Malwarebytes vs McAfee

Malwarebytes has noticeably better specific privacy practices than comparable US security companies — IP addresses are explicitly not stored, the VPN has a detailed and specific no-logs commitment, text messages are scanned without being retained, cloud storage scan files are deleted immediately after scanning, and usage/threat statistics collection can be opted out of in product settings — but it is a US company (Santa Clara, CA) with no named security certifications in its policy, vague retention periods, and a website advertising tracking stack.

McAfee is a broad consumer security suite that necessarily collects significant data — including email content for AI scam detection, financial account login credentials for transaction monitoring, and SSN/credit card numbers for identity monitoring — and shares contact and commercial information with advertising partners; its CCPA transparency table is unusually specific and confirms browsing and network activity are not shared for advertising, the VPN explicitly avoids logging originating IPs or DNS queries, and CCPA request metrics are published, but the overall collection scope is extensive, retention is vague, and no security certifications are named in the main policy.