Disclosure & How Security Gladiators Is Funded

Our Mission

The primary reason why Security Gladiators exists online is to provide readers with honest and unbiased security/privacy news and information, along with product comparisons and reviews.

Security Gladiators always puts its audience first. And on this page, we would like to provide transparent information to our readers about how we fund Security Gladiators.

Working in the cybersecurity industry, Security Gladiators has to balance our readers’ interests, the business’ interests and the site’s operations to continue providing top cybersecurity news and reviews while also keeping the community and the site growing.

Therefore, by providing impartial cybersecurity news, we try to generate revenue by building partnerships with advertising companies and brands. Our methodology is to use any and all services and products that we recommend and/or review. If a product or a service is not up to the mark, our writers and editors face no obstacles in stating so. The fact that Security Gladiators in an affiliate or has an advertising agreement with a product or a service does not change our opinion or experience regarding a given product or service.

It’s not hard to find competitor review sites that rank and review products and services based on their commercial relationship with the people behind those products/services. Security Gladiators has never engaged in such behavior.

How Does Security Gladiators Make Money?

Security Gladiators earns commission from its affiliates if readers buy services or products from the links provided on the site. That allows us to run site operations smoothly, pay staff and provide top-quality cybersecurity news and opinions. Our business goals have no bearing on how we review applications, products or services. Most of the time, we will provide readers with links to the above-mentioned commercial packages.

A certain percentage of the links that we mention in our reviews generates revenue for us in the form of referral fees if our readers decide to buy the product they like from our link. Security Gladiators then invests that money back into the website to better serve our readers.

With that said, the vast majority of links we provide through our content are not affiliate links, and we do not have any kind of commercial interest in the sites and apps that those links point to. Security Gladiators links to different services and products that help our readers protect their privacy and identity online. While we provide unbiased information about a particular product, it’s up to the reader to decide if they want to take the next step to buy it on their own.

Moreover, our analysts try products and services and then review them in-depth. Once that part is done, a separate team further reviews and edits the content and checks the links present to ensure they’re suitable and beneficial for our readers. Only after that do we add affiliate tracking codes to those links. These codes enable Security Gladiators to claim a referral fee from our advertisers and partners if our readers decide to buy something through that link.

Ultimately, the final cost a reader has to pay for a given product on our site (on which we earn a commission) does not increase in any way. Whether the reader purchases through our referral link or a normal one, the final cost the reader has to pay will remain the same. In fact, sometimes referral links allow readers to save a good amount of money if Security Gladiators has partnered with the service/product that the link points to.

To reiterate, Security Gladiators forms a commercial relationship with only those products and services that satisfy our strict and high standards. Affiliate links and other methods of generating revenue do not influence our opinions in the least bit.

Aren’t Affiliate Referral Links Bad?

You may already know some of the biggest internet companies on the planet, such as Apple, eBay and Amazon, offer affiliate programs. Moreover, plenty of big companies participate in those affiliate programs to benefit consumers and themselves.

Just because referral links have tracking codes in them does not mean that your privacy or anonymity is in danger. The tracking code in referral links only proves to the service/product providers that a reader purchased something from them through Security Gladiators. Beyond that, it serves no other purpose.

Security Gladiators does not violate user privacy in any way. With that said, once a reader leaves our website via a referral link and onto a third-party website, we can’t guarantee that it would not have tracking systems of its own. No privacy news website can do that. Big brands usually do track users and their purchasing decisions to grow their own business and serve customers better at the same time.

Of course, in the end, the reader is in control of whether or not they want to use our referral link to make a purchase. As mentioned above, referral links facilitate Security Gladiators to pay its ongoing costs in the form of analysts, writers, editors, UI designers and web developers. Such affiliate links do not increase the price of the product but do end up supporting Security Gladiators.

Readers who are extra privacy-conscious can always use anti-tracking add-ons as sanity checks, and the market offers a good number of such tools for free. One that we recommend is Privacy Badger from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. 

Our Review Process

Generally, we take a look at the following parameters when we review VPN services.

Price

The final price the end-user has to pay for a given period.

Refund Policy

The number of days a service allows the user to ask for a refund for any reason.

VPN Servers

The total number and location of servers that a VPN offers. 

Jurisdiction

The country from which the VPN under review operates.

Performance

VPN server speeds, DNS and IP leak tests are included.

Protocols

The number of popular protocols offered by the service.

Encryption

The type of encryption standards a VPN supports.

Logging Policy

Information about a VPN service’s data collection, storage and sharing practices.

Platform Support

The number of platforms for which a service offers dedicated apps.

Customer Support

The number of methods by which a customer can contact and get help from the VPN under review.

Security Options

This includes any bonus security features and/or standard features such as DNS leak protection, kill switch, ad blocker and firewall.

Payment Options

Whether or not a VPN service offers multiple ways for users to pay them for subscription packages, including anonymous methods like gift cards and cryptocurrency.

P2P Support

We look at whether or not a VPN allows users to take part in P2P (peer-to-peer) activities and on which servers.

Netflix and BBC iPlayer Support

Whether or not a VPN can block Netflix and BBC iPlayer (or other streaming platforms) consistently and reliably.