Today we are excited to announce the merger of RestorePrivacy.com with CyberInsider.com.
RestorePrivacy.com was launched in 2017 as a blog to discuss digital privacy topics. The site grew in popularity over the years, focusing on various news stories related to digital privacy, while also reviewing and recommending different privacy products and services, such as secure email providers and VPNs.
CyberInsider.com was launched in 2024 by the same core team behind RestorePrivacy. With CyberInsider, the focus was largely on covering cybersecurity news, as well as many of the same topics on RestorePrivacy.
With this merger, all of the articles from RestorePrivacy.com are moving to CyberInsider.com.
Why the merger?
Combining the two websites greatly enhances both projects into one central platform. RestorePrivacy offers a rich collection of in-depth guides, tutorials, reviews, and comparisons. Meanwhile, CyberInsider has grown over the months with breaking news stories and detailed reports. Combining both websites into one allows us to focus our energy on one platform and cover all of these important topics.
All content from RestorePrivacy.com has been migrated to CyberInsider.com. A visitor who goes to a page on RestorePrivacy.com will be automatically redirected to the same page on CyberInsider.com.
Aside from adding a few more writers and editors, there have been no changes to the core team of people who run RestorePrivacy and CyberInsider.
Additionally, unlike many other review websites in this space, RestorePrivacy and CyberInsider remain completely independent, with no outside investors or owners. In fact, there have been zero ownership changes since this project first started in 2017. And finally, we have no ownership interest in any of the products or services we review and recommend.
Looking ahead, you can expect lots of great content to be published on CyberInsider. With a streamlined team now working on one website, we will also be able to update our large library of articles more frequently.
Finally, we'll also be starting a newsletter, which should be going live before the end of the year.
January 2025 Update
Based on feedback from our valued readers, we have updated the site navigation menu to match the old menu from RestorePrivacy. This should help readers find our main guides and resources.
We will also be updating the homepage with our most relevant guides as well in the coming weeks.
Additionally, we now have a newsletter that will be going out soon. The newsletter will be a weekly roundup of our news articles and any other updated resources.
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What ever happened to Sven Taylor? Did he not make the move over with the rest? I really enjoyed his articles on restoreprivacy.com.
Hi Justin, Sven Taylor was a pseudonym I was using for the privacy blog, and I’m still here as before. I decided to start using my real name last year and with this site, although I’m still a privacy nut 🙂
I went to my saved bookmarks for pages on restoreprivacy.com and was a little shocked I got redirected to what appeared like a news only site, something that is not the same at first glance and a different URL/name. However I could see some (not all) of similar titled reviews on opening the side menu (using mobile browser, not desktop).
Then I wanted to make sure it’s the same people who own/write/run this site… So I searched and asked why in Brave AI search, it gave reasons and links, one to this page. Question answered. Yet I think it could be useful for this new site to have say a really small font text logo of something like “+RestorePrivacy” within and just underneath the “CyberInsider” logo text at the top of the pages. Also have a top level menu item titled “About new site/name”, linking to this article.
I can understand why you’ve combined them, I think it makes sense, good idea, yet for those checking your reviews infrequently and out of the loop about things like your change in business model and site, it’s a little worrying, or uneasy feelings, getting redirected and landing on a site that looks very different (before looking at menu items). Presumably the menu is listed and readable on a desktop browser so easier to see similarity without tapping on the burger button to open the menu list on the mobile sized pages.
Anyway, all the best with CyberInsider and thanks for the work you do.
I had the exact same experience. I’d recommend a better explanation also. Also wondering why the author changed on one of the articles from 2022 to 2024. I can think of a plausible explanation but would be nice to have it be transparent.
If it was a change from “Sven Taylor” to my name, then that’s because I decided to use my real name with this website. And with RestorePrivacy, I previously used a pseudonym for privacy reasons.
Whoever, use this link as your search menu now.
https://cyberinsider.com/privacy-tools/
Its topic contents yield more of a, or can be used to searching for the old restore privacy topics. Than typing -sitemap- into cyberinsider’s seachbox function. Just use the links scattered within link above of – privacy tools topic page to locate what your wanting to find from the old rp site. Which seemef like a dream scape to the oppressed site of today we find.
