At the end of last month, we reported that Microsoft was working on bringing a VPN service to the Microsoft Edge browser. At the time, Microsoft was introducing the feature but had not launched it. Well, that is now changing as the “Secure Network” VPN is now launching on Edge.
Microsoft has officially announced the native VPN built into its web browser. This is an affiliate service, which means it does not come directly from Microsoft. Instead, the Microsoft Edge Secure Network is powered by Cloudflare.
While it comes from a third party, Microsoft says all diagnostic and data is completely deleted every 24 hours. Importantly, this is a free VPN, although there is a cap of 1GB of data. As with all VPN services, the tool will mask your location to provide a secure connection for public networks.
However, while a normal VPN allows you to select servers around the world, ideal for getting Netflix from other countries, Secure Network is different. It seems Microsoft really is focusing on the security benefits of a VPN as the tool will automatically select servers from your area. So, you are still getting geo-restrictions.
Features
- “Encrypts your connection: Encrypts your internet connection to help protect your data from online threats like hackers. When using Microsoft Edge Secure network, your data is routed from Edge through an encrypted tunnel to create a secure connection, even when using a non-secure URL that starts with HTTP. This makes it harder for hackers to access your browsing data on a shared public Wi-Fi network.
- Helps prevent online tracking: By encrypting your web traffic directly from Microsoft Edge, we help prevent your internet service provider from collecting your browsing data like details about which websites you visit.
- Keeps your location private: Online entities can use your location and IP address for profiling and sending you targeted ads. Microsoft Edge Secure Network lets you browse with a virtual IP address that masks your IP and replaces your geolocation with a similar regional address to make it more difficult for online trackers to follow you as you browse.
- Is free to use: Get 1 gigabyte of free data every month when you sign into Microsoft Edge with your Microsoft Account. See below instructions to turn on your Microsoft Edge Secure Network.”
Secure Network is currently available for Microsoft Edge Canary.
Tip of the day: If you need to Create, Delete or Resize Partitions, Windows has everything you thanks to the built-in Disk Management-tool.
