Skip to content
Tenfell
Awarded contract
Published 19 Mar 2026

Survey of age assurance circumvention by young people

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Key facts

Contract value
£49,500
Awarded
27 Feb 2026
Contract starts
09 Mar 2026
Contract ends
08 May 2026
Procedure
Call-off from a dynamic purchasing system
Buyer type
Central government

Awarded to

SupplierValue
BMG Research£49,500

Description

In July 2025 the Online Safety Act's Child Safety Duties came into force, requiring online services to implement highly effective age assurance measures to prevent children from accessing harmful or age-inappropriate content. These duties were a major milestone in the government's approach to improving children's online safety.

Following implementation, Ofcom reported that UK daily active users of virtual private networks (VPN) apps temporarily doubled to around 1.5 million. Emerging research suggests that this spike in VPN usage was not primarily driven by child users. We are interested in exploring this further. Findings will inform government understanding, help shape future interventions and ensure the Act delivers its intended protections for children.

To inform government understanding, we want to explore the impact of circumvention techniques and VPNs further. To better understand the prevalence and methods of age assurance circumvention among children, including the use of VPNs.

Categories (CPV)

Similar open tenders

About Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Their tenders, awards, contracts coming up for renewal, decision makers and committee papers.

View buyer profile

Their other open tenders

Published by the buyer on Contracts Finder (Open Government Licence v3.0). Always read the original notice before responding.