UK online safety rollout faces VPN and privacy challenges, enforcer says
By Patricia Figueiredo ( September 24, 2025, 12:19 GMT | Insight) -- VPN use and privacy standards in age assurance are emerging challenges in the rollout of the UK's Online Safety Act, according to the head of regulator Ofcom. Melanie Dawes told an event that children should not use VPNs to circumvent age verification tools and warned of privacy vulnerabilities from free services. On age assurance tools, she said she would be ready to ask the data protection regulator to intervene over any privacy breaches.Concerns over virtual private networks and privacy standards in age assurance systems are pivotal challenges to the rollout of UK online safety legislation, its chief enforcer has stressed....
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