Microsoft has started testing a new built-in Virtual Private Network (VPN) solution in its Edge browser. The new feature, which the company is calling the “Microsoft Edge Secure Network,” will allow users to protect their privacy, hide their location, and be more secure while browsing the web.
“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,” the company explained on a support page.
Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — and get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift!
"*" indicates required fields
According to 9to5Google, this new built-in VPN solution is being tested with Edge Insiders on the Dev channel, though we’re not seeing it on our machines. To check if you have the feature, you’ll need to click on the Ellipsis “…” button, scroll down and click on “Secure Network.
The Microsoft Edge Secure Network is powered by the US-based content delivery network Cloudflare, and users will get 1 GB of free data every month. The feature will require to be signed in Edge with a Microsoft account, which is necessary to keep track of the amount of Microsoft Edge Secure Network data that is used each month. Cloudflare will also purge personally identifiable data every 25 hours.
For a while, the Edge team seemed to have put a lot of emphasis on shopping features, so it’s quite refreshing to see this Microsoft Edge Secure Network being tested with Insiders. Let us know in the comments if you think this new built-in VPN solution is something that could make you want to use Edge more in the future.