In the weeks after 9/11, the then Republican controlled Congress and presidency pushed for a surveillance state. All in the name of public protection against Islamic extremists. Over a quarter of a century later, the same groups are using “keep our children safe” and the new banner. Much like what it was back then, it was never about keeping children or the citizens safe. Age verification laws, with Democrats support, are making their way across the country. Some states are going after things that protect citizens. A Utah law targets VPNs goes into effect this week.
With many states running age verification laws, this requires people to verify their ages to companies. Leading to a host of privacy concerns. Not just for the citizens but the protection of their own personal information. Utah Senate Bill 73, the state’s Online Age Verification Amendments legislature. It goes into effect May 6. This will make Utah the first US state with age verification laws that specifically target VPN use.
Websites with “a substantial portion of material harmful to minors” will be required to check users’ ages. The shitty thing about this is the site is still on the hook if users get around it with a VPN. It is similar to if you protect your business as much as you can to prevent thieves from getting in. Somehow they manage to, and you are penalized for them doing so.
Utah law targets VPNs with nearly global penalties
“An individual is considered to be accessing the website from this state if the individual is actually located in the state, regardless of whether the individual is using a virtual private network,” the bill reads, going on to state that affected websites also can’t give instructions on how to use a VPN.
In a statement shared with TechRadar, NordVPN said reliably identifying and blocking Utah-based VPN users trying to bypass age verification would be “technically impossible” and creates a “liability trap” for affected businesses.
“The legal risk could push the site to either ban all known VPN IPs, or to mandate age verification for every visitor globally,” The Electronic Frontier Foundation said of the law. “This would subject millions of users to invasive identity checks or blocks to their VPN use, regardless of where they actually live.”
Again, this isn’t about protecting children. This is about collecting information about the public at large. Many companies thrive on data collection and selling it to third-party companies. Remember when all American social media companies claimed TikTok was a threat. Since information went to a Chinese owned company. Yet, American companies did what they claimed Chinese companies did. Yet, no one knew who American social media companies were selling that information too.
This was something many pundits said would happen. VPNs protect the individual from being tracked. The government would eventually go after that. However, with the current router ban, the Trump Administration could create situations that will only allow access if they gain access.