Hey Dan, I’ll be working on the homepage and menu bar in the coming weeks to make it very similar to the RP version. If you (or anyone else) have any constructive feedback on how we can make this site better for our readers, I’m all ears.
Be happy to offer in hope its taken as constructive. I haven’t been on such a news blur site, so much as it passes as a blur with no interest when its all about news.
You had something with the landing page layout such as this.
https://web.archive.org/web/20211221114447/https://restoreprivacy.com/
Scrolling the whole page you get a little of eye candy with cool topics of 60% interests to most.
Then you find the restore privacy soul laid out as
RestorePrivacy Resources:
Why this site can’t be like that link shows is my guess?
One other thing, it used to seem that the help topics or guides that have grown with the sites age, were lengthy like a 5000 words count. Then you went farther by adding words to links about different ways to secure or protect, kind of making the one topic – guide a verbal roadmap to more here. That fluff I found as clutter to the main interest of the headline.
So its going to fit like a pair of new shoes for awhile. Everyone is looking for the old slippers feel right off.
Setting in the dark scratching our heads till you update or answer more sure can’t hurt.
I’m still up to help and in my view being helpful. So weight the whole view and see if there is something to it!
The choice to merge both sites to one, if I were to see it from your point. Could very well be your looking for a new fresh start in the future.
So as I and some others learn / relearn, and if we may, we have found all your prior information helpful, as its all connected information about the net.
Do please include how the internet works today and with AI, what makes the need for any future changes in present facts of all new evolving technology, and then by who?
News is alright for its purpose of web danger insights but, just not helpful for the users trying to understand this utility the world uses in driving the data life or in future of a connected world.
Learn and guide us with the fundamental information about a server handshakes, the TCP three-way handshake process for establishing reliable connections.
About the generl info on APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) sent over TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) as the underlying transport protocol for exchanging data between applications or services. Where and if the APIs queries use any encrypted connections? Where and how the TCP three-way handshake and TLS/SSL handshake work. How can a vpn service handles this encrytpion by its client/server software itself, rather than a separate TLS/SSL handshake.
Then focus the new merged sites as your cyberinsider standalone, by the real stats of todays internet usage. Where users who use it breakdown into an outline of device precentages in use for their internet’s path that I personally find today for 2024 seen as.
PC/Laptop: 36.62% of global web traffic (SOAX, August 2024) Mobile (Smartphones and Tablets): 54.25% of global web traffic (SOAX, August 2024) Tablet: 2.66% of global web traffic (SOAX, August 2024)
63.38% of global web traffic comes from mobile devices (SOAX, August 2024) Mobile internet traffic has consistently stayed above 50% since early 2020 (SOAX, August 2024)
9 in 10 (92.3%) of internet users access the internet using a mobile phone of some kind (survey, 2024)
Trying to be constructive in telling you its a hard path for you in revamping your sites. Same as it is for all internet users trying to see the path of security and privacy within the set formula of our internet rituals.
Can’t build nothing solid without a foundation and its not a complete job without the roof ex: as blueprint plan.
The human body contains DNA, just like the internet trace route. Such a diagnostic tool that traces the path of an IP packet as it traverses routers locally or globally.
DNA in humans explains how your body should react. Of course, while the process may differ in creating a mapping schema to the internet. The internet hasn’t evolved for millions of years has it.
It does take a certain length of time for new languages to appear and become widely adopted, thereby evolving the building blocks of the internets growth in change for our need to understand and that you should offer here.
Such as, How Does the Internet Work?
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/how-does-the-internet-work/
I hope this is understood as what we need being visitors here.
If possible, when a site visitor arrives from a redirect from either the old site RestorePrivacy domain or any old site review or other page, have either a small bubble pop-up with text opening saying “this is the new website/home for RestorePrivacy.com, combining our existing privacy reviews with our new security news articles. Please use the menu button to find the reviews sections”. Or even better, provide a link to this article to satisfy those surprised and unsure about the redirect to CyberInsider.
Could even have a short motto under the site logo saying “Privacy Reviews and Security News”.
Alternatively if not too difficult and possible, have visits to old RP site review pages (say opening a saved bookmark, or clicking an old RP link shared on social media), redirect to the same section on this new site, or a menu page of the reviews, instead of just redirecting to the homepage.
