Microsoft Ditches Defender VPN: Privacy Protection Packed Away for Good
Microsoft is pulling the plug on its Privacy Protection VPN feature in Microsoft Defender. Citing low usage, the tech giant plans to focus on more popular features. Android users should remove the Defender VPN profile, while everyone else can relax. So, farewell Privacy Protection, we hardly used ye!
Hot Take:
In the latest episode of “Microsoft Plays Musical Chairs with Features,” the tech giant is giving its Privacy Protection VPN feature the boot. Apparently, it was too busy hiding in plain sight to be noticed. It’s like that one obscure cousin in your family who silently vanishes from Facebook. While Microsoft’s focus on ‘other features’ sounds promising, users might feel like they’re left holding a bag of expired data. But hey, at least you’ve got credit monitoring in the U.S., right? That’s bound to charm Europeans.
Key Points:
- Microsoft is discontinuing its Privacy Protection VPN feature in the Defender app by end of February 2025.
- The VPN was part of Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions with 50GB monthly data allocation.
- Defender’s VPN was expanded in 2024 to automatically detect unsecured connections, but saw limited adoption.
- Android users must remove the VPN profile post-deprecation to avoid network issues.
- Deprecation follows a recent price hike in Microsoft 365 subscriptions due to new AI features.