UK VPN interest surges in response to new Online Safety Act
The UK’s new Online Safety Act came into force this week, aimed at protecting youngsters with age verification to access adult and harmful content. However, it’s seen other material being blocked and sparked concern among free speech campaigners about government censorship.
It’s not too surprising then that there’s been a lot of interest in VPNs since the act came into force. VPNMentor has seen a 6,430 percent peak surge in VPN demand since the act’s introduction.
The massive surge lasted around two hours before it started dropping at the end of the day but with spikes of 900 percent up to 4,000 percent the following days. At the same time five VPN providers have reached the top 10 most downloaded apps from Apple’s App Store in the UK. Moreover, Yoti (OnlyFans and Instagram’s third-party age-verification software) has been ranking at fifth place.
This mirrors what has happened in other parts of the world in response to geo-blocking of adult sites or the introduction of age verification rules.
Proton VPN has also reported a 1,400 percent increase in sign ups for its service in the UK. Google search data also shows that UK-based VPN searches have spiked by 160.7 percent in the past week
Searches for ‘government repeal online safety act’ have increased 1,000 percent in the last 24 hours too demonstrating a growing public resistance. A petition on the government website calling for the repeal of the act has gained over 400,000 signatures.
Chelsea Hopkins, head of PR and marketing at UK hosting company Fasthosts says:
With the state of the internet these days, new laws and regulations inevitably have major consequences. While the Online Safety Act is rooted in good intentions, some elements could have been reconsidered prior to rollout. The huge increase in VPN searches demonstrates that there are always workarounds, and in an age where data is incredibly valuable, public concerns over international data storage are justified.
In recent years, with the rise of data sharing and breakthrough technologies such as AI, the conversation around personal data usage has only intensified. When data is stored overseas, it becomes subject to foreign surveillance and weaker privacy protections, increasing the risk of non-compliance, eroding data sovereignty, and putting it at further risk.
Though the UK and EU can technically access data stored overseas, doing so introduces legal complexity and potential vulnerabilities. Requiring users to submit photos, ID documents, and in some cases financial data is a significant leap in terms of data collection. It increases the attack opportunity for hackers and also risks normalizing surveillance-grade data collection under the guise of online safety. The UK government must balance online safety with digital rights, and build the infrastructure to help support both effectively.
Have you been affected by the introduction of the Online Safety Act? Do you use a VPN? Let us know in the comments.
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