McAfee Total Protection vs Surfshark Antivirus Comparison

• Total Protection Essential for 5 devices, renewal: $119.99 a year after the first year; the checkout gives this as the current renewal price
• Total Protection Essential for 5 devices, first year: Intro: $39.99 for the first year, for new customers
• McAfee+ Premium Individual, renewal: $149.99 a year after the first year ($49.99 in the first year); from the plan page, not checked in the cart

• Surfshark One, renewal: $99 a year after the first term, whether that term was 1 or 2 years
• Surfshark One, month to month: $19.95 billed every month, no discount
• Surfshark One, first 2 years: Intro: $67.23 for the first 27 months (24 plus 3 bonus months), then $99 a year
• Surfshark One, first year: Intro: $44.85 for the first 15 months (12 plus 3 bonus months), then $99 a year
• Surfshark One+, renewal: $119 a year after the first term

The McAfee License Agreement says the antivirus protection may automatically send McAfee reports about suspected malware and unwanted software, that 'the reports may include files that contain suspected malware', that McAfee will ask permission first if it thinks a suspicious file is likely to contain personal data, and that 'You can turn off this automatic reporting from your antivirus protection in your product.' The privacy notice adds that the software collects device ID, telemetry, McAfee ID, IP address, web domains visited and web traffic data, and that the WebAdvisor browser extension collects URLs, search information and the name and size of downloaded files.

Surfshark says Cloud Protect checks suspicious files against its cloud database in real time 'without ever seeing your personal data', but neither the product pages, the help center nor the privacy policy say whether a file's fingerprint or the file itself is sent.

The privacy notice says McAfee does not 'sell' personal information under U.S. state law, but may share information with third-party advertising partners for cross-context behavioral and targeted advertising, that it collects mobile advertising identifiers, that mobile advertising partners may use location to target ads where location access is granted, and that it uses Meta's business tools to target ads. Opt-out is through the Individual Data Request form or Global Privacy Control. The Cookie Notice adds that free McAfee products may share device and advertising identifiers with web browsing or app usage with select partners for targeted ads, with an opt-out in the product settings.

The privacy policy's antivirus section uses device information to enforce the device limit and processes the malware name and type, country, OS and user ID for statistics. Separately, with your consent, the apps send device and engagement data to analytics and attribution providers, and the policy says advertising partners help attribute sales and show interest-based ads. The policy says Surfshark does not sell personal data.

McAfee, LLC is registered in California and has its headquarters at 6220 America Center Drive, San Jose. The privacy notice names McAfee Ireland Limited as the controller for consumers in the EEA and says McAfee may disclose data to law enforcement and government authorities, including for national security purposes and in response to subpoenas.

The contract is with Surfshark B.V., registered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The terms of service are governed by the law of the British Virgin Islands.

On 1 March 2022 McAfee Corp. announced the completion of its acquisition by an investor group led by Advent International and funds advised by Permira, with Crosspoint Capital Partners, CPP Investments, GIC and a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority; the deal was valued at over $14 billion and McAfee left the stock exchange.

Surfshark B.V. sells the antivirus as part of its own subscription. The privacy policy says it shares data with its group companies in the EEA, the United States and the United Kingdom, without naming them.