Users in the UK are increasingly turning to proxy services and VPN alternatives as they contemplate ways to bypass the Online Safety Act, leading to a surge in proxy traffic.
In a recent report, proxy vendor Decodo revealed a significant increase in the number of UK proxy users and traffic. The company reported a 65 percent increase in UK proxy users and an 88 percent increase in proxy traffic. This trend may be linked to the UK's Online Safety Act, which introduces more stringent regulatory oversight and responsibilities for online content and user data handling.
The Online Safety Act requires regulated services to check the age of UK users before allowing access to primary-priority content like commercial pornography or self-harm and suicide material. However, the Act does not explicitly state a preference for proxy servers over VPNs. Nevertheless, the context suggests that businesses may find proxy servers more practical for meeting compliance needs.
Proxy servers operate at the application level and offer more flexible selective traffic routing. This feature allows businesses to control, monitor, or segment internet traffic per their compliance needs without encrypting everything, which might otherwise complicate lawful access or filtering.
Moreover, proxies can facilitate specific operational purposes such as data collection, employee activity monitoring, or geo-targeted content access, which are often mandated or guided under regulatory frameworks like the Online Safety Act. VPNs, with their system-wide encryption and stronger privacy features, may conflict with compliance requirements that call for data transparency or content monitoring, making proxies a preferred tool for businesses needing to balance privacy controls and legal obligations.
Gabriele Verbickaite, senior product marketing manager at Decodo, emphasised that encryption doesn't guarantee a secure connection, and true security depends on how traffic is routed, what's exposed, and how much control the company has. Proxies can overcome geo-restrictions and, in light of the UK's Online Safety Act, present an alternative to VPNs.
While proxy servers and VPNs share the ability to mask a user's IP address and dodge geo-restrictions, there are key differences between the two. VPNs encrypt all your internet traffic system-wide, creating a secure tunnel that protects data from interception. Proxies, on the other hand, typically do not encrypt traffic, leaving data more vulnerable.
Additionally, VPNs protect all apps and network traffic on a device, whereas proxies usually route traffic for a specific application or browser only and operate at higher OSI layers for selective routing. Proxies may offer faster speeds because they do not encrypt data, while VPNs may cause slight slowdowns due to encryption overhead.
In summary, businesses in the UK may be turning to proxy servers over VPNs to meet the demands for flexible traffic management, easier compliance monitoring, and regulatory transparency introduced by the Online Safety Act. VPNs remain the better choice for comprehensive personal privacy and security.
- The Online Safety Act, introduced in the UK, demands regulatory transparency and compliance for online content and user data handling, which could explain why businesses may find proxy servers more practical.
- Proxies can facilitate operational purposes such as data collection, employee activity monitoring, or geo-targeted content access, making them a preferred tool for businesses needing to balance privacy controls and legal obligations.
- VPNs provide system-wide encryption for all internet traffic, creating a secure tunnel that protects data from interception, while proxies typically do not encrypt traffic and may leave data more vulnerable.
- In light of the Online Safety Act, proxy servers might present an alternative to VPNs, as they can overcome geo-restrictions and offer the flexibility for selective traffic routing needed for compliance and regulatory transparency.
