Australia's 'Swiss cheese-like age verification' may lead to a VPN ban — and the whole country's digital safety is on the line

• Australians are turning to VPNs amid new mandatory age verification rules
• Australia's digital rights group argues that VPN users may be the next target
• Restricting VPN could put at risk the country's digital safety, experts warn

Australian digital rights advocates have warned that VPNs could be next on the chopping block, with the country kicking off the second phase of its age verification rollout.

The warning comes as downloads for VPN services have surged in local app stores on Monday, when new age-gating rules on adult-only content took effect.

The spike shows that Australians are searching for ways to protect their sensitive ID data in the face of the risk of what the country's longest-running digital rights organization, Electronic Frontiers Australia, describes as a "Swiss cheese-like age verification" system.

The threats to public privacy and security, however, may only be at the starting point.

Talking to TechRadar, the Chair of Electronic Frontiers Australia, John Pane, argues "there is a reasonably strong possibility" that VPNs may be banned or restricted as a result of that. Something that, he warns, would create "extraordinary privacy, security, and online safety risks" for all.

VPN restrictions — what's at stake?

Virtual private networks (VPNs) are tools used by both individuals and businesses to secure their digital activities from an increasingly data-rich and hacking-ripe online world.

VPNs encrypt internet traffic to make online monitoring more difficult. They also spoof a user's real IP address by rerouting their connections through one of the VPN company's servers — either in the same country or abroad.

The second feature is the reason why Australian authorities could end up restricting their use.

Rather than security and privacy software, VPNs are increasingly viewed as mere circumvention tools that can let minors evade mandatory age checks. Yet, Pane told TechRadar, a ban or restrictions on VPNs would be "a bright red line" not to cross.

He warns that online safety is on the line for the whole nation, outlining the unseen risks to both private citizens and commercial enterprises should a VPN ban come into place.

For children, Pane explains, this could mean pushing them to use insecure free VPN apps. TechRadar recently uncovered that over 75% of all free VPNs on the Android store have questionable personal data practices, and that could easily expose thousands of minors to malware and other malicious tracking.

The need to find different workarounds could also push young people to even darker corners of the web, further endangering their security and privacy.

As for adults, the millions of people entering their age verification details into adult content websites are creating a database of sensitive details that would lead to a large prize for any identity thieves. We have already had a hint of that when Discord's third-party exposed the government-issued ID photos of approximately 70,000 users following a data breach.

Without a VPN to protect any of this information transfer, Pane argues that the problem will only be exacerbated. This is a concern shared by over 400 scientists who have recently called for a moratorium on mandatory age verification globally until a "scientific consensus" is reached regarding the benefits and technical feasibility of such laws.

How likely is it for Australia to restrict VPN usage?

While Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has not announced a direct ban or restrictions on VPNs just yet, the possibility was previously mentioned when these tools began allowing teens to easily bypass the country's under-16s social media ban.

Currently, the guidance from the eSafety Commission is clear — all service providers are expected to take "reasonable steps" to prevent workarounds, which include detecting and restricting the use of VPNs.

Surfshark's Senior Product Manager, Justas Pukys, told TechRadar that these expectations rest "on the false notion" that VPNs are merely 'workarounds' for age gates.

"This misunderstanding ignores the fact that VPNs are essential infrastructure for the security and privacy of millions of Australian citizens and businesses," said Pukys, warning that "attempting to block them is a disproportionate response that treats a fundamental cybersecurity tool as a loophole, creating far-reaching collateral damage that policymakers have not adequately considered."

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