McAfee - Privacy & Identity Guardian (1 User) Privacy Software (1-Year Subscription, Auto-Renews at $99.99 first year) - Android, Apple iOS, Chrome, Mac OS, Windows [Digital]

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• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  THE PRICE OF PRIVACY, WORTH IT?

  • Verified Purchaser
  • Incentivized
  • My Best Buy® Member
  • Top 50 Contributor
  • Owned for 3 weeks

  Hey guys I've recently tried out McAfee's Privacy & Identity Guard Online Protection and thought I'd share my two cents on it, this isn't just your ordinary antivirus – it's a suite aimed at keeping your digital identity safe and sound. **EASE OF USE** Getting started with McAfee was a breeze, the setup didn't have me jumping through hoops, and navigating the interface was intuitive enough that I didn't need a manual to figure things out. Whether you're on your phone or laptop, Android or iOS, the process is pretty straightforward. **FEATURES AND PERFORMANCE** Now let's talk about what this bad boy can do. McAfee's identity monitoring is pretty thorough, watching over a laundry list of personal details from your Social Security number to your credit cards, although it doesn't cover everything under the sun like postal records, it's got a keen eye on the dark web and data breaches, which is where a lot of the sketchy stuff goes down. Personal data cleanup is a gem, especially if you're not keen on your details being peddled by data brokers, if it finds your info on the dodgy corners of the web, it'll scrub it off for you, a feature that's as rare as it is reassuring. On the flip side, the service isn't perfect. While it's vigilant about certain aspects of your online presence, there are areas it doesn't monitor, like criminal records or payday loan databases, also, there's no app specifically for this service, which could be a bit of a downer if you like managing things on the go. **COMPATIBILITY** Jumping over to compatibility, McAfee's been a champ across my tech collection, whether I'm on my Android phone, iPad, or MacBook, it's like a one size fits all kind of deal, no weird glitches or temper tantrums from any of my devices, it's like having that one friend who can mingle with all your different circles without any drama. **PRICING** Talking dollars and sense, McAfee's pricing is a mixed bag, the initial three months felt like a steal, given the peace of mind I got, but when renewal time comes around, and that $100 price tag pops up, it makes you think twice. Sure, it's not pocket change, but considering it's guarding your digital treasures, it might just be worth the investment. **CUSTOMER SUPPORT** Let me get this straight, nobody calls customer support for fun, but on the rare occasion I had to ring them up, McAfee's folks were on the ball, they weren't just reading off a script; they actually knew their stuff, it's like having a tech savvy buddy on speed dial. **PROS AND CONS** Alright, let's break it down. PROS FIRST: the personal data cleanup is top notch, like having a digital broom for your online mess, the $1 million insurance is no joke either, it's like having a safety net made of cash. CONS: It's not all rainbows, the no go on stuff like criminal records monitoring is a bummer, and the price hike after three months might make you sweat a bit, also the lack of a dedicated app is like having a sports car without a key fob. **CONCLUSION** In the grand scheme of things, McAfee's Privacy & Identity Guard is like that reliable neighbor who keeps an eye on your place, it's not going to stop every would be digital intruder, but it's vigilant where it counts, for the tech savvy crowd that doesn't mind the manual check-ins, it's a solid pick. **PERSONAL EXPERIENCE** Now, I haven't had my identity swiped (knock on wood), but knowing McAfee's got my back makes me sleep easier. It's like having a watchdog that doesn't need to be walked. It's not cheap, and the watchdog might miss a spot or two, but it's still a darn good pup to have around.

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  This review is from McAfee - Privacy & Identity Guardian (1 User) Privacy Software (90-Day Trial, Auto-Renews at $99.99 first year) - Android, Apple iOS, Chrome, Mac OS, Windows [Digital]

  Posted 1 year ago by FernandoR

• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  Peace of mind, but kind of scary to use!

