Online Safety Act (UK)

[StacheDiamond]

I see lots of questions about VPNs, how they work, cost, and privacy. Here’s a good thread with free and paid VPN recommendations.

TL;DR: free VPNs that don’t keep records of your traffic are readily available for mobile and desktop (Windscribe, Proton, and Mullvad are the most privacy conscious and secure). Paying unlocks more locations, different technical features that most won’t care about, and more data.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1947270753746849800

 

[Quimpossibility]

I see lots of questions about VPNs, how they work, cost, and privacy. Here’s a good thread with free and paid recommendations.

TL;DR: free VPNs that don’t keep records of your traffic are readily available for mobile and desktop (Windscribe, Proton, and Mullvad are the most privacy conscious and secure). Paying unlocks more locations, different technical features that most won’t care about, and more data.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1947270753746849800

I see lots of questions about VPNs, how they work, cost, and privacy. Here’s a good thread with free and paid VPN recommendations.

TL;DR: free VPNs that don’t keep records of your traffic are readily available for mobile and desktop (Windscribe, Proton, and Mullvad are the most privacy conscious and secure). Paying unlocks more locations, different technical features that most won’t care about, and more data.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1947270753746849800

Thanks, but is there anyway to link the entire thread? I quit Shitter last week because it is a fucking hellscape that just made me sad.

 

[Saltfountain]

Thanks, but is there anyway to link the entire thread? I quit Shitter last week because it is a fucking hellscape that just made me sad.

No

 

[StacheDiamond]

is there anyway to link the entire thread?

I gotchu, fam

Check out this thread at Thread Reader App.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1947270753746849800.html

 

[Quimpossibility]

I gotchu, fam

Check out this thread at Thread Reader App.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1947270753746849800.html

Gracias

 

[BlackFlame112000]

UK users...

NordVPN is offering their mid tier 2 year plan for the equivalent of £3.49/month

If the free ones aren't giving location choice management, this may. They tend to top best VPN lists all the time

https://i.ibb.co/ycLR7Pt9/Screenshot-20250721-191432.png
https://i.ibb.co/93rwpMXp/Screenshot-20250721-191439.png

Do not get NordVPN lol

If you want a cheap but good VPN, go for Mullvad, its 5 euros/month flat rate, Nord is notorious for having a difficult subscription cancellation model and jacking up prices lol

 

[Quimpossibility]

Do not get NordVPN lol

If you want a cheap but good VPN, go for Mullvad, its 5 euros/month flat rate, Nord is notorious for having a difficult subscription cancellation model and jacking up prices lol

Proton should be ok, if we need it. Fuck knows.

Seems to me that the UK gov can't possibly know every site and can only really act if a) the site is really well known (like pornhub - I doubt many schoolkids watch Lit on their phones instead) and then b) it comes to their attention, like some parent makes a complaint.
Waht then happens, I assume the gov will tell the site owner to install age verification software or get fined/blocked.
So really the question is whether Lit wants to install age verification software at its own expense, if it feels it's worth while. If not they either take the chance of not getting caught, or blocking us.

I could be completely wrong about all that ofc.

 

[Quimpossibility]

Do not get NordVPN lol

If you want a cheap but good VPN, go for Mullvad, its 5 euros/month flat rate, Nord is notorious for having a difficult subscription cancellation model and jacking up prices lol

Thoughts on Proton vpn?

 

[His4thWife]

If it helps any, I live in a US state that requires photo ID and registration for adult sites. Nope. No way. No how. This state is likely to start demanding info from Lit and come after users eventually. There are 2 video sites I have tried that are blocked completely and will not do age verification due to cost. One is pornhub so it's huge and makes lots of money.
The state requires the ISPs to block specific sites, servers, and keywords.
I get around it by using Proton Mail for all email and duckduckgo as my browser and search engine. It does not track you and does not log your history. If my state asks for anything, duckduckgo literally does not have it on their servers to hand over. Proton and duckduck have VPNs but I use nordvpn.
My very simplified understanding is your comp/mobile IP connects to the VPN company server. Your ISP can see your IP and the VPN server IP but nothing else as it's encrypted. A website sees the VPN server's IP instead of yours and depending on the VPN's IP address location will use it as your locale. Different VPN companies offer different amounts of location servers so choose one that allows you to pick which server country to use.
I use nordvpn and duckduckgo on my mobile, PC, and laptop without issue and have yet to have any sites blocked. However, I don't use any adult apps, only the duckduckgo browser, which as I said, neither keeps a history on the browser nor their servers.
Sorry for the length.

