Our promise is simple: we pay for every family-safety tool we review, record the test, and show you what actually happened. This page explains how we do that, how we score products, how we protect any family data used in testing, and what we can’t test.
The short version
- We buy the plan with our own money. No free reviewer accounts, and vendors don’t see reviews before publication. If we cancel or get a refund after testing, the Test log says so, and we don’t claim long-term use we didn’t have.
- All testing is done by adults on our own devices, from outside the United States. Children never take part.
- Each review opens with a Test log listing the product, plan, price paid, start date, devices, checkpoints and what we couldn’t test.
- Data-removal services are checked at 30, 60 and 90 days, not just on day one.
- Prices are re-checked every month against the vendor’s official US pricing page.
- When we get something wrong, we fix it and record the fix in the corrections log at the bottom of this page.
Devices and operating systems
We test on the kinds of devices real families use, including older ones:
Windows 11 laptop, MacBook Air (macOS Sonoma), iPhone (iOS 18), Android phone (Android 14), and iPad (iPadOS 18).
Each review’s Test log names the exact devices and OS versions used. If a feature works only on a platform we don’t have (for example, a specific smart TV or game console), we say so instead of guessing.
What we test, by category
Data removal (Incogni, DeleteMe, Optery and others)
- Baseline (day 0). We record the service’s initial scan or list of brokers and capture what it found.
- Checkpoints at 30, 60 and 90 days. At each checkpoint we record what the dashboard reports (requests sent, completed, pending, re-appeared). At day 0 and day 90 the consenting participant checks the same five people-search sites for their own listing, so we can compare before and after.
- What we report. The number of brokers covered (per the vendor), what the dashboard showed at each checkpoint, how clearly it explains each request, and how easy it is to cancel.
Because these services only work for residents of certain countries (for Incogni, the US, Canada, the UK, the EEA, Switzerland and the Isle of Man), removal tests use the data of a consenting adult relative who lives in a covered country. See the consent rules below.
We report the vendor’s own numbers as the vendor’s numbers. Where we could independently confirm a removal, we say so. Where we couldn’t, we say that too.
Identity-theft protection (Aura, LifeLock and others)
These products are built around a US Social Security number and US credit files, which our team doesn’t have. Here is what that means in practice:
- Without a US identity we document what anyone can see: the sign-up flow up to the point where an SSN is required, pricing and renewal terms, trial and cancellation steps, and any features that work without identity verification (for example a bundled VPN or password manager).
- A full review (alerts received, how fast and how clear they are, family setup) happens only when a consenting US adult runs the product with their own identity. They enter their own SSN; we never enter anyone’s SSN, real or made up.
- Until then, identity-protection pages are labeled as researched comparisons, not hands-on reviews, and they carry no score.
Family password managers (NordPass, 1Password, Bitwarden and others)
We set up a family or household plan, invite members (using test email addresses), create shared vaults or folders, import a dummy set of passwords (never real ones), and use autofill on each test device for at least 30 days. We check recovery options (what happens if a family member forgets the master password), sharing controls, emergency access, and how hard it is to leave and export your data. For guides about older relatives, we also run short usability sessions with older adults in our own families, with their written consent. Those participants live outside the US, and the article says so.
Parental controls (Qustodio, Bark and others)
We install on our own test devices using test child profiles, never a real child’s account or device. Adult team members run every check, including the bypass attempts: we try the common, well-known tricks teens use, while logged in as the test child. We check setup time, screen-time limits, app and web filtering, alerts, location features, and how easy the controls are to get around. We report the outcome of each attempt (blocked or not, whether the parent was alerted, how fast) and how a parent can close the gap, but we don’t publish step-by-step bypass instructions. We also note how transparent the app is to the child and how it fits an age-appropriate, conversation-first approach.
Antivirus and device security (Norton, Malwarebytes and others)
We install on each test device and record setup, scan times, system impact we can observe, extra features (VPN, password manager, dark-web monitoring), upsell prompts and the cancellation process. We never use real malware. To check that real-time and web protection are switched on and working, we use harmless industry test files and pages (the EICAR test file and AMTSO feature-check pages), inside a virtual machine where possible. These checks only show that protection is wired up; they say nothing about detection rates. For detection rates we cite independent labs (such as AV-TEST or AV-Comparatives) by name and date, and we link to their results.
