Banning children from VPNs and social media will erode adults' privacy

4 hours ago

A proposed UK law aims to ban children from using social media and VPNs, but legal experts warn it could frustrate adults and erode privacy by requiring age verification for many sites.
The Online Safety Act (OSA) came into force in July 2025 to block children from accessing pornography and harmful content, but tech-savvy kids can bypass these measures using VPNs or facial-recognition workarounds.
Opposition peers in the House of Lords proposed amendments to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to close loopholes, but the broad wording could affect platforms like Wikipedia, WhatsApp, and shared calendars.
Digital rights experts criticize the amendments, arguing they risk making everyday services illegal for children and exposing adults' browsing habits to government or hackers.
The amendments could grant ministers sweeping powers to mandate digital ID checks for accessing lawful content, raising concerns about state control and privacy risks.
Critics question the effectiveness of banning children from social media, arguing there's no clear problem being solved and that the OSA is already seen as unfit for purpose.
The proposed legislation could create a paper trail of citizens' browsing habits, potentially enabling future misuse of data, as seen in cases like the US Congress's demand for Wikipedia editor details.

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