At PrivacySavvy, we aim to ensure that our content is of the highest quality alongside making editorial independence beyond any reasonable doubt by operating under a strict ethical code.
All the writers on our website work under detailed guidelines. In fact, our standards are beyond our industry’s average.
Our reader’s trust – your trust is the core value of our site. Building our success depends entirely on it, and hence, we work hard not only to earn it but also to keep it.
Given the plethora of information available, it’s the reason as to why, more than ever, we operate under clear ethical guidelines to ensure that our readers know from where the information is coming from, and whether they have to trust it.
Editorial Independence
The fact that everything starts with autonomy, makes it possible to publish our content in a heartbeat.
At Privacy Savvy, we cover an array of firms relevant to privacy and security. We’re much concerned about them since we’re communicators rather than cheerleaders.
We’ve based our independence on a responsibility channeled from following the strict editorial rules.
Also, we always ensure that there’s a favorable distance between the advertising and writing teams so that all information published remains objective as well as free of commercial influence.
The conduct guidelines for our site include:
- No payment for any endorsement.
- No gifts from companies or even their PR team.
- Whenever our writer has any conflict of interest in a certain story, we ensure they tackle something different; therefore, we guarantee neutrality as well as objectivity throughout the site.
- We don’t do paid content.
- For news stories, we never accept pre-conditions in covering any story. If providers ask that we say some particular things, they’re on the wrong site.
- We aren’t investors in the firms we cover on our site.
By saying that we don’t accept something of value, here we mean things like discounted services, meals, paid trip junkets, gifts, among others.
Moreover, whenever our writers attend any industry events, we handle all expenses, including hotels, food, and transportation.
Advertising
However we do not sell ads on the website, we have a specialized affiliate advertising group dealing with the affiliates on the website.
If we are ever going to accept advertisements, every feature on our website sponsored by a brand, advertiser, or company will be labeled clearly as “Advertiser Content.” And, they should not be representative of our site’s views.
Our team in sales and advertising has set policies as well as guidelines that they follow to ensure the content developed doesn’t affect the editorial team’s creativity, liberty, or independence.
Our teams don’t accept compensations from any individual or entity to produce an article or a review.
Our affiliate earnings make our work possible, and we always place a disclaimer in the sidebar (or at the top, before a page’s content begins) in every single article stating that we might earn an affiliate commission if you purchase something using our links.
Our affiliate links have a specific format being https://staging.privacysavvy.com/go/xxxxx.
Again, regardless of affiliation, we don’t allow providers to get in touch with our team’s integrity as well as the content they produce.
Also, the affiliate links emerge automatically within the site’s editorial texts, so our writers aren’t affected by the affiliate partnerships in any way.
Professional Conduct of Privacy Savvy
Our ethical levels aren’t for preserving the editorial independence of the site only. Also, our researchers, as well as writers, are expected to conduct themselves with industry-merit ethics at work.
It means that the editorial team invests great effort to find the truth and then report it, minimizing harm risks, protecting sources, and endeavoring in achieving the highest level of honesty as well as accuracy in every piece published.
The website’s professional baseline is in line with the SPJ’s (Society of Professional Journalists) code of ethics.
Distributed Platforms
Our website is present across various platforms, including social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.). Every work done in each platform is managed using similar ethical standards.
Whenever Privacy Savvy will distribute any sponsored editorial content as well as branded pieces using the distributed mediums we own, such publications will always be labeled as “Presented by” or “Paid content” in our blog posts.
Review
We also provide an essential service (to our followers and readers by advising on how they should spend precious money, time, and energy on security and privacy products.
These reviews always present the writer’s best appraisals, and none of them is paid for by the manufacturers or even advertisers on our website.
But yes, such reviews can have affiliate links (we do get affiliation with product and service providers who we find worthy for our readers to use).
Some providers and companies may provide us with some hardware to research them or even assess them in order to produce reviews.
Often we can hold the article for a long time to let it perform. Also, we could agree to some sort of “embargo” with a company that allows us to get in touch with an unreleased product.
Updated and Corrections
We always strive for accuracy, and we work to ensure we achieve it.
However, mistakes can be made along the way (an error is to human – we are!), but when we realize an error has been committed, our editors issue a correction instantly to remove the inaccurate information and replace it with an explanatory note clearing things out.
Sometimes things like videos may require that we take the original content down completely and then replace it with the new corrected version.
Usually, extra information surrounding a particular story already published may come to the spotlight. It can be clarifying the original story’s narrative and not a correction, and in such a scenario, we could change or append the concerning pieces of the initial article.
Be sure that everything will be clearly noted (usually at the end of the story’s content), and clarification includes the time it was changed as well as an explanation for the changed elements.
Moreover, we could get away with content that is deemed to infringe on the property rights of a third party or violate third-party rights. The decisions always involve the website’s legal team.
Personal Investments
We don’t invest in companies we cover. Furthermore, our employees are not permitted to get into a trade regarding the covered corporations.
While the site’s retirement savings program holds some restricted financial instruments, the site’s employees don’t manage them directly.
Also, we forbid our employees from getting involved in the cryptocurrency market (Ethereum, Bitcoin, Ripple, etc.).
Giveaways
Often we might run giveaways as well as contests for our users and readers. On occasions like that, we’ll post relevant rules for every competition or giveaway that will be binding for the entities deciding on joining.
While such events could be sponsored by our partners or advertisers to some level, they should not be considered an endorsement of that company or its products.
Other Employment
Our employees can’t be employed or otherwise paid by the companies they cover.
All the writers at PrivacySavvy are allowed to write for companies only with the website’s express permission, specifically from the chief editor.
Partnership
We can get into partnership with new projects (organizations, businesses, and brands) whose work is similar to our editorial teams, and the involvement won’t have a bearing on the content that we publish.
Therefore, our partnership teams can create and then publish that content on the sites of our partners, and in such situations, a description telling the connection between the partner and us is included in the article and the extent our research and writing teams were involved in the process.
Our Investors
Unlike other blogs so have a plethora of investors, PrivacySavvy is funded by only one privacy enthusiast and the affiliate commissions the site earns.
If we ever bring some investors on board, even with such circumstances, the position of our editorial team will remain neutral and independent. The investors won’t influence our creative process except when there’s a prior contract in place with the investor, including a partnership for the creation of content explicitly.
With such a relevant partnership, we will always disclose it clearly to our audience. Also, we will remind our users of a relationship we could be having with a certain investor when covering their news or activities.
We Welcome Readers’ Feedback
You’re our king, and we always want your feedback. In case you have a concern with our statement, ethical standards, or praxis, you’re free to reach out, and let’s know.