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Coalition warns age-gating VPNs weaken security, urges UK repeal

7/15/2026

Summary

Story summary

A coalition of twenty groups warned that age-gating VPNs would weaken security and offer little child protection.
The Open Rights Group’s letter, signed by Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mozilla, ExpressVPN, Internet Society, Mullvad, Proton and Tor, urged ministers to reject age verification and VPN restrictions.
Government data showed only 7-10% of 11-17-year-olds used VPNs to bypass age checks, prompting the letter to recommend platform enforcement, parental controls, digital-literacy and privacy-by-design safeguards.

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Story summary

A coalition of twenty groups warned that age-gating VPNs would weaken security and offer little child protection.
The Open Rights Group’s letter, signed by Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mozilla, ExpressVPN, Internet Society, Mullvad, Proton and Tor, urged ministers to reject age verification and VPN restrictions.
Government data showed only 7-10% of 11-17-year-olds used VPNs to bypass age checks, prompting the letter to recommend platform enforcement, parental controls, digital-literacy and privacy-by-design safeguards.