Reading TFA it seems that use case would be allowed, but would I be a criminal for checking social media on my work PC when connected to the corporate VPN?
If they ban OpenVPN and WireGuard through what I can only think is something akin to the great firewall of China, then what is the next step, making ssh -D unlawful?
Maybe encryption too? Maybe they need to ban booting Linux and filter access to open source software as well? Running unsigned code? Might as well just shut down the internet.
Sure. Why not? Paid VPNs are cheap to use, and kids are smart.
A kid who already has a computer to use can turn a relatively large amount of electricity into a relatively small amount of crypto, and can do so very informally. It's usually a money-losing operation, but that matters less when a person is (say) 14 and someone else pays the electric bill: Out of sight, out of mind.
After that: Simply use the proceeds to pay for something like Mullvad or AirVPN (they accept crypto payments just fine).
It's been quite a long time since I was 14 and it was a very different world back then, but I don't think I would have had any trouble connecting these dots at that age.
(And indeed, that's how I used to pay for my own VPN service as a grown adult back when using those things was a lot less common. Rather than potentially draw unwanted interest from my bank by making international payments, I'd just mine some crypto to cover the VPN, and pay the electric bill. It wasn't strictly anonymous or untraceable or anything like that, but it did help cover the tracks that I cared about covering.)
Wisconsin is a state that's been looking at banning VPNs[1]. And they also apply laws to "companies commonly known to provide VPN services" - which makes me wonder how far that goes. Because technically I could get a free AWS instance, spin up Tailscale on it, and I have a VPN. Is AWS a VPN company since they certainly host servers that are used for VPNs? Who knows!
[1] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/lawmakers-want-ban-vpn...
What's stopping the kid from obtaining a VPN number and mailing 5 bucks to Mullvad?
Using the corporate VPN for personal purposes, including social media, is generally against corporate policy and is frowned upon (at least officially) in most businesses and organisations. It is also fraught with complications and could lead to disciplinary action or other unpleasant consequences. Just because the policy is not enforced does not mean it won’t be in the future.
If governments start targeting personal VPN's, it is only a matter of time before businesses crack down on unauthorised corporate VPN use as it will increase their risk of legal action stemming from employees’ missteps or misdeeds.
[1] - https://github.com/firehol/blocklist-ipsets/blob/master/tor_...
> Tor is censorship-resistant
Of course these groups are also shooting themselves in the foot. Tor was invented by the Navy after all and they like spies to go through it because connecting to "totallynotNSA.com" is a great way to get yourself found. But Tor also only works for those purposes if non bad actors make up the majority of traffic
Though that's not the question