Microsoft adds a free built-in virtual private network (VPN) service to its Edge browser to improve security and privacy, a Microsoft support page informed.
Anointed ”Edge Secure Network,” Microsoft is presently testing the Cloudflare-powered VPN service and states it will cruise it out to the public as a component of a security upgrade.
When switched on, Edge Secure Network should encrypt users’ web gridlock, so internet service providers can’t accumulate browsing information you’d instead hold private, like health-related searches or just plain bizarre questionings.
The new feature will also let users conceal their location by making it possible to browse the web employing a virtual IP address. That also suggests users could access content blocked in their countries, such as Netflix or Hulu shows.
There’s a catch for this free service, though. Data use limited to 1GB per month, and users will need to be signed in to a Microsoft account so the company can, ironically, track their usage.
Microsoft counts that while Cloudflare will accumulate support and diagnostic information from the service, the company will permanently vacate that data every 25 hours.
While the component is still under development and not yet known for early testing, Microsoft described how users could try out a preview. That suggests it could roll out soon to one of the Microsoft Edge Insider channels first, which users can download and join here.
Once it does, you can try out the preview version by opening up Edge, heading to Settings and more, and clicking on Secure Network.
At that juncture, users will be encouraged to sign in to or create a Microsoft Account. After doing so, a solid shield icon will appear in the browser frame, indicating Microsoft’s Edge Secure Network is now turned on. It will turn off after the user closes the browser.
Microsoft is one of many browsers that offer some VPN services. Opera comes with a free one, but more popular browsers like Mozilla only offer a paid VPN service, as does Google Chrome, thereby potentially help improving Edge’s value proposition.