Microsoft is set to remove support for privacy protection (VPN) from Microsoft Defender for individuals in an unprecedented move.
The company made this known in a support note on 1 February, stating that the feature will be terminated on 28 February, and is in the best interest of users.
In place of VPN, the company also promised to introduce new features that are more relevant to users after the termination.
Protecting users
Microsoft says its primary goal is to protect users and ensure that they are safe online. Part of the support note reads:
“Our goal is to ensure you, and your family remain safer online. We routinely evaluate the usage and effectiveness of our features. As such, we are removing the privacy protection feature and will invest in new areas that will better align to customer needs.”
Other features such as data and device protection, identity theft and credit monitoring (US only), plus threat alerts remain intact. Microsoft Defender users on iOS will also still have their VPN for web protection (anti-phishing), which is different from the privacy-protection VPN.
No action is required on the part of Windows, iOS, and macOS users. However, Android users will need to manually remove the Defender app after 28 February, although not removing it won’t make any difference.
To remove it, users are to go to Settings on their Android device, search for ‘VPN’, look for ‘Microsoft Defender’ VPN profile in the list of VPN profiles, and then use the ‘info’ icon to tap on it and remove it.
What’s next?
While Microsoft says that removing the VPN protection is in the interest of users, some users may not agree with this, as there has been no better time to protect internet users’ privacy than now.
However, fingers remain crossed as we watch out for the new features the company intends to roll out in place of the privacy-protection feature.
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