According to the Microsoft support page, Microsoft is planning to provide a free built-in VPN (Virtual Private Network) service to its Edge browser for improved security and privacy.
When enabled, the Edge Secure Network encrypts users’ web traffic, preventing internet service providers from collecting browsing data that customers desire to keep private, such as health-related queries or strange inquiries.
“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.”In a blog post, the business noted.
Furthermore, by allowing users to surf the web with a virtual IP address, this innovation would enable them to conceal their location. This means that users can access content that is otherwise unavailable in their countries, such as Netflix or Hulu.
In addition, the company is testing the Cloudflare-powered VPN service, dubbed “Edge Secure Network,” and will make it public as part of security updates soon.
However, there is a drawback to using this “free” service. Users must first sign in to a Microsoft account in order for the business to track their usage. Second, data usage is limited to 1GB per month.
While Cloudflare collects support and diagnostic data from the service, the business deletes that data every 25 hours, according to the internet giant.
Microsoft reveals how consumers can try out the preview while the functionality is still in development. It will be released soon to one of the Microsoft Edge Insider channels.
To enable the function, launch Edge, navigate to Settings and More and then click on Secure Network.
A VPN service is provided by Microsoft and many other browsers. Although Opera includes one for free, most popular browsers such as Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome exclusively provide paid VPN services, which helps to boost Edge’s value proposition.