The arrival of age verification in the UK has seen a huge increase in interest surrounding virtual private networks (VPNs). These tools primarily help to resolve one of the biggest concerns surrounding the new measures – privacy.
Over 450,000 Brits have already signed a petition to repeal the bill, and, despite the government confirming it won't be repealed, there've been no signs indicating that the issues will be resolved.
The biggest concerns come from the verification methods themselves. Primarily, since your sensitive personal data is being sent to third parties, it becomes a prime target for interception by cybercriminals.
This risk can be helped by using a VPN. The best VPNs encrypt your online traffic, stopping cybercriminals from being able to access your data before it reaches the verification service.
The five VPNs below offer not only the rock-solid security needed to bolster your trust, but also a host of other features to help secure your data day-to-day.
The best age verification VPNs in 2025
How have experts responded to age verification?
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The sentiment surrounding age verification is widely shared even among experts – while the intentions of the act are good and needed, the implementation brings cause for concern.
Kate Ruane, Director of the Free Expression Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology, explained to TechRadar:
"When apps collect sensitive identifying information like users’ images or drivers’ licenses to comply with age verification laws, they risk this kind of breach [referring to the Tea data breach], which endangers privacy, safety, and dignity. It also chills everyone’s desire to engage in all but the most anondyne conversations online."
Something noted by Jack Buckley, Privacy Advocate and Director of Communications at ExpressVPN, was the risks posed to user privacy by pressuring the impacted sites to comply, saying:
"In practice, the risk of huge fines for noncompliance – and even bigger fines for data breaches – means that organisations are pushing the verification process to third-party processors. While this arguably offloads their exposure in the event of a data breach, it does little to reassure users that their data is safe and secure."
Want to know more? Read "A privacy tradeoff" – privacy experts slam new UK age verification checks
Age verification: frequently asked questions
Is the UK the only region with age verification?
No, after the UK, age verification is spreading to the EU. Although going about it differently, the EU's aims with its new age verification measures are similar; protect children and vulnerable adults from harmful content.
Currently, the EU's method will only be tested in Denmark, Greece, Spain, France, and Italy. However, we don't yet know the full timeline for the rollout of the measures.
How does EU age verification differ to the UK?
The EU is looking to implement age verification rather differently than the UK. In the UK, the website is responsible for the method of verification, age verification system provider, and identifying the content deemed inappropriate. In the EU, the age verification process is all handled within one app, using a select number of secure age verification issuers. T
The app works across any platform requiring proof of age, and the proof provided is one-use-only, meaning your data cannot be tracked between services it has been issued to. What's more, the website or service needing proof only finds out you are of age, and doesn't gain any unnecessary personal information that might otherwise be at risk.
Can a VPN protect your identity against cybercriminals?
Yes, a VPN helps protect your identity from cybercriminals by encrypting your connection to the internet. This makes any information you send unreadable and also untraceable back to your home IP.
