Show HN: NextDNS Adds "Bypass Age Verification"

Where is the setting configured? I just looked through my admin page and didn't see any switch for it

Glancing at the front page, it looks like this product also has enforced SafeSearch and restricted mode to protect children, so... seems fine? They're doing the same thing themselves, and it's probably better since it's a local solution.

If you're running a product like this, it should be officially allowed to bypass age verification.

I am a user of nextdns and okay, this is really neato team! I find this really interesting.

If I may ask, what are the dns tricks, is there a blog post about what you added, I am sooo curious about what sorcery is nextdns using.

Edit: I searched on ddg and there was a ghacks.net link and a alternativeto.net article and sadly ghacks was taking a long time to load and I just read the alternativeto.net article and it was kinda cool, let me paste it here

here is the article link : https://alternativeto.net/news/2025/8/nextdns-rolls-out-new-...

NextDNS has introduced a new DNS-level feature that allows users to bypass age verification checks commonly found on adult websites. This update enables users to avoid submitting personal documents, such as photos or government-issued IDs, to unfamiliar websites when accessing age-restricted content.

To enable the feature, users can activate it directly within the NextDNS settings. The technical approach is straightforward: the DNS resolver intercepts requests to target websites and routes traffic through proxy servers in countries where age verification is not required by law. This means that while users visit the same websites, the sites perceive the traffic as originating from a country without mandatory ID checks.

These changes are particularly relevant for individuals in the European Union and the United Kingdom, regions where certain governments have introduced strict ID requirements for accessing adult content websites. Looking at community reaction, user feedback on Reddit and social media has been largely positive since the announcement, with some users ironizing that “NextDNS developers know their clientele!”.

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TLDR/my-thoughts: Nextdns can use something similar to vpn and I am wondering how much more efficient is this for this usecase compared to a vpn, like I am sure that vpns can be banned by a country, see china.

But nextdns.io is still available in china?, how would that work, and so can this feature be actually expanded to make it a general purpose vpn too if need be but honestly a lot of vpn use cases might be for bypassing verification itself, so basically the only few use cases I can think of vpn is to bypass censorship and maybe verification and also changing vpn for lets say watching content that's available in other country

Can nextdns add other features too, like imagine you can use nextdns with netflix and change it to anime mode and you can get netflix as in of japan, I don't have netflix but I am just giving an example because that's a lot of times what I hear from all those youtube vpn shills

Or can they provide some vpn service itself while at it, and since nextdns still uses dns and dns can operate over https. I imagine that it might be even harder to detect such vpn traffic because I know for sure that some vpn's can be tracked implementation wise (as in wireguard)[i can be wrong, i usually am] but I am pretty sure that https can't be tracked in the same manner, and we can use dns over https in nextdns using this feature..

Can you guys maybe comment on what you think about it? adding general purpose vpns / japan/country switching/enabling vpns itself though I guess it might make you a vpn app which can have its own logs/rules and regulations and I am currently fine/really happy with protonvpn which I also think can run on top of https with their proxy option atleast in browser and maybe even in their apps I am not sure.

It may not be effective in the long term, but I think it's very much worth doing. The privacy nightmare of uploading government docs is appalling and should be resisted by all who can, so I think you're doing great work. If it provokes regulators to push harder, they might just get enough attention from voters to motivate a change. That would be my hope anyway

Easily one of the best $20 I spend a year. Makes iOS so much more usable and I really love supporting the vision of the developers from NextDNS

As a remark, not a criticism, such a deliberate promotion is probably illegal in the UK market,

> "But Ofcom says platforms required to introduce "highly effective" methods to check user age must not host, share or permit content that encourages use of VPNs to get around age checks. The government has also told the BBC it would be illegal for platforms to do so."

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn72ydj70g5o

I love you guys, even before this.

[flagged]

amazing... we need more of this on the dns level

Better than that at least in the UK, they are not handing the data to the government, but to unregulated, diverse third parties - what could go wrong.

> We’re curious how the HN community feels about this. Is it the right way to protect privacy online, or will it just provoke regulators to push harder?

Both. May the mouse forever elude the cat in this game!

If you’re proxying all traffic, that’s going to get expensive and - in theory - makes you as easy to block as VPN providers. I wish you the best of luck!

I'm a parent, and I try to keep my kids from the Internet in general, but adult parts in particular.

VPN's are great for this. Just install the VPN, have it block access to adult sites, and have it alert me of any suspicious attempts.

It's bewildering how VPN companies have branded their technology as "anti-censorship" and "privacy-focused." VPN's are a censor's best friend.

DNS services are taking the opposite approach: they start by having a censorship feature (blocking malware, adult ads, etc), and now are adding anti-censorship options.

There's nothing about connecting to a different network, or using a different DNS provider, that is anti-censorship.

Presenting government ID to random entities is literally what government ID's exist for. Paranoia about this is silly.

Additionally, intentionally aiding someone (especially a minor) in circumventing the law is very likely to not be legal, especially when legality is largely determined by a jury, and especially^2 when the facts of the case against you are the most egregious that the government can find, especially^3 when you are profiting from it. It will be something like a 12yo using your service to access something absolutely shocking, and you or someone else will be forced to read a detailed text description of it in front of a jury. This doesn't even begin to address civil liability.

I'm not saying what you are doing is 'wrong', I'm saying you should talk to a lawyer who specializes in this sort of thing before you are forced to.

At least for my discord, I still can't access channels marked NSFW, instead of showing me the verification screen it just says "failed to load messages".

That’s a bold move. Handing over IDs to random sites is definitely a privacy nightmare, so I get why you built this. The real question is whether it buys time for users or just accelerates the push for stricter regulation. Either way, it sparks an important conversation

That’s really cool. I thought you guys had stopped development altogether.

Thank you for doing this! You are helping spread freedom. If everyone were to create more tools like this, it would shape the future to our liking.

Features that are only aimed at breaking the law will tend to backfire...

I don't have a strong opinion here, but I did want to say thank you for your service! I was previously running a pi-hole but switched my family and my household to NextDNS. Great $20/home spent

How does this "DNS trick" work? That to me is a much more interesting detail.

Seeking DNS with 'furry exemption' for fully clothed furries.

Does this create any new liability for the sites that are legally required to check ID?

As a subscriber of NextDNS I say, first, this is cool, but second, don’t do it. I don’t want NextDNS to face some sort of judgment that will get it shut down. Just publish the “DNS tricks” so that people can DIY but don’t make it part of your service.

I use NextDNS to BLOCK porn sites, etc from my kids’ devices. I hope you aren’t changing your ethos as a company, although I don’t know, maybe your customers are changing and causing you to pivot.

Because I don’t want any chance of this stuff affecting the blocks we use for minors, etc.

Hey @nextdns team. I'm a long time customer of NextDNS. I've been using your service for a few years now, but it seems a large amount of your primarily offered services & blocklist offerings are SEVERLY out of date. I detailed that here on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/nextdns/s/IX2mUogHPK

Your input on this thread would be greatly appreciated, as the community wants NextDNS to be the best service it can be.

I do appreciate the addition of the Age Verification Bypass, though. Many users on r/nextdns are trying to guess how it works. Proxing specific domain requests to show the user is from another country is our best guess. But I would still be very interested in the specifics.

Thanks.