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A European Union research service is sparking concerns that the EU will impose age verification for VPNs to stop underage children from accessing porn.
“Protecting children online is a priority, with new rules being implemented requiring a minimum age for access to some services," the European Parliamentary Research Service tweeted this week while promoting a research paper about the topic.
VPNs can shield your internet activity from an ISP, and many use no-logging policies to prevent the collection of user information. Researchers note, however, that they're “increasingly used to bypass online age verification,” since they can make it look like you're based in a region without age-verification requirements.
"There has been a significant surge in the number of virtual private networks (VPNs) used to bypass online age verification methods in countries where these have been put in place by law,” the report says, although no concrete statistics of actual minors using VPNs are provided.
The European Parliamentary Research Service focuses on offering EU legislators “independent, objective and authoritative analysis.” So, parts of the 2-page paper come across as neutral. Still, the document notes that “protection of children online is high on the political agenda,” and that VPN use has increased in the wake of the UK implementing an age-verification law to protect children from harmful online content.
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“While privacy advocates argue that imposing age-verification requirements on VPNs would pose significant risks to anonymity and data protection, child-safety campaigners claim that their widespread use by minors requires a regulatory response,” the paper says, noting some voices are calling for the VPN “loophole” to be closed with legislation.
“As the EU reviews cybersecurity and privacy legislation, VPN services may also come under stricter regulatory scrutiny,” the paper adds.
Last week, EU Vice President Henna Virkkunen said VPNs shouldn’t be used to circumvent age-verification systems. Last month, the EU also introduced its own age-verification app, though it has faced some privacy concerns.
The European Parliamentary Research Service's tweet is already facing backlash from privacy and human rights supporters. “A deeply troubling narrative shift: VPNs—long recognized as privacy tools that enable access to information and protect activists and journalists—are suddenly framed as a ‘risk,’ rather than a safeguard for fundamental rights,” wrote Lyudmyla Kozlovska, president of the Open Dialogue Foundation.
The CTO of the Ledger cryptocurrency wallet, Charles Guillemet, also noted that the best VPNs are often paid services that “typically require a credit card. They are not bought by children, but by adults who refuse to surrender their privacy just to pass age verification gates.”