The use of a VPN service should not be an obstacle to effectively enforce mandatory age verification verifications, such as those recently implemented in the United Kingdom.
This is the response from the AGE Verification Suppliers Association (AVPA) to the increase in VPN’s demand throughout the United Kingdom since the new rules came into play. The increase has also raised the issue of whether VPN tools would cause the implementation of the online security law to be ineffective.
According to AVPA, to continue complying, digital services must actively detect the use of VPN and give users the option to prove their age or real location.
“Not even the need to consider prohibit VPN”
“Some argue that because there are VPN, any age guarantee system will fail. This leads to the errone Blog post.
The AVPA suggests that, once the VPN traffic is detected, technology suppliers must analyze behavioral tracks to evaluate whether the user is a minor with headquarters in the United Kingdom or an adult who uses the VPN for privacy. If they have reasons to believe that this can be a minor based in the United Kingdom, they should offer an option to verify their age or consent for unique geolocation.
That said, the most reliable services to unlock transmission or censored content platforms, all implement obfuscation technologies to mask the fact that people are using these services.
However, in general, “there are ways to detect and address the choice, and there is no need to consider the prohibition of VPN directly,” said AVPA experts.
Digital services that use the age guarantee to continue complying, can do so detecting the use of VPN, evaluating the risk using behavioral clues and giving marked users the option to verify their age or prove their location. @Peterkyle @Feryalclark @ofcom pic.twitter.com/lpbimivkvuAugust 10, 2025
AVPA’s recommendations occurred after a debate began in the United Kingdom on whether the authorities could prohibit VPNs to guarantee full compliance with the online security law.
However, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology of the United Kingdom, Peter Kyle, has insisted that there are no such plans, despite the fact that the government looks “very closely” in how VPN is being used.
This adds to what the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) explained when discussing the privacy risks of the age verification laws of the United States.
As EFF experts pointed out, their IP address is not the only method that online services use to track their location. Suppliers can also use GPS monitoring, web cookies, mobile ads, monitoring of pixels or fingerprints of the device, which makes the use of VPN very effective.
What is behind the VPN increase in the United Kingdom?
While both skills can help you increase your privacy and security online minimizing the traces of data that you leave on the Internet, IP’s fright can also make it look as if you were sailing from a completely different country.
Proton VPN registered an increase per hour of more than 1,400% from midnight of the day, verification of the mandatory age was enforced. Adguard VPN also confirmed to Techradar that the records grew 2.5 times in just a few days. Top10VPN data show a continuous increase in VPN demand of almost 2,000% since July 25 too.
It is impossible to know if children looking to evade age controls are behind these numbers or their adults concerned about their privacy is impossible to know.
However, what is certain is that the new rules have attracted a strong reaction so far between technologists, politicians and everyday users equally, concerned about the negative impact that age controls can have on their privacy, security, freedom of expression and access to information.
The United Kingdom regulator, ofcom, however, suggests strongly against the use of VPN to avoid age controls, arguing that it will be illegal for platforms to encourage this, the BBC reported.
If you are worried about sharing your most confidential data to access the content on the web, I recommend downloading only reliable services to protect yourself. At the time of writing, Nordvpn is the best choice of PakGazette. While you do not want to pay for a subscription, Proton VPN and private VPN are the best free VPN applications you can obtain.
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