Protect VPN use in the UK
VPNs help people to stay private and safe online. Young people use them to avoid harassment, or protect location data. Companies use them to make sure remote log-in to their networks are secure. Journalists, campaigners and whistle blowers use them to protect their work and themselves.
But the Government wants to force people to verify their age when they buy a VPN. This will deter people from using VPNs to stay safe and secure online.
Why are the government proposing restrictions to accessing VPNs?
The proposals to restrict access to VPNs are part of the Government’s wider goal of forcing Internet users to verify their age before they can access certain content or use certain features. They believe that this will keep children safe online.
What began as a policy aimed at restricting children’s access to pornography is now expanding into a system of routine identity checks for ordinary internet use.
Soon it will be almost impossible for adults in the UK to access the Internet without proving their age.
Age verification as a policy for online safety is deeply flawed:
- Age verification creates new harms for users in the form of data breaches and leaks.
- Age verification doesn’t change the underlying system which creates online harms, in fact it feeds into it
- By feeding the system, age verification fails to tackle online harms for adults
Age verification does not dismantle the surveillance based attention economy that drives polarising and addictive content. It adds another layer of data extraction to the same system.
We need to stop the expansion of age verification and demand reform that tackles the underlying problems with online spaces.
Sign here to pledge your support for the protection of VPNs use in the UK.
