Beyond VPNs: How to Resist Online ID Verification and Protect the Open Internet

A growing trend of government-mandated identity verification for online access is raising significant concerns about privacy, free expression, and the future of the open internet. With the UK set to enforce ID checks for sites with user-to-user pornographic content, and similar laws being upheld in the US and planned in the EU, many are questioning what can be done to resist this shift towards a more controlled digital world.

While the situation has led to a sense of fatalism for some, who believe the open internet is on its deathbed, a number of counter-strategies have emerged, ranging from the political to the technical.

A Political Problem with Technical Dimensions

A core argument is that these are fundamentally political issues that cannot be solved by technology alone. Laws backed by the state's monopoly on force will ultimately override technical workarounds. Therefore, the most durable solution is to get involved politically to represent the interests of a free and open internet. Without active political pushback, legislation that curtails digital freedom is likely to continue unopposed.

Some suggest more extreme personal political statements, such as becoming 'ungovernable' or moving to countries with more favorable laws regarding internet freedom.

Technical and Strategic Solutions

While politics is the long-term battleground, several technical and strategic approaches can be employed now:

The RTA Header Alternative: A promising proposal is to advocate for a change in laws to allow the 'Restricted to Adults' (RTA) header as a sufficient means of age verification. Instead of forcing users to submit ID to a third-party service, a website would simply include an RTA-5042-1996-1400-1577-RTA label in its HTML header. This shifts the burden of filtering to the client side—browsers and operating systems could use this tag to enable parental controls. This protects user privacy by eliminating the need for centralized ID databases, which are prime targets for data breaches.
Strategic Persuasion: A key part of promoting the RTA solution is reminding politicians that centralized ID verification databases will inevitably be hacked. This would expose the personal data and potentially embarrassing online activities of everyone, including the politicians and their families who voted for such systems.
Circumvention Tools: For immediate, personal circumvention, using a VPN is a straightforward way to bypass geo-fenced enforcement of these laws.
Going Underground: The natural consequence of such regulation is that content will be forced underground. This may lead to a resurgence of private, invite-only networks and communities that operate outside the purview of mainstream platforms and regulators, creating a balkanized internet rather than a safer one.