  • Tech Insider Network Member

  This is my first time getting any sort of protection like this and it was quite enlightening. But the idea of giving a single app literally all your personal data is INCREDIBLY nerve wracking. Like I almost didn’t wanna go through with it. The thought kept entering my mind, this single company could have a data breech and then I’m skeee…ruuuddde! Luckily it claims to have all the standard protections and more to keeping your identity secure. The interface is easy to use, and the program does an excellent job of explaining everything in a way that's easy to understand. However due to the fact it’s web based I often found myself wishing it were an app on my computer and would notify me. Luckily, after a few days I realized that there is a mobile app to address this. The mobile app is decent and easy to navigate. Provides enough detail on everything to be a useful tool but is far less comprehensive than the website is. It will at least notify you on breeches. Addressing the breeches on your phone via the app is also not as streamlined as it is on PC/Mac via a web browser. You could access it on your mobile web browser too and honestly found that pretty darn good, but the problem again is notifications. It will email you about new breaches, but I enjoy push notifications from apps. The interface also splits up into two major groups. Privacy focused stuff and Identity monitoring. Privacy is more exciting, and the identity monitoring was more of a chore for me. With Identity Monitoring, was going through dealing with breeches, etc. Privacy however was cooler… I think. One of the things I like most about the McAfee Privacy & Identity Guard is that it gives you a score for your online security and privacy, a way to kind of gamify your privacy. This score is based on a few factors and from what I can tell, some other factors that I haven’t discovered yet. The obvious ones are addressing breached passwords, reading about breached information, like your phone number or addresses, and acknowledging your SSN breaches and handling their recommended steps to secure yourself. There’s also an automated “online identity scrubber” that tries to remove you from online databases. I suspect my score will go up after that is completed, but it states it can take up to a whopping 30 to 45 days to complete. To be honest this is the most intriguing part of this. I’d love to wipe my presence from online searches. They call this the “Personal Data Cleanup” and it’s a service they provide. You don’t have to do it yourself. The amount of data some of these sites had on me were CRAZY. It had my family information, aunts, uncles, parents, siblings, addresses, social media accounts, etc. NUTS. Luckily I haven't screwed someone over enough to want to get me. But the sheer amount of info that was on these sites, crazy. The best part is IT'LL DO IT ALL FOR ME. I still have a bunch of time before I can see the results of it, but I'm hoping it'll succeed. I'm currently at a 620 on the McAfee scale, and I'm trying to get it higher, but as I alluded to earlier, I don’t know what the steps are to do that outside what I’ve already done. One thing that I found odd about this service is that it recommended that I delete my Amazon account. I understand that Amazon has a lot of information on me, but I'm not sure I'm ready to delete that account just yet. I get why it’s marked it as a high-risk account, but I don’t think I could do that. Much like I wouldn’t be able to delete my Best Buy account or say Spotify account. They’re services that I actively use and I feel like it would inconvenience my life more so than the x% it improved my security/privacy. My suggestion to McAfee would be to suggest ways to secure your life for these high risk accounts so you can live with it and maximize your security and privacy. Suggest a stronger password, and give examples, ship to a pick up center instead of your home, using burner credit cards instead, etc. Overall, I think this McAfee product is a great tool for anyone who wants to improve their online security and privacy. It's easy to use and it does a great job of explaining everything in a way that's easy to understand. The UI is super easy to navigate, and it offers I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is concerned about their online security and privacy and wants to take back control of their personal info. Ultimately I gave it a 4 star instead of a perfect 5 is because it's hard to listen to all the recommendations and it says I can improve my score by doing these steps, but when I open that section, literally nothing is there. I already did them. So it's give you a sense that it's not fully flushed out or that you are indeed working with a program that isn't that aware of itself. But still, highly recommended. It was a darn good first impression.

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  Posted 2 years ago by GamingBusinessGuy

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Totally shocked

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • Top 25 Contributor

  I wanted to try out McAfee’s new Privacy and Identity Guard as I wanted something to check out my information fully. There’s nothing to install, and is all web based so there’s nothing to run on your computer with this, and you can sign in from any browser. The Privacy and Identity Guard advertises that it has Personal Data Cleanup, Online Account Cleanup, Identity monitoring, and McAfee Protection Score. After ordering all you have to do is set up your account “if you don’t already have one” and activate with the provided license emailed after purchase. 1st, the Personal Data Cleanup really surprised me, and according to their information out of 40 sites they regularly monitor as “data brokers” I had information on 36 of them “I’ve been online for a long time”, and one of those sites “I double checked”, had information on me going back to the mid 1990s, wow. I was really surprised just how much of my information was on those sites. I do like that McAfee shows that they requested my information to be removed from all those sites and will keep the portal updated as they respond back. They’ll also provide me the information on how to manually request my information be removed in case any of those refuse the requests. 2nd, the Online Account Cleanup amazed me, it showed me sites that I hadn’t used in years and still had my information, “almost 800 of them :O “, it lets you click on each one to be taken to the site so you can see if you can remove that information yourself. Luckily a lot of those site I’ve not used in 5+ years and my passwords and information has changed enough to where nothing there ought to be valid for a hacker. 3rd the Identity monitoring is a welcome plus, as I already have it through my tax software company and at least this is another added level of protection. I can also set up alerts to let me know if any of the parameters are met/broken. So far nothing has come back on this but it’s nice to know that active monitoring is there and working. 4th the McAfee Protection Score just gives you a score based on how much you are monitoring and cleaning up. The more information you give them and the more effort you put into cleaning up its alerts the higher your score goes. It’s a good measure to keep you trying to get a high score. Conclusion: In all I’m very impressed with just how much of my information this found out on the web, “including very old information” that I really don’t want anyone to be able to just look up. And with McAfee requesting the removal of that information from those sites and providing me the information on how to request it if they refuse is a huge plus. The rest of the stuff included like the online account cleanup was really helpful. Even though a huge chunk of the almost 800 sites listed were old and closed it’s nice to know just who is still hanging onto that information. I’m going to have a lot of work cut out cleaning up those old accounts. They also show you how many data breaches your information was on and lists them so you can go in and work on cleaning those up, “making that a priority. With all the other monitoring and identity sites out there it’s hard to know who would be the best one. In my opinion I’ll stick with the McAfee Privacy and Identity Guard as it’s affordable and did an extremely good job of identifying all my information that’s floating around the web. So if you are trying to choose, do take a look at Privacy and Identity Guard, it’s well worth the money.

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  Posted 2 years ago by SteveC