Google One plans already have extended storage for baking up files, photos and videos. Now, Google has decided to inclue an extra layer of security. It has included VPN by Google One to all plans and has introduced a dark web report in the U.S. to monitor personal information.
VPN by Google One adds protection to your internet activity. It doesn’t account what apps or browsers you use. It will shield you from malicious parties like hackers or network operators by masking your IP address.
Without a VPN, the apps and sites you visit could track your acticity and determine your location using your IP address. Google has taken several steps to ensure no one can tie your network traffic to your identity.
The rollout has started and will continue for the next few weeks. VPN by Google One includes the Basic plan that starts at $1.99/mo. The VPN will be available in 22 countries across Android, iOS, Windows and Mac devices.
You can share the VPN with up to five other devices if they’re on your Google One plan.
Dark web report monitors for stolen information
Online identity fraud is an increasing problem that affects millions of people every year. It is due to information stolen through data breaches.
A lot of this stolen info can be on the dark web, a hard-to-reach part of the internet that requires a specialized browser to access and isn’t indexed by search engines.
So how do you know if your info was on the dark web where it might be at risk?
The Google One dark web report scans the dark web for your personal info and will notify you if it finds a hit. The information searched for includes your name, address, email, phone number and Social Security number.
Enabling dark web report will give you an option to select the information you’d like to keep an eye on. If any matching info is on the dark web, Google will notify you and provide guidance on how you might protect that information.
For instance, if your Social Security number was on the dark web, Google may suggest you report it as stolen to the government or take steps to protect your credit.
Apart from showing results matched to the personal info you added to your monitoring profile, dark web report will also show you other related info that may be in those data breaches.
The info in your monitoring profile is according to Google’s privacy policy and you can delete any info from your profile or stop monitoring at any time.
Dark web report will start rolling out over the next few weeks to members across all Google One plans in the U.S.
All plans have editing features like Magic Eraser in Google Photos access to expert support and other benefits2 across Google.
Learn more about Google One and which plan is right for you here.
