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Ofcom weighs "further action" on VPNs following Online Safety Act

Date:
Thu, 04 Dec 2025 10:57:37 +0000

Description:
The agency will continue to "collect information about VPN adoption in the 
UK" to inform their decision

FULL STORY

Ofcom has announced today that it will continue to gather information about
VPN use in the UK to help "guide thinking and decisions about whether there 
is a need for further action in this area." 

In its first report on the state of online safety since the introduction of
the Online Safety Act, the agency acknowledges that there has been
"considerable public debate" about young people using VPNs to bypass age
checks. 

The regulator confirmed it will expand its "evidence base" by engaging
directly with youth panels and surveying families on their familiarity with
VPNs. This data will be combined with ongoing monitoring of VPN adoption
trends across the UK. 

Ofcom has also confirmed that its data on daily VPN use is sourced from
Apptopia, an app intelligence platform, after previously refusing to disclose
the source of its data . 

In response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request filed by TechRadar,
Ofcom revealed it has spent close to 500,000 on internet monitoring software
and services since 2022.

Ofcom's information gathering continues 

Alongside its technical monitoring, Ofcom has announced it is launching an
advisory panel with the Childrens Commissioner for England "to hear directly
from children" about their use and experience of the internet. This will
include gathering insights on their use of VPNs. 

Additionally, the agency has added questions on VPNs to its C hildren and
Parents Media Literacy Tracker  a long-running annual survey designed to 
track habits, literacy, and understanding of media in the UK. A report on the
data and analysis from this is expected in May 2026. 

All of these information-gathering exercises are intended to build Ofcom's
"evidence base" and will inform its decision on whether further action on 
VPNs is required and what it considers to be "proportionate." 

TechRadar has reached out to Ofcom to ask whether restrictions could be 
placed on VPNs following this process, but we are yet to hear back from the
agency. FOI reveals internet monitoring spending 

Prior to the publication of Ofcom's report, TechRadar filed a Freedom of
Information (FOI) request to obtain information about how the regulator was
gathering data on VPN use in the UK. In response, the agency revealed it was
accessing data from Apptopia, SimilarWeb, and Ipsos Iris. 

The request also disclosed that Ofcom had spent almost 500,000 on internet
monitoring software and services since 2022, figures that exclude the current
financial year. 

We have reached out to Ofcom regarding its budget for these services in
2025/26 and will update this article when additional information becomes
available.

======================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/ofcom-weighs-further-action
-on-vpns-following-online-safety-act

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