Use of VPNs for Student access

[mcolbourn]

29 minutes ago, Rob_D said:

But according to your OP only for minors?

Which wouldn't be possible. Or they could "technically do it" but it would be meaningless as the only details the ISPs are likely to have are for the main account holder who is (nearly) always going to be an adult.

Yes, that's correct also they would not be able to tell the different traffic being generated by a minor to an adult due to how NAT works? The only way to reduce VPN usage is to put the onus on the VPN providers like Australia has done for social media. Yes, it will not be perfect some will find way around this by spinning up their own servers etc but it going to reduce the usage of VPNs by children by a number greater than 0 which is a good thing is it not.

[dmj]

1 hour ago, sigma said:

I really think as many of us should respond as possible.

 

Thanks. I completed that. Also added my pet peeve about mobile phones:  The problem isn't the small computer, it's the unfiltered SIM. 

[dmj]

12 minutes ago, mcolbourn said:

Yes, that's correct also they would not be able to tell the different traffic being generated by a minor to an adult due to how NAT works? The only way to reduce VPN usage is to put the onus on the VPN providers like Australia has done for social media. Yes, it will not be perfect some will find way around this by spinning up their own servers etc but it going to reduce the usage of VPNs by children by a number greater than 0 which is a good thing is it not.

It will just become too easy to spin up a server (it is already) and that method will just replace the established VPN's - or the kids will find some shadier VPN's to use. The whole idea is a zero sum game. Next they will ban collaboration on github because kids can access the tools they need (I think that's technically in scope already, because you don't always know who's reviewing your commit!)

[Rob_D]

17 minutes ago, mcolbourn said:

ut it going to reduce the usage of VPNs by children by a number greater than 0 which is a good thing is it not.

Depends if you think children using VPNs is a bad thing.

[pete]

20 minutes ago, mcolbourn said:

Yes, that's correct also they would not be able to tell the different traffic being generated by a minor to an adult due to how NAT works? The only way to reduce VPN usage is to put the onus on the VPN providers like Australia has done for social media. Yes, it will not be perfect some will find way around this by spinning up their own servers etc but it going to reduce the usage of VPNs by children by a number greater than 0 which is a good thing is it not.

 

Not if it's at the expense of chilling of speech by government overreach into private lives, collection of personally identifiable data by commercial entities who'll (let's face it) lose the data and also try to resell it in "anonymised" form.

 

Or, to put it another way, ~61 million adults shouldn't have to handover personal data to use the Internet because a significant proportion of the parents of the ~9 million or so under-18s think it's a good idea to buy them smartphones before they're ready for them.

[mcolbourn]

16 minutes ago, Rob_D said:

Depends if you think children using VPNs is a bad thing.

It depends on what they are using it for doesn't it really. The use of VPNs isn't the bad thing it's what it is being used to achieve.

Edited March 3 by mcolbourn

[mcolbourn]

1 minute ago, pete said:

Or, to put it another way, ~61 million adults shouldn't have to handover personal data to use the Internet because a significant proportion of the parents of the ~9 million or so under-18s think it's a good idea to buy them smartphones before they're ready for them.

How did you reach that conclusion?

[psydii]

1 hour ago, Rob_D said:

But according to your OP only for minors?

Which wouldn't be possible. Or they could "technically do it" but it would be meaningless as the only details the ISPs are likely to have are for the main account holder who is (nearly) always going to be an adult.

Or perhaps they will be required by default to block until you sign in with proof you are over 18. All the pieces to get this to work are almost in place. Windows, Mac, iOS and Android have the tools to secure identity tokens, and down at that level they know who unlocked the device, so are in a position to inject the user's identity into network-level traffic for the network operator to make filtering decisions against. But that wont be enough. It's only a matter of time before that  MiTM trick we've been doing for years in schools  will be required of all ISPs  and device manufacturers.

 

 

 

 

 

[APMerry]

6 minutes ago, mcolbourn said:

How did you reach that conclusion?

