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Comment by gennarro | Hacker News Reader

Except paying the vpn requires a credit card that does the same verification check so it’s not thwarting the rule at all.

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Kids aren't going to pay for a VPN, even if they had the option to. They're going to Google "Free VPN" and download the first option which will probably add their device into a "UK residential proxy" botnet. Everyone is getting something out of it, the state of UK cybersecurity is weakened further, and no money is changing hands, good luck stopping that.

It's the same thing that happens every time the government tries to ban something that customers actually want. You get a black market, criminals make more money than ever and use it to fund other crimes and the banned thing continues to be available but now the suppliers don't have to follow other laws because then the customers can't object when they're both doing something illegal.

Governments never seem to learn.

Opera has a built-in VPN. No payment required.

Plenty of VPNs accept crypto or cash-in-envelope, and you don't need to be an adult to have a debit card in the UK.

Vivaldi has the ProtonVPN extension built in. All you need is a free Proton account.

Many, eg Mullvad, allow for crypto payments

It's surprisingly hard to get cryptocurrency without a KYC check in the UK - bitcoin ATMs and suchlike are banned.

Far simpler, if you're a teen that wants to get around the block, to just have an older looking friend do the video selfie.

What stops anyone from just mining it? Cryptocurrency mining may or may not be profitable at any given time, but it doesn't matter that you're spending $7 to mine $5 worth of cryptocurrency if you're willing to pay the $7 to get the VPN.

Meh, perhaps now, but there is an easy pipeline of work (mostly menial, Turk type tasks) for crypto that runs right past KYC. Cash for crypto is also surprisingly easy to find, again bypassing most KYC.

I am not sure what will be easier.

Mullvad even let you send cash in an envelope in the post.

I'm not sure most kids would jump through this many hoops. I don't know what will happen in the future, but I'm having trouble foreseeing a future where a sizeable majority of kids have cryptocurrency wallets. They'll probably just find a friend who has a VPN from parents who don't care or who don't know what it's being used for.

No don't worry, there are plenty of extremely shady free "VPN" services that this law will provide with a nice stream of victims

Thank goodness they have the Government the protect them...

I had a debit card when I was 11 years old.

I didn't have a debit card until I went to university :P I _think_ having a card at 11 is rare, but not sure. Also maybe gen z/etc are getting cards earlier? Also not sure if parents who do get their kids cards at a young age aren't also checking their statements. Not sure if there's any data on this.

In the UK, "GoHenry" is an app that is targeted at parents as a way to give your kids pocket money, and comes with a debit card option. Their target age range is 6-18.

Revolut also offers accounts from age 6.

Parents would get notifications, but I suspect most parents won't be technically inclined enough to have an issue with a well argued child pointing out they need that VPN to access a game server or region locked content that their parents don't object to.

That said, I'd suspect most kids looking to circumvent these blocks will just install a free VPN.

Wasn't particularly rare when I was in middle school and would've been odd not to in secondary. Bet it's only more common now.

There's also non-bank pre-pay cash cards such as Henry I think one's called, so parent loads it up with pocket money or whatever and I think gets more control/oversight than actual banks probably offer even on dedicated children's accounts.

Debit cards for kids are a god send. It was extremely annoying to have to keep cash just to give the daughter pocket money when she was going out.

Got her a debit card as soon as they were available for minors.

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