How to use this guide: AffiliateDataset provides the factual program terms and evidence metadata used in examples. Privacy Affiliates independently produces the workflow, judgments, and conclusions. This is not a promise of earnings or a product endorsement.
Choose criteria before brands
Write the rubric before selecting products. Criteria might include supported platforms, audit recency, breach response, data collection, account recovery, pricing transparency, and fit for a defined threat model. Publish the weights so readers can disagree intelligently.
Show commercial facts in context
Commission rates belong in an editorial disclosure or methodology panel, not in the product-quality score. Cookie length helps explain the business relationship but says nothing about security. The benchmark page here deliberately labels its rankings as program economics rather than product reviews.
Make uncertainty visible
Use “not disclosed” instead of guessing, distinguish vendor claims from independent evidence, and show the age of each source. When evidence conflicts, explain the conflict. An honest incomplete comparison is more useful than a confident table built on stale marketing copy.
Working checklist
- Pre-published rubric
- Primary sources linked
- Unknowns visibly labeled
- Commercial terms excluded from product score
- Material changes recorded