- Privacy tech advocates urge UK to “do no harm to the open web”.“
- It comes as the Child Wellbeing and Schools Bill became law.
- A national consultation on online harm is also underway
A coalition of digital rights groups and privacy-minded tech developers is urging the UK government “not to harm the open web”.
Nineteen organizations, including some of the best VPN services – Proton, Mullvad, ExpressVPN and IPVanish – Mozilla, the Tor Project and privacy advocates, like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, published an open letter on Tuesday (May 5) to speak directly to policymakers.
The coalition warns that, while trying to answer pressing questions about child safety and online harm, UK policymakers are making “heavy-handed policy interventions”, including banning access to some online services.
These measures, according to the signatories, “will do little to improve young people’s online experience, but on the contrary will harm the Web and undermine human rights.”
The outcry comes as the controversial Child Welfare and Schools Bill became law last week. The law introduces new online restrictions for young people, as well as a requirement for service providers to take “reasonable anti-circumvention measures”.
The government has also launched a national consultation on online harm – open until May 26, 2026 – arguing that VPNs can be age-restricted if the consultation found these tools guilty of undermining online security protections.
Child Welfare and Schools Act: Why experts are concerned
Under the Child Wellbeing and Schools Act, the Secretary of State will now have the power to introduce regulations requiring internet service providers to prevent or limit children’s access to specific services or features. These restrictions may include screen time, location sharing, etc.
According to digital rights and privacy technology experts, such an approach is flawed because it fails to ensure that online services are designed to uphold the rights and interests of children by default.
Furthermore, experts believe that access restrictions could endanger people’s privacy and security. all to Internet users by requiring that everyone verify their age.
“Existing age assurance technologies are either insufficiently accurate, undermine privacy and data security, or are not widely available across all populations,” the letter states, with experts warning that age verification mandates could also “risk cementing the dominance” of big tech giants.
This isn’t the first time the privacy tech world has sounded the alarm against widespread age verification laws.
Last week, Proton CEO and founder Andy Yen called global age verification “the death of online anonymity.” Earlier in March, more than 400 scientists also called for a halt to mandatory age verification until there is a “scientific consensus” that such a practice does not create more harm than good.
The “VPN loophole”
Beyond age verification and new online restrictions, the signatories are particularly concerned about efforts to close what is considered the “VPN loophole.” This is the idea that VPN services are used as a evasion tool to bypass mandatory age checks.
VPNs, however, are essential privacy and security tools that people use every day to mitigate harm online. “Restricting the use of privacy-preserving technologies undermines efforts to enable users to browse the web securely and develop their digital literacy,” Mozilla said.
Even though Lord’s initial idea of outright banning VPNs for children didn’t make it into the final text, the law still includes a requirement for service providers to take “reasonable anti-circumvention measures.”
The fate of VPNs is not yet decided. New restrictions could be introduced following the ongoing online safety consultation.
On April 23, the VPN Trust Initiative released a statement warning UK lawmakers that VPN restrictions could expose children to “greater harm.” Other groups, including Mozilla, are expected to share other positions in the coming days.
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