In September 2023, Microsoft announced it had added privacy protection for its Microsoft Defender for Individuals services on its Android app for devices in the US. Specifically, the feature was enabled for people who had either a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription. Today, the company announced an expansion of that feature to a new platform, as well as a new territory.
In a blog post, Microsoft says that the privacy protection feature is now available for Android users in the UK. Furthermore, the feature is also available for the Defender iOS app in both the US and UK.
This feature is basically a VPN service designed for people who just want to keep their online identity hidden from websites, apps, and others. It's also useful for people who may go to a local coffee shop or a restaurant and log into their Wi-Fi network on their smartphone. Microsoft says:
With privacy protection, you can hide your IP address and location from websites, apps, and advertisers that may attempt to track your online activity and collect your personal data. This feature also encrypts your internet traffic and data through a virtual private network (VPN), making it unreadable and inaccessible to anyone who may try to intercept it, such as hackers, internet service providers (ISPs), or government agencies. At the heart of privacy protection is a commitment to preserving your privacy.
Microsoft does say that this feature retrieves a "minimum set of service data" from your Android or iOS device. That data, which includes info on how long the VPN is turned on and how much bandwidth is used, is anonymized and sent to Microsoft so it "can continuously improve" the service.
Microsoft plans to offer this private protection VPN service to Windows and macOS users "soon." It will also expand to more regions sometime in the coming months.
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