277/68 Friday, August 1, 2025
Following the enforcement of the UK’s Online Safety Act, which came into effect last Friday, VPN (Virtual Private Network) usage across the country has skyrocketed. The new law requires websites to strictly verify users’ ages, prompting a massive surge in VPN traffic. According to Top10VPN, VPN usage in the UK on July 25 spiked by 1,327% compared to the daily average over the previous four weeks. The trend continued, rising to 1,712% on July 26, and nearing 2,000% by July 27.
The law mandates that a wide range of online services-not just adult content providers, but also social media platforms, gaming sites, and search engines-must ensure that users are 18 years or older. Guidelines from Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, suggest possible verification methods such as bank record checks, facial matching with ID cards, email analysis, or even age estimation via selfies. While authorities maintain that these methods must comply with data protection laws, many users feel their privacy is under threat.
As a result, both privacy-conscious adults and teenagers seeking to bypass restrictions have turned to VPNs to avoid age checks. Proton VPN reported a 1,400% increase in registrations from UK users. Similarly, Windscribe and AdGuard reported sharp upticks, with AdGuard noting a 60% rise in VPN traffic from the UK-particularly from Android and iOS mobile devices, which saw usage double. Meanwhile, the UK’s Science Minister has stated that VPNs will not be banned, though their use will be closely monitored. Ofcom also revealed that 8% of children aged 8–14 in the UK access pornographic content online monthly, with the figure rising to nearly 20% among boys in that age group.
