UK households could face VPN 'ban' after use skyrockets following Online Safety Bill
Submitted 2 weeks ago by themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/uk-households-could-face-vpn-32152789
Comments
0x0@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
samus12345@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Just needs a Union Jack on his hat and the wrapping paper and “UK” in place of “US” on the box.
mannycalavera@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
the Government must identify those issues and find solutions, rather than avoiding difficult problems
The government: Parents have you tried being a parent to your children?
Parents: Oh lord no that’s too difficult can’t you just, I don’t know lol, ban it or something?
Saleh@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
In my English textbook, ca. 2007 there was a comic of a child in a cage hanging outside the house. The father told the neighbor something like “This way they get out of the house, without causing trouble.”
I think that hit quite well, what many consider parenting in the UK.
JcbAzPx@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Those child cages were real. They would attach to a window similar to AC units today.
Wooki@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
This government literally can’t afford to fuck about wasting money yet here they are. Proving they are imposters failing the country.
jabjoe@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
This ends with just another war on encryption.
When encryption is legal, they can’t know what is going on between two points. They going to make is so we can only have encryption to nodes they trust?
It is dangerously technologically illiterate to wage war on encryption.
DacoTaco@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Jokes on you, e2e encryption is already banned in some cases in the uk afaik. Hence apple dropping some cloud services
jabjoe@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
Easy enough to do when it’s mega corps. They don’t really care about anything but money. If everyone had self hosted services with e2e, be far harder. Encryption is everywhere now.
So they will go after the end points. Which again, is a battle they can’t win. All very Cory Doctorow’s “Unauthorized Bread”.
If you care about this stuff:
UK: action.openrightsgroup.org/make-one-donation US: www.eff.org/pages/donate-eff EU: my.fsfe.org/donate
There will be others too, those are just in my head’s cache.
Some how we need to get governments to listen to us serfs instead mega corps and authoritarian police/spooks.
The world they want is not only terrible for digital and political freedom, but competition, thus functioning markets. It’s terrible for making developers and makers instead of dumb consumers, which in turn, is terrible for technology and progress.
DeathsEmbrace@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
If I was black hatter I would be looking at these people like they just dropped a golden goose.
Flamekebab@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Best of luck with that, idiots. How are you planning to tell the difference between my personal VPN and my work VPN?
then_three_more@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Next step: ban on remote work.
Digestive_Biscuit@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
It’s not just remote work. All our manufacturing sites use to VPN connections data centres. It would cripple manufacturing on an epic scale if they were instabanned.
kingofras@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Well we just fire you, and the one you’re still using then must be your personal one!
neon_nova@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
He means, how is the government supposed to tell the difference between personal and work vpns.
snowfalldreamland@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Either just banning remote work or more realistically you’ll need a permit for running a vpn server. Permit pricing starting at 100k a year
AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
How many small businesses can afford such permit? Hell, I’d argue that even bigger companies will have a problem paying for that.
Also, what if I just connect to a vps overseas and set my exit point there? Will they ban vps too? This is gonna be so much fun to see from the outside
als@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
They wouldn’t consider such rational things
Damage@feddit.it 2 weeks ago
What about the VPN I have to my home?
muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
If they outlaw VPNs then all internet-connected businesses will flee and everyone will just move to the dark net. Then you’ve got a whole other problem.
These ancient tyrants are in over their heads.
misteloct@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Selfishly, I think this is great for I2P/Snowflake/Tor. The incoming legitimate traffic helps to protect all users.
Pacattack57@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Honest question but what makes you think that would happen? Do most businesses use VPNs?
skisnow@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
VPNs are one of the core security measures of all large companies.
VPNs aren’t just a “hide your IP” tool, they’re a way of giving someone access to an organisation’s internal network. Sensitive servers such as databases, wikis, scheduling tools etc don’t have publicly exposed IPs, they only have connections that are accessible from inside that VPN. See also en.wikipedia.org/…/Defense_in_depth_(computing)
Mamdani_Da_Savior@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I have never worked for a company that didn’t utilize VPNs.
itsprobablyfine@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
I work in consulting. I have a VPN for my company and also for each client
muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Damn near every business uses VPN technology. They literally cannot exist in the modern world without it. It would be incredibly expensive and impractical to do without.
ArtVandelay@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I have no less than 7 VPNs installed on my work laptop, and I work for one single company.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The UK has long championed writing legislative checks that their emaciated state infrastructure can’t cash.
LinyosT@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
If they do outlaw it will likely be banned solely for non-business use for this reason alone.
muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
If only I could start my own business….
arc99@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It would have been smarter for the UK to mandate that every ISP must provide a family filter for free as part of their service. Something that is optional and can be turned on or off by the account holder but allows parents to set filters (and curfews) if they want.
