2025 has been notable—if not revolutionary—for the UK’s privacy in both regulation and tech departments: the UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA) and its age assurance rules are already in force, and Whitehall has started pushing a program for UK digital ID cards—GOV.UK Wallet—that ministers say will (at the very least) be used for things like right-to-work checks.
What does this mean for users, platforms, and the UK internet? And—the obvious question—can a VPN save you? Let’s unpack it.
The Online Safety Act: Where Age Verification Is Already Required
The Online Safety Act comprises the UK’s age verification law and grants Ofcom (the Office of Communications), the UK’s regulator for communication services, authority to protect children online. One of the Act’s key pieces—the duty on providers displaying pornography—came into force in January 2025, and Ofcom published guidance on “highly effective” age assurance to stop children from encountering adult content. Ofcom doesn’t mandate a single technology, listing “facial age estimation, credit card payment walls, and safe-for-work landing pages” among acceptable approaches.
Aside from the adult content, the Act applies to “search services and services that allow users to post content online or to interact with each other,” which is a pretty broad scope. Moreover, it doesn’t only apply to UK-based services but to all services “capable of being accessed by UK users.” Should Ofcom rule a platform’s content harmful, it can impose a fine of up to £18 million or 10% of global annual turnover, whichever is higher, and/or get access blocked.
The UK’s Mandatory Digital ID Plan: What the Government Is Proposing
So what is a digital ID in the UK? Digital ID cards in the UK will be part of the government’s GOV.UK Wallet project: a state-backed app to store verified documents and issue verified credentials that confirm certain facts about the holder (like their name or age) for use in public and private services. The Wallet is already being piloted for veteran cards and driving licenses, with plans to expand.
Lawmakers have signaled that the digital ID in the UK will be required for right-to-work checks by the end of this Parliament in 2029. At the same time, the government promises that the use of the Wallet won’t be universally mandatory and that the UK digital ID system will include offline and accessible options for people who can’t or won’t use smartphones.
So, is the UK making digital ID mandatory for everything? Not exactly. While the UK government digital ID plan encourages a broad scope of public and private services to rely on GOV.UK Wallet, at the first stage it only mentions checking a person’s eligibility to work in the country as the mandatory use case.
How the Digital ID Could Be Used Online
With the full-scale UK digital ID rollout planned across the decade, the government and industry are already sketching potential use cases:
- Right-to-work and employment checks: Employers may be required to verify digital ID before hiring.
- Public service access: Pensions, benefits, council, and healthcare services could start accepting Wallet attestations.
- Age assurance for platforms: Social media and adult sites may integrate digital ID for reliable age verification.
- Monetization and creator verification: Platforms may demand verified identities for payouts and anti-fraud measures.
- Regulated activities: Gambling, financial services, and other high-risk sectors could also start requiring government-backed attestations.
The main catch here is that even if initial mandates are narrow, the potential for broader adoption is massive—and that’s quite disturbing.
Risks and Impacts on Users and the UK Internet
This is the part people get anxious about—and for good reason.
Privacy & scope. What starts as a specific check (age or right to work) can quickly evolve into a default for many common services—platforms can prefer them if they decide UK digital ID cards are the easy route for verification, which will make their use a de facto necessity.
💡 Quick tip: Age Verification & Digital ID: A 2025 Privacy Reality Check
Security & breaches. Centralized systems and big verification vendors are attractive targets. A breach could leak sensitive data—and you won’t be able to “reset” leaked biometrics.
Exclusion & access. Not everyone has a smartphone, current documents, or 24-hour internet access. Refugees, older adults, and low-income people risk being left out unless the rollout includes offline and assisted verification methods.
Anonymity & journalism. The implementation of a mandatory digital ID in the UK can make it harder for sources, activists, and whistleblowers to stay safe. Such obligatory checks can change the calculus for anonymous speech and investigative reporting.
VPNs: What They Can (And Can’t) Do
The VPN market is now at an all-time high. VPNs remain legal in the UK and are useful tools for network-level privacy. They hide your IP address and can make you appear to be in another country, which is handy for geoblocks and accessing region-restricted content. Tor can do even better at origin-hiding for sensitive browsing. But neither of them can stop a website or app from asking you for an ID, a selfie, or a GOV.UK Wallet attestation.
💡 Quick tip: Types of VPN Explained: How Each Works and Which Is Best for You
Remember that using a VPN to try to evade legally required checks may violate platform terms and could trigger enforcement or technical blocks.
What UK Users Should Do Now
The UK digital ID plans are moving fast. If implemented right (selective disclosure, tight retention, accessible alternatives), the use of UK digital ID cards can be less risky—but will still bite off a bit (or a chunk) of our privacy. But you can still do something:
- Read platform privacy and age-assurance policies before you upload ID. Know what a service will store and for how long.
- Prefer attribute-only attestations where offered. GOV.UK Wallet is intended to offer that model—check whether a platform accepts it.
- Use a reputable VPN for network privacy and to bypass geographical restrictions, but don’t rely on it to defeat identity checks.
💡 Quick tip: How to Set Up a VPN at Home (Beginner-Friendly Guide)
- Prepare for change: Employers, banks, and regulated services may start asking for a digital ID soon, so keep an eye on UK digital ID news to prepare in advance and plan how and when you’ll share sensitive documents.
FAQs
Are VPNs legal in the UK?
Yes. VPNs are legal and widely used for privacy and business. They can hide your location and bypass geoblocks, but they don’t stop sites from asking for ID.
Do I have to show ID to use social media?
Not universally. It depends on the platform and the use case: in the UK, you don’t have to show your ID to use social media (yet), but in Australia, several U.S. states, and some other countries, major platforms already require passing age verification using various methods, including digital ID.
Will digital ID be mandatory for all internet use?
Not in the near future. Current plans aim primarily for right-to-work checks while keeping many other uses voluntary. However, it’s a work in progress, and details and timelines are still being finalized.