I would assume because they aren't talking about blocking VPNs or social media for under 16s. They're talking about blocking it for everyone that doesn't hand over proof they aren't under 16.

[mcolbourn]

3 minutes ago, APMerry said:

I would assume because they aren't talking about blocking VPNs or social media for under 16s. They're talking about blocking it for everyone that doesn't hand over proof they aren't under 16.

I would hope that they (our Government)  do the same as they have done in Australia in regard to social media where if you check not everyone is asked for their age Social media 'ban' or delay FAQ | eSafety Commissioner also having a friend who lives their none of his family have been asked for age checks and only one person he knows has been asked and that was a minor who was 14. 

 

[psydii]

1 minute ago, APMerry said:

I would assume because they aren't talking about blocking VPNs or social media for under 16s. They're talking about blocking it for everyone that doesn't hand over proof they aren't under 16.

It really is possible to do this well. But they wont. And when Apple started to explore on device privacy-focused legal compliance tools there was a backlash against them. 

 

The device knows who you are. You should be able to take your passport/drivers licence, scan it, and have the device verify against a governmental database, receive a token that it then counter signs, then use some "hash" of that token going forward. The hash used rotates so it can't be used to track you. (moot somewhat when the ISP knows your device hardware address and IP, and the websites are tracking your cookies and access patterns so have pretty good digital fingerprints already), but a token effort* so the device manufactures can say they are protecting your privacy.

 

Good? No. But certainly better than sending it all off to Palantir.

 

*pun intended.

[dmj]

1 minute ago, mcolbourn said:

I would hope that they (our Government)  do the same as they have done in Australia in regard to social media where if you check not everyone is asked for their age Social media 'ban' or delay FAQ | eSafety Commissioner also having a friend who lives their none of his family have been asked for age checks and only one person he knows has been asked and that was a minor who was 14. 

 

 

 

 

Quote

No. eSafety does not expect a platform to make every account holder go through an age check process if it has other accurate data indicating the user is 16 or older.

For example, if someone has had an account since Facebook started in Australia in 2006, Meta could reasonably assume they are older than 16 so no further check is needed.

Eventually, as the population ages, everyone will have to prove their age.  I don't know how you would read it any other way.

[pete]

56 minutes ago, mcolbourn said:

How did you reach that conclusion?

 

Absent outside forces limiting their ability to do so, governments habitually engage in scope creep.

 

<insert frog boiling analogy here>

[FastGuard]

On 03/03/2026 at 12:24, DrummerBoy said:

Hi all, for those of you who don;t know me (probably most of you!!) I amd DOS_Box's brother and work for a Fibre AltNet/ISP.

 

Currently the governement is looking to get feedback on the online safety act, and further regulation that ight hit ISPs.  One of the parts they are after feedback on is the use of VPNs, and the potentail to ban VPNs based on age - bascically ban children from using them.

 

So, I thought I'd ask the techie community here around the usage of VPNs to access scholl learning resrouces etc.

 

If you could let me know if and how your particular establishment uses VPNs for students, I can collate this, and it will help ISPA (our trade body) formulate a response back to governemnt.

 

Thanks.

Hi! 👋 At our school/university, VPN is mainly used so that students can securely access educational resources from home or during remote learning. This is especially important for accessing libraries, internal systems, and educational platforms that would otherwise be blocked for external IPs.

VPN also helps protect students’ personal data when using public Wi-Fi and ensures stable access to necessary materials without restrictions.

 

[Davit2005]

3 hours ago, FastGuard said:

Hi! 👋 At our school/university, VPN is mainly used so that students can securely access educational resources from home or during remote learning. This is especially important for accessing libraries, internal systems, and educational platforms that would otherwise be blocked for external IPs.

VPN also helps protect students’ personal data when using public Wi-Fi and ensures stable access to necessary materials without restrictions.

 

I concur Uni's will no doubt have specific needs such as software that needs either access to license servers and we would not want jus anyone using them. Other specific scientific/research software might need VPN access too. Occasionally we might only provide access to resources via VPN even if students are on the internal WiFi network.

Edited March 4 by Davit2005