SpaceCadet@feddit.nl 2 weeks ago
The problem is that content filters don’t work all that well in the age of https everywhere. I mean, you can block the pornhub.com domain, that’s fairly straightforward … but what about reddit.com which has porn content but also legitimately non-porn content. Or closer to home: any lemmy instance.
I think it would be better if politicians stopped pearl clutching and realized that porn perhaps isn’t the worst problem in the world. Tiktok and influencer brainrot, incel and manosphere stuff, rage baiting social media, etc. are all much worse things for the psyche of young people, and they’re doing exactly jack shit about that.
ErmahgherdDavid@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
They know. The “think of the children” angle is just cover to enrage the tabloid readers and to be used as a straw man against anyone criticisng the law (“you’re a pedophile”). The real purpose is “let’s enumerate the IDs of everyone who uses the internet for anything we don’t like” and “let’s censor anything we don’t like starting with LGBTQ content”
arc99@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
That’s a problem is for ISPs and content providers to figure out. I don’t see why the government has to care other than laying out the ground rules - you must offer and implement a parental filter for people who want it for free as part of your service. If ISPs have to do deep packet inspection and proxy certs for protected devices / accounts then that’s what they’ll have to do.
As far as the government is concerned it’s not their problem. They’ve said what should happen and providing the choice without being assholes to people over 18 who are exercising their rights to use the internet as they see fit.
uriel238@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
The new Christian nationalist orders are not so patient. Even Charles X of France rolled back rights too speedily, sparking public outcry resulting in Parisian haircuts. (a bit off the top 🪟🔪)
SCOTUS used to be sneakier, carving out sections of fourth- and fifth-amendment protections, but since Dobbs the Federalist Society Six have tossed subtlety and reason to the wind and now adjudicate away rights based on vibe and conservative rhetoric grievance.
Hopefully the US and UK both will recognized why the French public was swift to act when manarchists took shears to the Napoleonic Code.
obvs@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Lots of ridiculous-looking people in politics today. They could use some haircuts.
OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
The problem is that they’re not trying to protect kids. They’re trying to be like China where ever user has to identify themselves so they can be tracked across the internet.
dogs0n@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Crazy because every (isp provided) router I have used has these options. They probably aren’t 100% correct all the time, but it would be good enough for children (even though you shouldn’t rely soley on filters to replace watching your kid).
archiduc@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Exactly. This was turned down on on my professional phone so that was always an option.
HexesofVexes@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
That sounds a bit like fear mongering from Reform: a VPN is safety 101 when using public networks, and most businesses make use of VPNs to secure their data. They are also a key component if WFH (you use the company VPN).
If Labour are stupid enough to go after VPN usage, I suspect it would guarantee their loss at the next election.
DJDarren@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
Eh, I dunno. The vast majority have no idea what a VPN is. If a VPN ban benefits Rupert fucking Murdoch then the tabloids will wang on about how they’re used by paedophiles and people smugglers and that’ll be that.
tankplanker@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It has always been the main aim of legislation like this to nobble VPNs, they just needed the “child” “violent pornography” etc. excuse to do so. UK government already monitors all of the internet traffic for the UK, except for MPs who are exempt, VPNs are a blocker for this.
Obviously, not even the UK government would expect a private VPN ban (work VPNs would likely need an Ofcom license) to stop everybody from using a VPN or suitable alternative, its not the aim. The aim is to stop the majority from doing so and criminalize the minority who do still bypass the block.
JcbAzPx@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Work VPN doesn’t look any different a porn VPN to the people tapping the line.
PumpkinSkink@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Damn. Labor really wants to lose that election to Farage. Good luck to Corbyn and Sultana, I guess.
abbiistabbii@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
Farage: Gets elected.
Everyone: At least you’ll abolish the OSA!
Farage: Nah, I said that because it would make me popular. Amma use the OSA to ban things I consider “woke”.
Darleys_Brew@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Most authoritarian option there is.
SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Nothing will meaningfully improve until the rich fear for their lives
MangioneDontMiss@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
those two people who downvoted you can go eat a big bag of dicks.
Iapetus@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
So, nothing will ever meaningfully improve?
HubertManne@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Maybe if they see significant issues with the populace adhereing to this law they should identify the solution of revoking the unpopular law.
Konstant@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It’s the populace that is wrong, not the lawmakers /s
samus12345@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
See: the 18th and 21st Amendments in the US.
