UK Age Assurance Regime Generates Five Million Daily Checks as VPN Apps Surge

The UK's Online Safety Act age verification requirements are generating five million additional age checks daily, yet are triggering a measurable rise in VPN app adoption as users route around the controls. VPN apps topped UK App Store charts in mid-2025. The government has confirmed VPNs remain legal, creating a structural tension: technically sound controls are trivially bypassed by teenagers installing free VPN services, which security researchers have flagged carry their own data and malware risks.