Privacy infrastructure has historically prioritized neutrality — encrypted traffic flows without inspection.
However, a new initiative involving ExpressVPN and the Internet Watch Foundation introduces a different architectural approach to restrict known CSAM domains.
The mechanism relies on OpenBoundary, a DNS-level filtering technology designed to block only domains verified by IWF.
Technical characteristics include:
• DNS resolver-level domain verification
• No deep packet inspection
• No encryption termination
• No traffic logging or user identification
If a requested domain appears on the IWF verified list, the connection is dropped at the network boundary.

The initiative - “Not on My Network” - is also encouraging adoption across the privacy infrastructure ecosystem, including CyberGhost VPN, Private Internet Access.
For security engineers, this raises an important architectural question:
Can network-level safeguards address exploitation risks without weakening encryption guarantees?

Source: https://www.expressvpn.com/blog/not-on-my-network-iwf-csam-domains/

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