\n<\/p>\n
In the context of age verification laws, however, VPNs are effective. Prominent services like Bluesky and Pornhub have, publicly and reluctantly, withdrawn access in locations with these laws, so it\u2019s hard to imagine that they\u2019ll block access from known VPN servers. However, some organizations, such as the Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA), have pushed for more robust enforcement mechanisms beyond IP geolocation. If services are forced to comply with more restrictive tracking, the effectiveness of a VPN goes down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe approach outlined is that, for example, a social media platform would analyze the content or behaviour of its own users reaching it via a VPN to flag any that were likely to be underage in a jurisdiction that requires age checks,\u201d Iain Corby, executive director at the AVPA, told me via email. \u201cStates must consider the impact of giving VPN users a pass, which is that they are effectively giving up on any attempt to apply the rule of law online.\u201d<\/p>\n
The EFF says it wants to see a different approach, one that’s less focused on restricting access to VPNs and more focused on protecting individual privacy. \u201cVPNs shouldn\u2019t be necessary to access legally protected content in the first place,” Alajaji says. “Their growing use underscores a larger issue: Age-verification laws often erode privacy and digital freedom without effectively achieving their intended goals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Using a VPN to spoof your location and access the internet isn\u2019t illegal in most parts of the world, and any change in legislation on that front would bring forth serious questions about online censorship. Countries like Russia and North Korea infamously have VPN bans in place. Any similar policy from Western states like the US and UK would certainly be met with fierce opposition.<\/p>\n
Age-verification laws are targeted toward providers, not users, and they\u2019re civil liabilities, not crimes. If a company or website operating in a particular state doesn\u2019t comply with the law, that state can sue the provider\u2014most laws in the US put liability at $10,000 per day of noncompliance.<\/p>\n
Using a VPN isn\u2019t illegal. However, performing illegal acts while connected to a VPN is still illegal. If you\u2019re a minor using a VPN to purchase nicotine products or alcohol online, for example, that\u2019s still illegal. Circumventing age verification with a VPN isn\u2019t so that minors can access services they aren\u2019t supposed to; it\u2019s to protect the privacy of users who don\u2019t want to send sensitive information to third-party verification platforms.<\/p>\n
There are some great VPNs out there, but there are a few I\u2019d lean toward if you\u2019re concerned with your online privacy first and foremost. These services all have decent pricing, solid speeds, and stable apps, but privacy takes center stage.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n Courtesy of Proton<\/p>\n Proton VPN is the best VPN for most people. It\u2019s fast, easy to use, and comes with a ton of server locations. I\u2019m recommending it here because Proton has an unconventional approach to the online privacy debacle. The company is a Swedish corporation, but its primary shareholder is The Proton Foundation\u2014a non-profit set up and led by Proton\u2019s founder Andy Yen.<\/p>\n That already sets Proton apart from most VPNs, and it\u2019s backed up by open source apps. For the privacy-conscious, I gravitate toward Proton due to its Secure Core servers. Proton\u2019s network comprises over 15,000 servers, but 112 of those (at the time of writing) are owned and operated entirely by Proton. Those are the Secure Core servers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the context of age verification laws, however, VPNs are effective. Prominent services like Bluesky and Pornhub have, publicly and reluctantly, withdrawn access in locations with these laws, so it\u2019s hard to imagine that they\u2019ll block access from known VPN servers. However, some organizations, such as the Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA), have pushed for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[12775,4098,12774],"class_list":{"0":"post-20792","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-ageverification","9":"tag-laws","10":"tag-vpns"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}