Age verification: EU legal advisors warn of circumvention option via VPNs

Contents

The EU's efforts for stricter youth protection in the digital space are heading towards a new conflict: Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). Member states and the EU Commission are currently working at full speed on systems to protect minors online from pornography or gambling. But now, technical tools for circumventing these hurdles are coming into the political spotlight. The European Parliament's Scientific Service (EPRS) warns in a now-published analysis emphatically against a drastic increase in VPN usage to circumvent legally required age checks.

The legal experts of the EU parliamentarians explicitly describe this trend as a “regulatory gap that needs to be closed.” They see this as a significant risk to the effectiveness of future EU laws. Their concern stems from observations in Great Britain and several US states that already have strict online verification requirements. As soon as laws came into force obliging platforms to perform age checks, VPN apps dominated the download charts there, according to the EPRS.

VPNs encrypt data traffic and replace the user's IP address with that of a server in another region, according to the guide that the magazine Cyberinsider has drawn attention to. This can effectively circumvent regional blocks and identity checks. The EPRS background material is not just a status report: it boils down to the question of whether VPN services themselves should be legally obliged in the future to check the age of their users. This would mean providers would have to ensure that their technology is not misused as a tool to circumvent youth protection measures.

Digital anonymity versus duty of control

Such a step would shake the foundations of digital privacy. VPNs are considered essential tools for home office, protection against unauthorized surveillance, and free access to information in authoritarian regimes. Civil rights activists and data protection advocates have long warned in urgent letters to politicians that an identity requirement for VPN providers would significantly weaken online anonymity and create new risks through central data collection. If access to the “encryption tunnel” were only possible by presenting an ID, VPNs would lose their core function as a tool for whistleblowers and journalists.

At the same time, the technical implementation of age verification itself remains a problem area, as the EPRS researchers admit. Just recently, security researchers uncovered flaws in an official demo of the Commission's age verification app.

Politics sometimes turns a deaf ear to such appeals: Utah, for example, has already passed a law that links a user's physical presence beyond the IP address to legally render VPN masking ineffective. At the EU level too, the EPRS indicates that a revision of the EU Cybersecurity Act could include specific requirements to prevent the misuse of VPNs for circumventing legal protection mechanisms.

Brussels' plan for the European identity app

With a recommendation at the end of April, the Commission has taken a proactive step to prevent a patchwork of national solo efforts. By the end of 2026, EU countries are to provide age verification technologies nationwide based on the technical blueprint of the Brussels government institution. This open-source solution is intended to allow users to prove their age without revealing their entire identity. Governments can offer this function either in standalone apps or integrate it directly into the upcoming European digital wallet (EUDI Wallet).

The system relies on data minimization and modern cryptography such as "Zero-Knowledge Proofs.” A user only needs to confirm to a website that they are, for example, over 18 years old, without transmitting their name or place of residence. An official EU framework with lists of trusted providers will ensure that only verified technical solutions are used, which are continuously monitored for their security and conformity.

Doubts about the circumvention narrative

However, there is a gap between the regulatory perception and the actual use of encryption tools, suggests a study by the University of Michigan. According to this study, over 82 percent of respondents primarily use VPNs to protect themselves from general threats by cybercriminals and to secure their privacy. According to the scientists, there is no empirical evidence yet that VPNs are actually being acquired on a large scale and primarily for the purpose of circumventing youth protection filters.

(nen)