The UK government has confirmed that new VPN restrictions will not apply to two groups of households. The Labour Party government is exploring new VPN rules as part of its social media ban on under-16s.
Background on the Proposed Rules
Tech Secretary and former Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) boss Liz Kendall told the BBC earlier this week that households could expect an update in July. However, the government consultation into restrictions has confirmed that two groups will be protected: households using VPNs for "legitimate" reasons and households with "lawful use."
This means any widespread or blanket restriction on VPNs will not happen, according to tech experts at Tech Radar this weekend.
What Are VPNs?
VPNs are tools that hide your internet activity and location by creating a secure private connection between your device and the internet. They are used for legitimate purposes, such as remote work and business access, protecting sensitive communications, and safeguarding privacy.
VPN usage more than doubled in the UK following highly effective age assurance requirements becoming mandatory. Daily users rose from about 650,000 before 25 July 2025 to a peak of over 1.4 million users in mid-August 2025. This has gradually declined to around 980,000 users by the end of 2025.
Government Statement
The government confirmed: "In shaping our new approach, we must consider how to deal with circumvention methods. Many children are technologically savvy and are likely to be aware of possible technical and non-technical ways to bypass new rules or restrictions. We need to find solutions that are robust."
"At the same time, our approach must be proportionate, and it should not inadvertently restrict children’s access to beneficial online content, nor restrict the legitimate and lawful use by adults of tools such as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), or similar private network technologies."
Industry Reactions
Proton VPN's Public Policy Manager, Romain Digneaux, said: "Imposing age restrictions on VPNs would only make it harder for law-abiding citizens to access tools that protect their privacy and security."
Surfshark's Senior Product Manager, Justas Pukys, said: "It would undermine the very privacy architecture these services are built on, mostly affecting ordinary users and reputable providers."
NordVPN's Privacy Advocates, Laura Tyrylyte, said: "Restricting access to these tools, or requiring identity-linked access to them, would have consequences far beyond the negligible number of users who may seek to circumvent online restrictions."
