The news: The UK’s Online Safety Act triggered an immediate surge in virtual private network (VPN) downloads, reflecting public resistance to mandatory age checks, per Wired.

• Proton VPN reported a 1,400% spike in UK sign-ups after the law took effect, per PCMag, and NordVPN saw purchases jump 1,000%. 
• iOS VPN downloads are up 100% daily, and five VPN apps are in Apple’s UK app store top 10, according to Sensor Tower data cited by Wired.

The big picture: VPNs have evolved from tools for accessing location-gated entertainment to navigating age checks and protecting online anonymity.

We expected age-check laws to strain advertising reach and strategy—but the spike in VPN use strikes at the heart of digital advertising itself and muddles targeting, attribution, and personalization.

• For marketers in the UK, the fallout is immediate. VPNs scramble user data and obscure location—making it harder to reach the right audience or measure performance. 
• Age-gating pushes even compliant users toward circumvention, not engagement. Platforms reliant on IP-based targeting or behavioral signals find themselves flying blind.

This is just the beginning: This isn’t a UK-only issue. As age-verification laws gain traction globally—California’s SB 976 is one example—VPN use could accelerate in other regions too, fracturing global ad strategies and fragmenting consumer insights across markets.

As less reliable data reduces campaign precision, high-intent users or those looking to purchase look like anonymous traffic. This also scrambles attribution, so marketers can’t track who saw what or who converted.

Key stats: About 75 million Americans use VPNs to improve online privacy and security, per Security.org—a number that could increase substantially. Fifty-two percent of US adults use a VPN to protect their IP address, and 47% use it to keep activity private, per CNET.

Potential workarounds: Marketers can adapt through contextual advertising or by targeting content instead of users. Brands that build trust through privacy-forward messaging can retain loyalty even as tracking tools fail.

Our take: Age-check laws, though designed to protect minors, are reshaping how all users interact with content—and how marketers can access these users. 

VPN adoption is both a privacy signal and a marketing blind spot. Brands that respect digital autonomy while adapting strategy will be best positioned to reach—and keep—their audience.