Since the Online Safety Act came into force, the UK has imposed mandatory age verification on many sites deemed sensitive: adult content, unmoderated social networks, forums, video platforms. Access to these sites now requires ID, facial recognition or a bank card. Faced with this intrusive measure, many British Internet users are looking for alternatives. Free VPNs offer a quick and affordable way to bypass this digital censorship and regain free browsing. In this article, we present the best free VPNs for obtaining a foreign IP address, avoiding age restrictions and protecting your privacy.
Online Safety Act: reasons to avoid identity verification on the Internet
Since July 2025, the UK has been implementing the Online Safety Act, a law imposing mandatory age verification on many sites considered potentially “at risk”. This concerns adult platforms, but also certain forums, social networks, streaming services or sites containing violent or sensitive content. To access these sites, users must now provide proof of identity, a bank card or use a facial recognition system.
Such verification raises a number of issues. On the one hand, it represents a major invasion of privacy: providing sensitive personal data to third-party websites entails risks (hacking, data resale, advertising tracking). On the other hand, it automatically blocks access for all users who refuse these methods, even if they are of age, and prevents access to content.
Using a free VPN is a simple and legal solution for bypassing IP address-based controls. By connecting to a server located outside the UK (in France, the Netherlands or the USA, for example), you obtain a foreign IP and thus escape the geolocation filter set up by the sites concerned. Today, this is one of the most accessible ways to get back to free browsing, without having to prove your identity.
The best free VPNs for bypassing age verification on PCs
A free VPN (Virtual Private Network) works on the same principle as a paid VPN: it encrypts your Internet connection and masks your real IP address by connecting you to a remote server. In concrete terms, when you activate a VPN and choose a country (France, the Netherlands or the USA, for example), your traffic passes through this server as if you were physically present in that country. This gives you a new, foreign IP address, enabling you to bypass the geographical restrictions and age verification imposed in the UK.
ProtonVPN Free: the best unlimited free VPN for bypassing blockades
ProtonVPN Free is one of the few completely free VPNs to offer unlimited data usage, no advertising and no credit cards. Developed by the creators of ProtonMail, this Swiss service puts privacy at the heart of its model. It offers military-grade encryption (AES-256), a strict no-logs policy and its source code is open source and regularly audited. As soon as you install it, you can connect to servers outside the UK (in the USA, the Netherlands and Japan) to bypass geographical restrictions and regain free access to age-verified sites.
ProtonVPN’s free offer is ideal for browsing anonymously, securing a public connection or bypassing IP address-related blocks. However, it does not allow P2P downloads or streaming on platforms such as Netflix, making it less suitable for multimedia use. Users can only connect one device at a time and have access to only three countries, but the stability and reliability of the service more than compensate for these limitations.
ProtonVPN doesn’t sell your data, inject ads or aggressively push you towards a paid version. The application (Windows, macOS, Linux or mobile) is simple to use and features an integrated kill switch to ensure that your real IP address is never exposed. For UK Internet users wishing to bypass age verification without compromising on security, ProtonVPN Free is a trusted, free and digital rights-friendly option.
Windscribe Free: up to 10 GB free per month to surf anonymously
Windscribe Free is a free VPN with a flexible offer based on your registration. By default, users are allocated 2 GB of data per month, with no need to provide an e-mail address or credit card. This quota can be increased to 10 GB per month simply by confirming an e-mail address, or even increased further by performing small actions (sharing the service on Twitter). The VPN gives access to around ten countries, including France, Germany, the Netherlands and the USA to obtain a foreign IP address and bypass age verification in the UK.
Windscribe stands out for its serious no-log policy, built-in tracker blocker (R.O.B.E.R.T.) and strong encryption (AES-256). The application is available on Windows and macOS, easy to use and ad-free. Although not suitable for streaming or mass downloading in its free version, it offers a privacy-friendly solution for browsing anonymously and avoiding restrictions based on IP geolocation.
Hide.me Free: Unlimited free VPN to bypass age verification
Hide.me Free is a serious free VPN that stands out for its unlimited data usage and total absence of advertising, even without registration. It provides access to 8 countries, including France, the Netherlands, Germany, the USA and the UK, making it easy to connect to a foreign IP and bypass age verification imposed in certain regions. The application is easy to install on Windows or macOS, with a clear interface and a quick login button. No credit card or account creation is required to start using it.
When it comes to confidentiality, Hide.me applies a strict no-logs policy. It records neither your activity, nor your DNS requests, nor your real IP address. Encryption is military-grade (AES-256), and security features include a kill switch, DNS leak protection and compatibility with OpenVPN, IKEv2 and WireGuard protocols. This is one of the few free VPNs to offer a stable, fast and privacy-friendly connection for users wishing to surf anonymously and without volume constraints.
PrivadoVPN Free: Free Swiss VPN to get a foreign IP
PrivadoVPN Free is a free offer from a Swiss provider renowned for its strict no-logs policy. With no credit card required, users benefit from 10 GB of data per month, with access to over 10 countries, including France, the USA, the Netherlands and Germany. This VPN is particularly effective for bypassing age verification in the UK, by connecting to a foreign server and thus masking one’s real IP address. The application is available on Windows and macOS, with a quick and easy-to-use interface.
Despite its free package, PrivadoVPN allows P2P downloads, offers good connection speeds, and sometimes manages to unblock streaming services like Netflix. Encryption is at AES-256 level, and protocols include WireGuard, OpenVPN and IKEv2. Once the 10 GB limit has been reached, the connection remains active, but in ultra-bridged mode. For moderate use (browsing, short videos, social networking), this is a reliable, discreet and high-performance free solution.
Tor: a free alternative to VPNs for escaping British censorship
The Tor network (The Onion Router) is a free technology that lets you surf the Internet anonymously by routing your connection through several encrypted relays around the world. Unlike a VPN, which gives you a single foreign IP address, Tor takes you through several successive nodes, making it difficult to trace your origin. It’s the tool of choice for bypassing geographic restrictions, censorship or surveillance attempts, as is the case in the UK since the introduction of the Online Safety Act.
Using the Tor browser, you access the web with a randomly assigned non-British IP (often outside the UK), which in most cases is enough to bypass the filters set up by the sites. Tor requires no complicated configuration, no accounts, and works without registration, ads or data limits.
Is it legal to use a VPN to bypass age verification?
In the UK, using a VPN is perfectly legal. There’s nothing in the law to prevent you from masking your IP address or simulating a connection from abroad. Millions of Internet users use VPNs every day to secure their connection, preserve their privacy or bypass geographical restrictions, and this is permitted as long as the use remains legal.
As far as age verification is concerned, circumventing it is not in itself illegal if you are over 18. What is illegal, however, is providing false information or impersonating a person to access content prohibited to minors. Similarly, using a VPN to access illegal or explicitly prohibited content remains an offence, whether you’re using a VPN or not.
It’s important to remember that the main aim of theOnline Safety Act is to protect minors from unsuitable content. If you use a VPN to preserve your privacy or refuse to transmit sensitive data, that’s your right. But it’s essential to do so responsibly, and not to facilitate access by minors to filtered content.
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About the author
Adrien Piron
