VPNs top App Store charts as Online Safety Act age checks kick in
Virtual private network (VPN) apps have become the most downloaded on Apple's App Store in the UK after sites such as PornHub, Reddit and X began requiring age verification of users on Friday.
It means that people are likely using them to bypass requirements of the Online Safety Act, which mandated platforms with certain adult content to start checking the age of users.
As of Monday morning, half of the top ten free apps in Apple's app download charts in the UK appeared to be for VPN services.
Virtual private networks (VPN) connect users to websites using a remote server and conceal their actual IP address and location, meaning they can circumvent blocks on particular sites or content.
"Many of these free VPNs are riddled with issues," said Daniel Card, a cyber-security expert with the Chartered Institute for IT (BCS).
He told the BBC despite posing a range of potential privacy risks, such apps "end up in the hands of kids trying to watch age-restricted content", or adults "trying to get round blocks".