Scam of the Week
Scam alerts are explainers, not product tests. We base them on public warnings from official sources (such as the FTC, FBI/IC3 and state attorneys general) and on scam messages our team or readers actually received, shared with permission and fully redacted. Each post links to its sources.
How we score
Product reviews use a weighted score out of 10. The weights below are our default. A review notes any category-specific adjustment.
| Factor | Weight | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Protection results | 35% | What the tool actually did in our test (removals completed, alerts received, filters that held, threats blocked per independent labs) |
| Family fit | 20% | Multi-member setup, sharing, age-appropriate controls, how it works for an aging parent |
| Ease of use | 15% | Setup time, clarity of dashboard and alerts, mobile apps |
| Transparency and privacy | 15% | Clear reporting, privacy policy of the service itself, honest marketing, easy cancellation |
| Value | 15% | Price paid versus what you get, renewal price, free alternatives |
We only score what we tested. If a factor couldn’t be tested (see limits below), we say how that affected the score, or we leave the product unscored.
Redaction and consent rules for family data
Testing family-safety tools sometimes means using real personal information. These are our rules:
- Consent first. We only use personal data of adults who have given written consent for that specific test. Participants use an email address they control and sign any authorization a service asks for themselves; we never sign on anyone’s behalf, never enter a Social Security number, and never pose as a US resident. They can withdraw it at any time, and we then remove their data from drafts and delete related screenshots we hold.
- No children in testing, and no real children’s data. Parental-control tests use test child profiles on our own devices, run by adults. We never collect or publish a real child’s name, face, messages, location or browsing history.
- Other people in the records. People-search listings often name relatives and neighbors who didn’t agree to anything. We blur their details too, and we publish only broker names, counts and statuses, never the records themselves.
- No names for participants. We describe participants generically (“a consenting relative in the US”, “Participant A, 68”) unless they ask otherwise in writing.
- Redact before anything leaves the test device. Names, home addresses, emails, phone numbers, dates of birth, account numbers, faces, license plates and location details are blurred or replaced before a screenshot is saved to our shared files or published.
- Minimum data. We give a service only the information it needs to run the test.
- Clean exit. After a test we cancel the plan, request account deletion where the service allows it, and record the date in the Test log.
- Private storage. Unredacted originals stay on the test device or in access-restricted storage and are deleted within 90 days after a review is published.
What we can’t test from outside the US
Our team is based outside the United States. Some features are built for US residents and can’t be fully tested from here. We’d rather tell you than pretend:
- Credit monitoring and credit locks/freezes tied to Experian, Equifax and TransUnion need a US Social Security number and a US credit file.
- SSN monitoring and US-specific identity alerts (such as change-of-address or court-record alerts) depend on US records we don’t have.
- Removal from US people-search sites for a US identity. Unless a consenting US-resident adult takes part in a test (and the Test log will say so if they do), we report the service’s dashboard and documentation and don’t claim verified removals.
- Identity-theft insurance claims and restoration services. We can’t file a real claim. We describe the policy terms from official documents and test how reachable support is.
- US carrier and banking integrations, such as SIM-swap alerts or bank-account monitoring with US institutions.
- US phone support hours and quality as experienced from a US number.
- Usability with US seniors. Our older-adult usability sessions are with relatives outside the US.
- Checkout from the US. We may be charged in another currency or at a regional price. The Test log shows what we were actually charged; articles quote the vendor’s official US price.
Each review lists the specific items it couldn’t test in its Test log. For these features we rely on the vendor’s official pages, terms and support documentation, and we link to them.
Prices
- We record the price we actually paid, including tax where shown, in the Test log.
- We re-check every listed price monthly against the vendor’s official US pricing page. Each pricing table shows “Prices checked [Month Year]”.
- We call out introductory prices and renewal prices separately, because the renewal price is what most families pay long-term.
Updates
Reviews are reviewed at least every 6 months, and sooner when a product changes significantly. Data-removal reviews are updated after each 30/60/90-day checkpoint. The date at the top of each review shows when it was last updated.
Corrections log
If you spot an error, email hello@savvykin.com. We fix verified errors promptly and record significant corrections here (typos and formatting fixes aren’t logged).
| Date | Page | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| — | — | No corrections yet. |