 

[matureman32]

Thanks for the info @His4thWife.

 

[Susurration]

For the situation in the UK and how it might affect us, I posted a thread about it here: https://forum.literotica.com/thread...-why-uk-users-may-soon-become-scarce.1637413/ . I'll only make two points in this topic:

1. I contacted a friend of mine who is lawyer about VPN. They informed me that VPN in of itself is legal, but that using VPN to breach the law is not legal. I am not prepared to use VPN to get around the law and I am not prepared to break the law in any way.
2. All I need to know from the administrators is what they are going to do on 25 July. If this is the end of my time on this site after eighteen years, I would like to post a sign off message and not just be locked out and not be able to write a goodbye. Please could we have a clear answer? Thank you.

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

For the situation in the UK and how it might affect us, I posted a thread about it here: https://forum.literotica.com/thread...-why-uk-users-may-soon-become-scarce.1637413/ . I'll only make two points in this topic:

1. I contacted a friend of mine who is lawyer about VPN. They informed me that VPN in of itself is legal, but that using VPN to breach the law is not legal. I am not prepared to use VPN to get around the law and I am not prepared to break the law in any way.
2. All I need to know from the administrators is what they are going to do on 25 July. If this is the end of my time on this site after eighteen years, I would like to post a sign off message and not just be locked out and not be able to write a goodbye. Please could we have a clear answer? Thank you.

No offense, but I'm fairly certain you misunderstood that lawyer.

The UK's Online Safety Act applies to service providers, not users. Which means, using a VPN to access sites, without being blocked or asked for age-verification, wouldn't break any laws. The service providers are mandated to verify UK-user's age. But there is no law that mandates YOU to go along with it.

It's the same as when you use a VPN to get around geo-blocking on YouTube or Netflix. They geo-block content because the service providers don't have a license to stream that specific content in your country. So, if you use a VPN to make them think you come from a country where they have the license, the absolute worst that could possibly happen to you is that they cancel your Netflix account.

 

[Quimpossibility]

It does seem to me that those drawing up such legislation must know that VPN's are an easy way around it. Whether that matters to them, I don't know.

But I do wonder if they have anything planned or included to deal with VPN's. Assuming that is even possible. It just seems far to easy to believe that just installing a VPN solves this problem. I mean, it might. I don't know, but...

But there is no law that mandates YOU to go along with it.

seems a bit naive, if I'm honest. I mean, surely the lawmakers have some answer to this otherwise why bother doing anything?

On the other hand, they may not. This law may have been drawn up by incredibly tech averse people.

 

[BlackFlame112000]

Thoughts on Proton vpn?

They're perfect

 

[Quimpossibility]

They're perfect

That's either sarcasm or high praise, and I can't tell which!

Hopefully the latter!

 

[Quimpossibility]

BTW, do you have to activate a VPN before booting up your browser?

 

[lingus60]

They're perfect

Have you paid for proton plus upgrade? Reluctant to provide my bank details....

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Reluctant to provide my bank details....

That's all this is about. Getting bank and other personal details.

The global ogliarconomy conspiring to eliminate individual privacy. We know you, we are one, but you will not know us.

 

[BlackFlame112000]

That's either sarcasm or high praise, and I can't tell which!

Hopefully the latter!

Its high praise lol

 

[BlackFlame112000]

Have you paid for proton plus upgrade? Reluctant to provide my bank details....

If you really are that paranoid, they do accept cryptocurrency as a payment method lol

Cryptocurrency being Bitcoin

 

[BlackFlame112000]

BTW, do you have to activate a VPN before booting up your browser?

There's plenty of options

Yes, you might have to do that depending on how you want to use it
They have a browser extension so it can be used just for that browser on desktop/PC
Use the VPN program for the whole device to be connected to the VPN

on mobile devices, its an app and you will have to turn it on for it to work

 

[Saltfountain]

Does Proton allow split tunnelling? Or will I have to repeatedly switch it on and off and keep logging into lit every time I want to make a payment on G pay?

 

[lingus60]

It does! I just watched a review and it covered that...

 

[BlackFlame112000]

Does Proton allow split tunnelling? Or will I have to repeatedly switch it on and off and keep logging into lit every time I want to make a payment on G pay?

They do

 

[Saltfountain]

It does! I just watched a review and it covered that...

Even the free version?