MANILA, Philippines – Microsoft announced Tuesday, June 25 (June 26 Manila time) it was releasing a new feature for its cloud storage service OneDrive which gives an extra layer of security for your sensitive files.

Personal Vault, as OneDrive explains in a blog post, is a protected area on your OneDrive account which uses two-factor authentication to keep files in that area safe.

OneDrive says the folder can only be accessed using a second authentication system, such as a ” fingerprint, face, PIN, or a code sent to you via email or SMS.”

Additionally, OneDrive’s mobile application will allow users to scan documents or take photos and video and have that directly placed into your OneDrive Personal Vault. Meanwhile, Windows 10 PCs will sync OneDrive Personal Vault files into a BitLocker-encrypted location on your local hard drive.

In these cases, Personal Vault Access can also be set on a timer, so that prolonged inactivity will automatically lock the Vault for your security.

Personal Vault files can all be accessed on Onedrive.com, on one’s PC, or on any of the existing capable devices supporting OneDrive.

Personal Vault will begin rolling out in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada first. The feature will be available for all OneDrive users by the end of 2019.

More paid storage for OneDrive

Microsoft also said it was adding in more storage for users who wished to purchase more space for their files.

For the $1.99 monthly subscription, users will now have a 100 gigabyte (GB) cap, expanded from the previous 50 GB limit. The plan will be coming out soon, and existing users will have their cap expanded when the feature is released.

Meanwhile, Office 365 subscribers – who already have 1 terabyte (TB) of storage to begin with, can purchase up to another TB of storage in increments of 200GB per tier. The additional Office 365 storage plans start at $1.99 monthly for an extra 200 GB, up to $9.99 monthly for an extra TB of space, with users able to increase, decrease, or cancel their additional storage plan as they wish. – Rappler.com