No, it's not age verification — privacy is the top reason UK children use a VPN | Tech Radar

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No, it's not age verification — privacy is the top reason UK children use a VPN

Independent research commissioned by the UK Government found that between just 7 and 10% of British children use a VPN to bypass age verification

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Government report shows British kids mainly use a VPN to improve their privacy

Only a fifth of VPN users use the tech to bypass age verification

Pretending to be older is the most common way to dodge age checks

As the debate surrounding potential VPN restrictions heats up in the UK, a government report has cast doubt on whether such drastic measures are justified.

According to the study commissioned by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), digital privacy is the primary driver behind VPN use among British children.

Content unblocking ranks as the second most common motivation, with children using the tools to access specific apps and media from other countries.

Crucially, the desire to bypass mandatory age checks ranks much further down the list, with only about a fifth of young VPN users actively using the software to evade age checks. This equates to just 7% of all British children using a VPN to access restricted platforms.

These findings challenge the narrative that restricting VPNs is vital to enforcing current age verification laws and the government's proposed under-16 social media ban.

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The government is set to share evidence of its public consultation on children's online safety and VPNs this month.

In response to requests for comment, a spokesperson for DSIT shared a press release that confirms that "VPNs play a limited role in circumventing age check."

"As platforms implement more robust age verification to comply with the newly announced restrictions, many of the common routes used to bypass age checks today will become increasingly difficult," they continued.

(Image credit: Jose Sarmento Matos/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Following a nationwide survey of over 2,000 young people aged 11 to 17, researchers at BMG Research discovered that familiarity with virtual private networks among British children is high.

58% of children surveyed reported that they are aware of the software, while roughly a quarter of all respondents admitted to using a VPN in their lifetime.

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The underlying motivations of these young users appear to challenge the argument in favor of stricter controls.

Among active VPN users, 30% state they use the software specifically to secure their online privacy. This aligns with warnings from digital rights advocates who argue that restricting VPN access could strip vital security tools away from minors.

And while young people do use these apps to bypass content restrictions, the study shows they are primarily interested in evading regional entertainment geoblocks or school network restrictions rather than maliciously outsmarting age verification.

Bypassing age checks ranks fifth on the list of motivations. These findings mirror separate You Gov research commissioned by the VPN Trust Initiative, which revealed that a mere 1.4% of surveyed minors use a VPN specifically to access platforms meant for older demographics.

It seems that British children have found much simpler workarounds to evade online controls than using a VPN.

Over half of the children surveyed admitted they simply migrate to different platforms, with 37% choosing websites that completely lack age verification and 34% opting for services known to enforce weak, easily tricked checks.

Posing as an adult remains the most common tactic, with roughly 63% of those who bypass checks admitting they pretended to be someone older.

Specifically, 45% do so by giving a false date of birth during self-declaration checks, while a notable minority (11%) use their parents' or relatives' identification details.

The findings follow a stark warning to Downing Street from a coalition of more than 20 tech firms and privacy advocacy groups, which urged policymakers to protect digital rights and ensure that VPN tools remain unrestricted.

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Chiara is a multimedia journalist committed to covering stories to help promote the rights and denounce the abuses of the digital side of life – wherever cybersecurity, markets, and politics tangle up. She believes an open, uncensored, and private internet is a basic human need and wants to use her knowledge of VPNs to help readers take back control. She writes news, interviews, and analysis on data privacy, online censorship, digital rights, tech policies, and security software, with a special focus on VPNs, for Tech Radar and Tech Radar Pro. Got a story, tip-off, or something tech-interesting to say? Reach out to chiara.castro@futurenet.com

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