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Ask HN: How many people got VPNs in response to laws like UK Online Safety Act?

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Re: Ask HN: How many people got VPNs in response to laws like UK Online Safety Act?

#41

Post by acomjean »

chaz6 wrote: post #33

I am in the UK, and I work for a combined FNO/ISP (a company that owns and operates both the access network and the internet service). It makes me angry that corporations and governments are ruining what was once a thriving network that allowed people to communicate freely with one another. I hope that we will be able to save what remains before it's completely out of our control. My fear is that eventually all devic…

>My fear is that eventually all devices will be required to have a government-mandated backdoor installed,

They tried to have the back door mandated with the Clipper chip. Governments will try again.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper_chip

Re: Ask HN: How many people got VPNs in response to laws like UK Online Safety Act?

#42

Post by bitcoinmoney »

nomilk wrote: post #39

I got a VPN in preparation for Australia's (even more draconian) "age verification" laws (those take effect in 4 days). But what I'd really love (startup idea!?) is an app that let's you map websites to countries and it handles tunnelling that domain's traffic through the selected country's VPN. For example, I'd like to view Reddit, YouTube, X, Facebook, Instagram and social media apps from a US IP (to avoid Australi…

How much would you pay for that app?

Re: Ask HN: How many people got VPNs in response to laws like UK Online Safety Act?

#43

Post by kneel25 »

latexr wrote: post #12

> How many other people have done the same? For your own personal sake, you may be selfishly wishing it’s as few people as possible. Eventually they’ll outlaw VPNs too and by then you’ll have little recourse. You can’t hide behind them forever, deeper change is needed.

I don't know why people immediately have this thought, outlawing VPNs achieves virtually nothing in the UK. An adult bypassing an age check is irrelevant; underage users are at least mature enough to know what a VPN is - not the main target of the act. And there's virtually no real anonymity; hiding from your ISP doesn't make you untraceable. So why would they even consider it?

Re: Ask HN: How many people got VPNs in response to laws like UK Online Safety Act?

#44

Post by aprilnya »

nomilk wrote: post #39

I got a VPN in preparation for Australia's (even more draconian) "age verification" laws (those take effect in 4 days). But what I'd really love (startup idea!?) is an app that let's you map websites to countries and it handles tunnelling that domain's traffic through the selected country's VPN. For example, I'd like to view Reddit, YouTube, X, Facebook, Instagram and social media apps from a US IP (to avoid Australi…

I’ve seen people do this on the router level with a proxy, with imgur being the example - all other traffic just went as normal but imgur traffic was sent through a VPN.

However it was a very complicated setup with many parts and a home server so I would definitely like to see a proper app built around this that just handles everything for you.

Re: Ask HN: How many people got VPNs in response to laws like UK Online Safety Act?

#45

Post by nomilk »

bitcoinmoney wrote: post #42
nomilk wrote: post #39

I got a VPN in preparation for Australia's (even more draconian) "age verification" laws (those take effect in 4 days). But what I'd really love (startup idea!?) is an app that let's you map websites to countries and it handles tunnelling that domain's traffic through the selected country's VPN. For example, I'd like to view Reddit, YouTube, X, Facebook, Instagram and social media apps from a US IP (to avoid Australi…

How much would you pay for that app?

I currently pay $10/month for ProtonVPN, so at least that much.

Re: Ask HN: How many people got VPNs in response to laws like UK Online Safety Act?

#46

Post by badgersnake »

afandian wrote: post #27
amiga386 wrote: post #19

I was already using Tor Browser for sites that UK ISPs are banned from letting me access. I continue to use Tor Browser for entirely innocuous sites that are collateral damage of the OSA. For example, the Interactive Fiction Archive. All its game files are voluntarily blocked in the UK by its well-meaning but stupid operators. Even games intended for children. They should stop complying and just serve up all their fi…

Not only your government. The Conservatives who proposed it. Labour who provided no opposition. But most importantly Ofcom, who comprehensively failed to implement a competent and reasonable solution. Everyone could have done a lot better, and could have achieved the stated aims without so much damage.

Labour actively supported it and still do. I got this from my Labour MP:

The UK has a strong tradition of safeguarding privacy while ensuring that appropriate action can be taken against criminals, such as child sexual abusers and terrorists. I firmly believe that privacy and security are not mutually exclusive—we can and must have both.

The Investigatory Powers Act governs how and when data can be requested by law enforcement and other relevant agencies. It includes robust safeguards and independent oversight to protect privacy, ensuring that data is accessed only in exceptional cases and only when necessary and proportionate.

The suggestion that cybersecurity and access to data by law enforcement are at odds is false. It is possible for online platforms to have strong cybersecurity measures whilst also ensuring that criminal activities can be detected.

Re: Ask HN: How many people got VPNs in response to laws like UK Online Safety Act?

#47

Post by aprilnya »

> 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.

> Proton VPN, an app offered by Swiss privacy tech firm Proton, told the BBC it had seen a 1800% spike in UK daily sign-ups over the weekend after age check rules took effect on Friday.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn72ydj70g5o

Re: Ask HN: How many people got VPNs in response to laws like UK Online Safety Act?

#48

Post by squishington »

aprilnya wrote: post #44
nomilk wrote: post #39

I got a VPN in preparation for Australia's (even more draconian) "age verification" laws (those take effect in 4 days). But what I'd really love (startup idea!?) is an app that let's you map websites to countries and it handles tunnelling that domain's traffic through the selected country's VPN. For example, I'd like to view Reddit, YouTube, X, Facebook, Instagram and social media apps from a US IP (to avoid Australi…

I’ve seen people do this on the router level with a proxy, with imgur being the example - all other traffic just went as normal but imgur traffic was sent through a VPN. However it was a very complicated setup with many parts and a home server so I would definitely like to see a proper app built around this that just handles everything for you.

Openwrt with the policy based routing package can do this, and is simple to set up.

Re: Ask HN: How many people got VPNs in response to laws like UK Online Safety Act?

#49

Post by cedws »

aprilnya wrote: post #47

> 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. > Proton VPN, an app offered by Swiss privacy tech firm Proton, told the BBC it had seen a 1800% spike in UK daily sign-ups over the weekend after age check rules took effect on Friday. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn72ydj70g5o

Last I checked, many of the top free VPNs on the App Store were dodgy no-name ones that probably funnel traffic through Russia. Well done UK government you saved the children.
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