Hi, as founder of the encrypted email service Tuta Mail I know a lot about cybersecurity and privacy. First, everyone using a VPN must know that this does not make them invisible: The access point for visibility is just transferred - from your ISP to your VPN provider. This means that the VPN provider sees your real IP and knows who you are. Second, VPN users should know that it's possible to circumvent regional age-verification with a VPN: Age-verification is usually only required if your IP is from the country where age checks are mandatory. If your connection shows a different country's IP via the VPN, you can access content without having to verify your age. Because of this, legislators are now discussing to ban VPNs, but this would be extremely difficult if not pointless. People could still use the Tor network to access sites with a different IP address. But what is worse, to ban VPNs legislators need to block access to certain (VPN) websites. This does not only sound like the Great Firewall of China, it would be the first step in this direction: censoring access to the internet. A dangerous move for a free and open democracy, because if the Pandora's box is opened, when and where will politicians stop?
Both of the two most recent examples of proposed legislation to block VPN IP addresses (WI) and a VPN ban all together (MI) demonstrate how well intended legislation how well intentioned legislation can produce significant unintended consequences. At a time when consumers and regulators alike are demanding stronger privacy and security, these measures would instead weaken both. Unfortunately, they would push users toward unsafe, (free) VPN tools with weaker encryption and higher security risks, while creating serious compliance and constitutional concerns. Legislating away VPNs won't be a one size fits all age-verification solution and would only create broader, avoidable harm. Happy to speak further and provide deeper context. Ryan J.
A VPN protects your IP address and encrypts your online activities but it does not provide complete legal protection. Modern age verification systems perform direct ID verification through devices such as phones and computers. A VPN fails to prevent the verification process from occurring. A VPN used for location modification does not protect users from police verification requirements because certain websites in their area need identification proof. Your internet service provider maintains the ability to monitor your VPN connection to the VPN server. The platforms maintain the ability to detect VPN traffic patterns become detectable to them. Sites maintain logs of all attempts to bypass their rules which they distribute to law enforcement agencies. Privacy tools provide you with excellent protection but they do not eliminate the possibility of violating local regulations. Multiple governments from various regions currently debate the implementation of commercial VPN service restrictions. Users move to self-hosted servers and residential proxies and Tor-based tools after commercial VPN services become restricted. People will find new privacy protection methods when governments try to stop their existing privacy protection techniques. You need to create individual VPN accounts for your standard web browsing activities and your protected online activities. Maintain two separate VPN subscriptions through different email addresses. A single compromised VPN account will not affect the other subscription. Enable the kill-switch function and activate firewall blocking for all non-VPN traffic on your device. The majority of VPN leaks occur during the brief time after the VPN connection fails rather than because of VPN system flaws. Select a VPN service which supports cryptocurrency payments and does not require your phone number or actual name during registration. The amount of personal data you enter during registration will affect how vulnerable your information becomes to future data breaches.
If someone wants to watch explicit content, they'll find a way to get around any obstacle without a problem. VPNs won't work anyways because they'll simply change your IP address and the verification test is still there. For now, it's all based on an honor system where visitors must report if they're underage or not. When it comes to modern verification systems that require government ID uploads, credit card verification tied to age and similar... VPNs don't work on that either.
I think these laws create a messy collision between privacy, compliance, and user behavior. I run engineering for a software company and I see how quickly users react when new verification rules appear. The surge in VPN adoption after the UK pushed stricter checks did not surprise me. People push back the moment a service requests documents that reveal more than the service actually needs. That kind of overreach sends users running faster than a cat on a hot tin roof. I believe the real risk comes from proposals that force VPNs to apply age checks themselves. That idea introduces identity storage inside a tool built to avoid identity exposure.
Many people use a VPN because they want a private way to browse sensitive material. The concern is not the content itself. It is the idea that an internet provider or any other group may create a record of what a person viewed. A VPN creates distance by keeping that traffic away from the provider logs and giving the person a sense of protection. Age verification laws bring new pressure to this space. These laws ask sites to collect proof of identity, which creates fear that sensitive data may be stored in places where it does not belong. People worry that a single mistake could expose personal activity. As this fear rises, more people look for tools that keep their information away from direct view. Ideas about limiting VPN use add another layer of tension. A broad limit would not stop the content. It would remove a tool that shields a person from tracking. This leaves people with less privacy even when they have done nothing harmful. It also makes people wonder how much access any agency should have to what someone does in their own private time online. A person who wants privacy should look closely at how a VPN treats information. The service may offer a sense of safety, but it may also keep the same kind of records that a provider once kept. This is why the user must know what is stored and how long it stays on the servers. A service that cannot explain these points should not be trusted. When a provider speaks openly, the user feels more secure in the choice they make. The long term challenge is the balance between privacy and regulation. People want personal space online, and they want protection from misuse of their data. When laws increase tracking, people seek tools that help them regain privacy. When those tools face limits, an important layer of protection disappears. The right path is one that keeps privacy intact and still allows for clear protection, so people do not feel cornered into giving up something important.
The VPN discussion has become untidy though since we have two opposing tensions that are both relevant. Age verification legislation places individuals in a situation in which they are developing paper trails, digital clusters, of highly sensitive action. That is the truth that no one wishes to speak out right. At the point where governments are attempting to age verify adult content you are literally compelling an individual to associate identity with the sort of thing he is browsing. Security-wise, that is building honeypots of information that are going to be violated. Not if, but when. Having utilized sufficient systems, I understand that any database of people who visited X sites is a target as soon as it is created. VPNs were no longer an egalitarian privacy device but the mainstream one because individuals have the intuitive grasp of what legislations do not have at times: when the data is already there, it can be compromised, it can be stolen, it can be subpoenaed. The suggested bans on VPNs are attempting to put a bandage on a wound that has gone beyond hinged. At this point, I explain to people that a VPN does not make a person anonymous, but your ISP does not have the ability to have a full record of all your locations. Such a difference is significant when we are discussing more personal details of a person that could be revealed in a data breach many years later.
While many users believe that the use of a VPN eliminates all risk, age-verification laws often require a platform to collect and retain identity information about users. A VPN can conceal an IP address, however, that does not stop a site or a third-party vendor from generating, retaining usage logs, and/or verifications and these logs and/or verifications can potentially be seized in a legal process. The important conversation occurs when those logs and/or verifications leave the user's hands. The flow of information in looking at logs and/or verifications does not end with a user clicking "done". An important point that is often overlooked is that even if their marketing states no logs, VPNs are required in some jurisdictions (e.g. the UK) to collect and retain data. VPNs operate in a legal context that often governs privacy much more than its technology does.