- NordVPN Warns Utah Age Verification Bill Rules for VPNs Are Unworkable
- The bill was passed on March 4 and is expected to go into effect in May 2026.
- NordVPN Now Urges Lawmakers to ‘Pause and Meet’ with Experts
Utah lawmakers are one step closer to restricting VPN use in a way that NordVPN says would “punish legal users who care about their privacy” around the world.
The warning follows the passage of the Utah Online Age Verification Amendments, formally Senate Bill 73, which passed both chambers of the state legislature on Wednesday, March 4.
Enforcement is expected to begin in May 2026, and the bill requires online service providers to limit the age of content deemed harmful to minors.
However, the legislation also makes companies responsible for limiting the age of any user physically located in Utah, regardless of whether they are using a virtual private network or a proxy server.
NordVPN maintains that this creates an “irresolvable compliance paradox” for responsible operators.
How the law targets VPN users
Under the current language, anyone physically located in Utah must undergo mandatory age checks to access adult-only content. Crucially, the law requires service providers to verify the age of users even when they use a VPN or a similar tool to spoof their geolocation.
The bill also prohibits commercial entities that host “a substantial amount of material harmful to minors” from facilitating or encouraging the use of VPNs to circumvent these controls. This includes a prohibition on providing instructions on how to use such services to access their websites.
NordVPN Response
While VPN providers are not the primary targets of the law, NordVPN has heavily criticized the proposal as technically unworkable.
In a statement shared with TechRadar, the firm argued that blocking all known VPN and proxy IPs in Utah is “technically impossible” because providers are constantly adding new addresses and there is no complete block list.
The VPN giant also warns that attempting to comply would have serious consequences for legal users around the world. As currently written, the bill does not appear to give adult sites the option to simply exit the Utah market to avoid the rules.
Instead, the only remaining option appears to be to verify the age of every visitor globally, regardless of their actual location. NordVPN warns that this would subject “millions of users to invasive identity checks and have no legal obligation.”
This is not the first time US lawmakers have included provisions affecting VPN users in age verification bills. While Wisconsin recently removed similar rules that would have effectively banned VPNs in the state, Utah’s proposal is more far-reaching, with potential impact extending beyond state borders.
While NordVPN supports the intent to protect children online, it is now urging Utah lawmakers to pause and consult with experts before the May 2026 deadline.
The firm warns that good intentions written into “technically inapplicable laws” do not protect minors and instead “simply punish legal users who care about their privacy, worldwide.”
Ultimately, NordVPN maintains that any legislation that cannot be enforced is not a viable measure. As the company says: “It’s a liability trap.”
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