Updated 2026-08-09; prices re-check before purchase

Affiliate Disclosure

Security Checklist may earn compensation when you purchase through links on this site. That compensation does not change our testing criteria or product scores. Affiliate payout cannot determine a recommendation.

Editorial policy Methodology

Purpose

This disclosure explains how commercial relationships work so you can evaluate recommendations with full context. It applies wherever Visit, View Deal, or similar tracked CTAs appear.

Launch products under consideration include Aura, Incogni, NordPass, 1Password, Bitdefender, Malwarebytes, and selected Surfshark security products, each only after program approval and destination verification.

Make compensation transparent near recommendations
Preserve editorial independence from payout size
Route every affiliate click through first-party tracking

Policy

Base wording used near commercial recommendations: “Security Checklist may earn compensation when you purchase through links on this page. This does not change our testing criteria or product scores.”

We do not use cloaking, fake countdowns, fake scarcity, false discounts, or fabricated coupon codes. We do not auto-redirect you to an affiliate destination without an intentional click.

Disclosure visible on mobile without opening an accordion
No CTA until program, destination, geo availability, and fallback are verified
Non-affiliate comparators may appear when editorially needed

What compensation does not buy

A higher commission cannot move a product above another in a best-of list. Missing View Deal buttons on comparison-only products (for example DeleteMe or LifeLock in this pack) are integrity controls, not UI bugs.

Overall scores stay unpublished until signed test records exist. Starting prices publish only from verified claim-ledger captures with access dates. Affiliate eligibility alone is never enough to publish a score or invent a coupon.

Overall score not yet published, see verification register
Starting prices only from claim ledgers (re-check at purchase)
Who should not buy stays required on commercial pages

Process

Affiliate clicks pass through our first-party /go/[merchant] endpoint with allowlisted merchant slugs. Arbitrary open redirects are not allowed.

Geo-aware routing is used only where product availability has been verified for the user’s country. Commission amounts are not shown as editorial scores.

Program records track network, countries, and last verified date
Sub-IDs and link tests required before publication
Prices re-checked separately from affiliate terms

Accountability

If a program becomes unavailable or a destination fails verification, CTAs are removed or swapped to a non-affiliate path. Editorial scores are not adjusted to chase higher payouts.

Questions about a specific link or disclosure placement can be raised via Contact.

Editorial policy: /editorial-policy/
Methodology: /methodology/
Contact: /contact/

Contact or escalation

For disclosure questions, use /contact/. Do not send account passwords or payment credentials. Security issues belong on /security/.

About the site: /about/
How we test: /how-we-test/
Free checkup: /security-checkup/

Limitations

Exact commission rates and cookie windows are program-specific and pending verification before publication of commercial CTAs.
Not every mentioned product is live with an affiliate link on every page yet.
This disclosure is not legal advice for other publishers.

Editorial policy Methodology

Expert guides & insights

Trust, tools, and category hubs that connect to this policy.