After being a customer of Norton's since 1990 (Norton Utilities which morphed into Internet Security), I am saying goodbye, next month. Why? Because they have become just too unptrustworthy, in my opinion. Two years ago, I decided to try the new re-formed product, with Lifelock. It was at an annual price of 99. for a year, which was double what I had been paying for Internet security, only. Imagine my surprise when, last year, it auto-renewed on me, at an increase o 50%, for 149.00.
Since I was in the middle of a big project, I just let it go, and decided to do something different, before the next renewal. After I decided to go with Lifelock, I found out it had far fewer protections, than what I assumed it should have for paying as much for it. There were a few features that I found I would have to pay even more, to get. That was my first disappoint with the package. One of the things I wanted was the secure VPN, because I had an international trip planned. The first thing that happened to me, on that trip, was that the VPN apparently failed me, in Costa Rica and I had a bogus Netflix charge on my CC, from a night in a hotel. Over the past year, I also discovered a lot of interference between the VPN and several iPhone apps, especially Twitter.
On the Twitter app, I have definitely tracked one huge problem, confirmed, because I can absolutely replicate it, by just turning the Norton VPN on. When using the VPN, I cannot see my Lists. It won't show me Members or Tweets. There are a couple other areas that are also problematic, when the VPN is turned on, but this was a deal breaker for me.
I am often a bit resentful and suspicious first Norton, and now Lifelock. At times, I wonder if they aren't a self-created industry. The early virus attacks gave rise to needing this kind of security. What it they purposely seeded the internet with viruses, to create the need for software security? I have no evidence of this, only suspicions. As more comes out about the lack of moral ethics in big tech companies, the more I wonder about this idea. FWIW, I also feel the same way about the credit industry. They created something, with social and economic pressures, causing it to be needed by every single citizen, basically. Along with those suspicions, and the era intense "computer analytics", where every company is collecting info on and studying the behaviors of every person on a computer, in the U.S., I started wondering just how much of my personal info that Norton's has collected and analyzed me with, over 30 years. What is Norton doing, when my computer is idle, but it's busy working away and using a large chunk of CPU. I have very fast internet. Filling in a backup should not take that much timee.
I've decided it is time to move away from big, bloated software, for this work, and try out one of the newer, more streamlined companies. Even buying three different pieces of software to replace Lifelock with, will cost me less. Norton's is just not Norton's anymore, in any shape or form. And now, Lifelock is charging extra for the Utilities functions, that used to be included in the package. That, I cannot abide.