OrteilGenou@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
“It has come to our attention that we haven’t fascismed hard enough, nor in sufficient detail”
doctortofu@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Come on UK, just skip all the boring parts and make unremovable collars for everyone fitted with GPS, cameras and miniature bombs that can be remotely detonated. After all, that's the only way to make sure nobody is doing bad, very bad illegal stuff and to PROTECT THE CHILDREN, isn't it? Fucking hell, these fucks really are trying to create a bloody dystopia...
0x0@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
They think 1984 is a manual.
Oh, wait, no, that was about the evil communists.
NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 2 weeks ago
I’d email my MP to ask why this Labour Government is using the BBC to promote Reform talking points and implementing brain dead Reform policies, but I don’t expect anything other than the blandest party line response.
SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
“We will force you to do what we want”, democracy in action
minorkeys@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Funny how its always so important to ban useful and empowering things for citizens in the name of safety but someone we can’t ban business practices that cause mass extinctions, change the climate, impoverish the working class or kill enough of us to only be seen as a statistic instead of people. If they actually cared about safety, they would be banning the things that cause mass suffering and death, not VPNs. We should be opposed to these kinds of bans on the principle that it further disempowered us so we are less able to deal with the threats of all the mass suffering and death that they refuse to keep us safe from.
Wooki@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
“Safety” meanwhile these same mp’s can’t budget can’t run critical public services.
But don’t worry, your thoughts are policed
portnull@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Archangel1313@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Isn’t this currently what Russia is trying to do with their internet?
slaacaa@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
phoenixz@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
If VPNs cause significant issues, the Government must identify those issues and find solutions, rather than avoiding difficult problems
Your law is the difficult problem you daft cunt
frenchfryenjoyer@lemmings.world 2 weeks ago
They can come and pry TOR from my cold dead hands lmfao
this law can eat shit. i ain’t gonna dox myself and feed my personal info to companies. maybe they should take this as a hint that most people care about their privacy
if you don’t want kids seeing NSFW stuff be an actual parent and don’t raise your kids on the internet??
Iambus@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Lol what is going on over there. The UK is becoming more dystopian by the day.
cupcakezealot@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
apparently having a functioning brain isn't a requirement of being an mp
but of course we knew that when she did this in 2019:
On 16 July 2019, Champion stated: "If my party comes out as a remain party rather than trying to find a deal or >rather than trying to exit, I can't support that, it goes against democracy". She said she would rather support a "no->deal Brexit" than remain in the EU, as she believed Labour had to deliver the result of the 2016 referendum.
Zoldyck@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Why not just ban all human rights while you’re at it?
JK_Flip_Flop@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
If this comes to anything I’m moving to somewhere in the EU and pursuing citizenship there. This is clearly not about protecting the children anymore (not that it ever was).
socialsecurity@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
But they can't seem to muster up the "political" will to tax the rich
MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Not even China can ban VPN entirely, because businesses use it as a security measure.
falynns@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
“Hey! Stop using well known workarounds to my idiot demands! Surely this is brand new technology that no one could have known about!”
thenose@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Show me a ban that didn’t came with 10x problems. People have their needs even the filthy ones. Especially the filthy ones. Hence will find a way to fulfill it. If there’s no legal way to do so the demand will create an alternative market for it to match the demand…more trouble on the way if that’s the lane the UK choose
KonnaPerkele@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
This kinda proves that it was never about the children. How many children have know how and the means to buy a VPN subscription?
Electricd@lemmybefree.net 2 weeks ago
Still an important part. Free VPNs that spy on you are a thing, but work
flyingsquirrel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
A lot more than you know, I knew how to use it since middle school.
Bluewing@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
All it takes is one big brother/sister that knows how to access a free or paid VPN and their 5 year old little sibling and all their friends will have it also. Despite the difficulty teaching them math or history, they DO learn very quickly and are fast to figure out new things that interest them.
Do you know what’s smarter and more talented the the UK government?
14, 402, 544 kids…
Anivia@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
We’re you never a child? I formatted my family pc and reinstalled windows in 5th grade, and used a VPN to circumvent the schools online filter in 7th grade.
Children are not as stupid as you seem to think
KonnaPerkele@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
Where there is a will there is a way, I guess.
Still, a possible ban on VPNs affects way bigger group of business and adult users than the number of tech savvy kids.
Where should the line be drawn? How much rights should everyone have to give up so that little techie Billy can’t hack his way to see some titties?
Dreaming_Novaling@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I started using a VPN after my friends/classmates told me about them in my Sophomore year of HS, mostly to get around the Wifi banning us from accessing certain apps (social media). Now, like all the other dumb kids, I used whatever they recommended, which was some shitty “Free” VPN that was probably stalking my data. But by Senior year, I smartened up and learned about online privacy and got myself a Proton VPN subscription after using the free version for a bit.
So yeah, I could totally believe middle-school and up are using VPNs, cause that’s what we literally did.