Google’s One plans are getting expanded VPN access and dark web monitoring

If you pay for a Google One plan to get extra storage or other benefits, you might be about to get some extra features. The company has announced that all One subscribers will be getting access to the VPN that used to be limited to its Premium tier and that it’s adding dark web monitoring to alert you if your sensitive information starts circulating on sites that search engines normally don’t index.

If you live in a supported country, you can use Google’s VPN on a variety of devices, including Android phones and iPhones, as well as Macs and PCs. Previously, you had to pay for the $9.99 monthly tier that included 2TB of storage to access it (or buy a Pixel 7, which includes it even if you’re not a One subscriber). Now, however, it’s even included with the $1.99 monthly “Basic” plan, which comes with 100GB of storage. Subscribers should start seeing VPN access roll out to their accounts “over the next few weeks.”

For One subscribers in the US, Google is also adding a feature called “Dark web report,” which will “scan the dark web for your personal info.” Enabling it involves creating a profile with the information you want to scan for — you can add things like your email address, physical address, social security number, phone number, and date of birth. If Google finds it in any of its scans, you’ll get a notification with suggestions on what kind of steps you can take.

The feature is similar to one that Google’s rolling out for everyone, which will alert you if your personal info shows up in search results — except the Google One version obviously searches a lot deeper. While Google has brought some features of its subscription service to Pixel owners (and brought Pixel features to Google One), the dark web report is currently exclusive to One subscribers, according to Esteban Kozak, director of product management for the service. It will, however, be available on all the One tiers.