Microsoft has announced that it will offer its Edge browser with a virtual private network (VPN) to improve user security and privacy.

A VPN is software that helps hide some vital details of a browser user such as location, time, and IP address among others. This basic level of security essentially guarantees the user an additional layer of security, especially against malware aimed at siphoning data from their browsing history.

The VPN that Microsoft integrates with Edge is dubbed Edge Secure Network and will perform most of the aforementioned tasks. It will use encryption to protect users web traffic from crawling service providers.

It is not yet known when this feature will be rolled out. Microsoft says users will need to be signed in to the company’s Cloudflare service and data usage will be limited to 1GB per month. This basically means that users must have a Microsoft account, which critics say will be used to collect data and track usage.

The service is still in testing and Microsoft Edge browser users will be notified once it is fully operational.

As competition intensifies between major technology companies, the consumer should benefit from very interesting features. Microsoft joins other service providers such as Opera in offering a free VPN. Mozilla and Google Chrome offer a paid service.

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