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Utah Bans VPNs for Age Verification
5 May
Summary
- Utah is the first state to prohibit VPN use to bypass age verification.
- Websites will be held liable for users masking their location in Utah.
- Privacy advocates fear this could lead to a blanket ban on VPNs.
Starting Wednesday, Utah will become the first U.S. state to ban the use of VPNs for avoiding age-verification measures online. Senate Bill 73 establishes that any website allowing individuals to mask their location within Utah will be held legally responsible. For age-verification purposes, anyone connecting through a Utah-based VPN will be treated as if they are physically present in the state.
This legislation represents a major U.S. initiative to regulate VPN usage in the context of age-restricted content. Privacy organizations have raised concerns that this approach could result in a widespread prohibition of VPN services. They suggest that to comply with the law, websites might resort to blocking all known VPN IP addresses or imposing age verification on all global users.
This development follows similar legislative proposals in Wisconsin and Michigan. Internationally, Australia and the UK have recently introduced age-verification systems aimed at restricting access to potentially harmful online material. However, reports indicate that such measures have faced challenges, with some children reportedly finding ways to bypass them.
