- The request for VPN climbed to the United Kingdom from Friday, July 25, 2025
- Proton VPN recorded a + 1400% to an hourly increase in registration on the basic line, from midnight
- All platforms displaying adult content and potentially harmful materials must now apply robust age checks for all users
The request for VPN skyrocketed in the United Kingdom while the British are preparing to work around the checking checks of the new age.
One of the best VPN services on the market, Proton VPN, confirmed to Techradar an hourly increase in registrations of more than 1,400% from Friday July 25, 2025.
This coincides with the requirements of verification of the new age by virtue of the online security law, which forces all the platforms displaying adult content and potentially harmful materials to ensure that users are over 18 years old via robust identity checks.
A spokesperson for Proton VPN told Techradar that an increase in registrations had started immediately at midnight on Friday, with a second peak from 9 a.m. (see graph below).
“We expect to see new increases in the coming days,” said Proton.
Other VPN services are also likely to have recorded a similar increase in demand. Google Trends’s data show that the search for the term “VPN” has shown up through the country since.
Ofcom, the United Kingdom regulator responsible for enforcing the requirements of the new age, however suggests to the use of a VPN.
Speaking to the BBC, the regulator said that it would be illegal for platforms to encourage the use of VPN, while warning parents that their children will not benefit from these protections when using a VPN.
Nevertheless, according to Proton, such a peak in the use of VPN suggests rather that the British are concerned about the implications of confidentiality that these requirements may have.
“This clearly shows that adults are concerned about the impact that universal age verification laws will have on their privacy,” Techradar told Techradar.
Some digital rights experts have raised concerns about how age verification requirements may have a negative impact on people’s privacy and data security.
Age verification is not only for adult content websites. These requirements are ready to modify the way people in the United Kingdom will interact with their applications on social networks, games and meetings, among others.
Confidentiality and VPN experts have previously declared their concerns to Techradar as to the abolition of anonymity on social networks, warning that invasive identity checks can lead to higher monitoring, censorship and data violations.
What is certain is that the compulsory evidence of age controls are now a reality for people in the United Kingdom, with Reddit, Bluesky, X and Grindr having already introduced age verification for users in the United Kingdom. More and more services should follow suit.
