Mozilla has told UK regulators that age-gating virtual private networks would undermine a fundamental privacy tool, urging the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to abandon the idea. The intervention comes as the UK government consults on additional measures to prepare young people for digital life, partly in response to users circumventing age assurance systems mandated under the Online Safety Act.

VPNs, Mozilla argues, serve as critical privacy and security tools for users across all ages. By hiding IP addresses, they reduce tracking and help avoid IP-based profiling. Young people are particularly vulnerable to online tracking and targeted advertising, so restricting their access to privacy-protecting technologies works against the stated goal of equipping them to navigate the internet safely.

Mozilla's submission calls on regulators to hold platforms accountable, encourage parental controls, and invest in digital skills rather than pursuing blunt interventions like age-gating VPNs. Online Safety Act requirements have already driven users to circumvent age assurance, and adding VPN restrictions would deepen that tension. Mozilla's stance treats privacy tools as baseline protections, not luxuries to be rationed.