- Australia’s eSafety Commissioner considers VPN detection a “reasonable step” for tech companies enforcing age limits
- The watchdog notes that service providers must prevent workarounds under new industry codes
- Australia’s position reflects a growing global debate around superannuation and VPNs
Australia’s internet watchdog is keeping a close eye on VPN services as the country steps up efforts to enforce strict online age verification rules.
According to documents obtained by The Guardian under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner expects technology platforms and service providers to actively block solutions that allow users to bypass age-restricted content and social media bans.
The internal documents explicitly describe how the government plans to approach these privacy tools under its illicit material codes and standards. Under the codes, the documents state, “service providers must take reasonable steps to prevent solutions such as VPNs, so eSafety will look at this when considering code compliance.”
For regular web users, this raises a troubling question: could enabling a virtual private network (VPN) to protect your personal data soon mark you as a bypasser?
As cybersecurity protections increasingly find themselves in the crosshairs of child safety regulations, digital privacy advocates are sounding the alarm.
Push for VPN detection
Under the new codes, the Australian Government places the onus squarely on industry providers to prevent the exposure of age-restricted material, defined by regulators as Class 1 and Class 2 material.
Because a VPN encrypts your internet traffic and spoofs your IP address, it can easily make you look like you’re browsing from another country by bypassing local geoblocks and age gates. That’s exactly why VPN downloads skyrocketed after Australia enforced mandatory age verification for adult content last March.
However, the Australian authorities are confident that platforms can counter this.
According to the FOI documents, the government’s ongoing Age Assurance Technology Trial has convinced regulators that network detection is possible. The documents note that “the Department for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts knows that technology companies can tell when a VPN is in use.”
Therefore, the eSafety Commissioner treats the discovery of these tools as a basic requirement. The internal log clarifies that “this is consistent with eSafety’s regulatory guidance for minimum age on social media, where eSafety considers VPN detection a reasonable step to prevent underage users from having an account.”
A global ripple effect?
Australia is far from the only country struggling to strike a balance between child safety laws and the right to online privacy. The debate over whether VPNs should be treated as essential security software or just circumvention tools is heating up around the world.
Recent analysis of Australia’s age verification rules suggests that attempts to close these “loopholes” could seriously compromise the digital security of the wider population. In fact, some experts argue that requiring platforms to actively block VPN connections sets a dangerous precedent for civil liberties.
The ripple effect is already visible across Europe.
As the EU launches its own age verification initiatives, regulators are increasingly signaling that VPNs could be next in line for restrictions. Similarly, the changing role of VPNs in the UK has prompted rigorous discussions about whether incoming social media bans could lead to VPN restrictions.
Ultimately, the eSafety Commissioner’s plan highlights a growing reality: As governments around the world introduce strict mandates for age insurance, child safety measures and VPN use are on a collision course.
Whether ordinary Australians will still be able to freely protect their data on public Wi-Fi without being blocked from their favorite sites remains to be seen.
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