ‘not to undermine open web’“
- This comes as the Schools and Child Welfare Bill became law.
- A national consultation on online harms is also underway.
A coalition made up of digital rights groups and privacy-first technology developers is urging the UK government to “not undermine the open web”.
Nineteen organizations, including some of the best VPN services (Proton, Mullvad, ExpressVPN, and IPVanish), Mozilla, the Tor Project, and privacy advocates such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, published an open letter on Tuesday (May 5) to directly address policymakers.
The coalition warns that, in seeking to address pressing issues around children’s safety and online harm, UK policymakers are carrying out “forceful policy interventions”, including banning access to some online services.
These measures, according to the signatories, “will do little to improve young people’s experiences online and will instead undermine the web and infringe on human rights.”
The protest comes as the controversial Schools and Child Welfare Bill became law last week. The law introduces new online restrictions for young people, along with an obligation for service providers to take “reasonable measures against circumvention.”
The government also launched a national consultation on online harms, open until May 26, 2026, arguing that VPNs may have age restrictions if the consultation found that these tools are guilty of undermining online security protections.
Schools and Child Welfare Act: Why Experts Are Concerned
Under the Schools and Child Welfare Act, the Secretary of State will now have the authority to introduce regulations requiring internet service providers to prevent or limit children’s access to specific services or functionality. These restrictions may include screen time, location sharing, and more.
According to privacy and digital rights technology experts, this approach is flawed as it does not ensure that online services are designed to uphold the rights and interests of children by default.
Additionally, experts believe that access restrictions could jeopardize the privacy and security of all Internet users demanding that everyone verify their ages.
“Existing age assurance technologies are not sufficiently accurate, undermine data privacy and security, or are not widely available across populations,” the letter reads, and experts warn that age verification mandates could also “risk consolidating the dominance” of Big Tech giants.
This isn’t the first time the privacy tech world has sounded the alarm against widespread age verification laws.
Last week, Proton CEO and founder Andy Yen called the global age verification push “the death of online anonymity.” In early March, more than 400 scientists also called for a halt to mandatory age verification until there is a “scientific consensus” that such a practice does not do more harm than good.
The “VPN loophole”
Beyond age verification and new online restrictions, signatories are especially concerned about the effort to close what has been deemed the “VPN loophole.” That’s the idea that VPN services are used as a circumvention tool to bypass mandatory age checks.
However, VPNs are essential privacy and security tools that people use every day to mitigate online harm. “Restricting the use of privacy-preserving technologies undermines efforts to empower users to browse the web safely and develop digital literacy,” Mozilla said.
Even though the Lord’s initial idea of a complete ban on VPNs for children did not end up in the final text, the law still includes an obligation for service providers to take “reasonable measures against circumvention.”
The fate of VPNs has also not been decided yet. New restrictions could be introduced following the ongoing online safety consultation.
On April 23, the VPN Trust Initiative published a statement warning UK lawmakers that VPN restrictions could expose children to “greater harm.” Other groups, including Mozilla, will share more positions in the coming days.
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