As for the Menu sorting and titles, have “Security News” and “Privacy Reviews” as top level menu items, with say a big + to open the sub menu items, have those two top level menu items near the top of the menu, or at the top of the page without opening any menu (mobile browser), so that it’s easy for those unsure [about being redirected to CyberInsider] to work out quickly and easily, where to go next and see that the privacy reviews exist on this new site. Currently, IMO, the privacy reviews are too far down the menu items and seem to broken up. I’m sure I remember some statistic a few years ago about how ridiculously short the length time was, on average, that visitors spend on webpages (i.e. just read the headline, don’t scroll, or open menus/links)…. so it’s probably best to make it both super obvious and quick to read/see (i.e. Privacy Reviews HERE & Security News HERE) before Joe Stat Average thinks “this isn’t the site (RestorePrivacy) I’m looking for… and leaves.
Good luck on this new journey, Mr. Alex. Yes, it is a bit confusing now, but as time goes by, we get used to changes, because that is part of life. I would like to see reviews of search engines, since they change a lot over time. As for browsers, there are usually no major changes in the ones that already exist. Long live and prosper to the whole team! Unfortunately, few people (compared to the large number of people who use the Internet, almost the entire population of the planet) are aware of how important it is to know about the security of online browsing. It is as important, if not more important, than the security of one’s own home, because on the Internet, intruders can enter much more easily without being noticed.
Thanks John Wayne!
This just blows my mind when sven had such strong words that nothing ever was going to happen to the redtoreprivacy.com site. Even then the sites value was in the comments left. Bias or not you could see real users experiences not relying on a grading system.
Restorer, all of the articles from RP are here. Unfortunately all the comments were challenging to bring over with the articles due to numerous bugs and problems with the import/export function of WordPress. Some comments made it, some did not.
Whew!
Thought for a sec that your site had been hijacked or something….lol
From search engine results clicked on RP…then typed it myself…kept coming
to this weird site…lol
Anyway, Best of Luck and I hope it’s all groovy!
Now this is a weird site, emphasis on news, some reviews … at first I thought the RP is gone. It’s a pity the site is not designed to see all the reviews from RP at first glance. I don’t understand your move, but it’s your call. Unless you are old RP user and you do remember “old” topic, no chance to find the reviews except searching by menu search. Now the site looks as dedicated cyber news site rather then trustworthy privacy review site as it used to. Hope you will fix this. Apart from this, the privacy content/review is the best, bar none. Regards, Mark.
Great news and good luck!
Thanks Mike!
Hi Alex, this is good news. But what happened to all of the reviews: VPN, etc. and Privacy Tools – which features Privacy-focused search engines, browsers, VPN-friendly routers, Firefox tweak guide, etc?
Am I just missing where all of that information is located?
Keep up the good work, I definitely appreciate it.
Hi RGV, thank you. As noted in the article, everything is here, and with the same URL path, but I admit it may be a bit harder to find. The main downside is we were not able to import the comments from RP, but we may still try to get that done at some point. To find articles you are looking for, try using the search icon in the menu bar, and you should be able to find everything that was previously on RP.
“To find articles you are looking for, try using the search icon in the menu bar, and you should be able to find everything that was previously on RP.”
1) Since I use a dark mode browser extension, the option to even find or interact with the “hamburger” on the top left side or the search “magnifying glass” on the top right side were not interact-able unless I disabled my dark mode browser extension (Dark Reader).
2) Please bring back a top-level, on main webpage, drop down menu list like RestorePrivacy had versus me having to disable my dark mode extension, clicking on the magnifying glass, and then having to type in “cloud storage review” in the Search Bar. It’s not very disability-friendly for those of us require dark mode.
Thanks for the feedback. RestorePrivacy literally had the same menu style, with the same magnifying glass search option, running on the exact same theme as this website (it was basically the exact same website). The only differences were some of the items in the menu, and the homepage had more links. But I’ll try to improve this by fixing up the menu and adding a lot more links to the homepage (a resource section) like RP.
@RGV. I love your toxic positivism.
The truth is, not many people are familiar with Cyberinsider. I remember when RP was initially described as being ‘founded’ by Sven Taylor, but now the claim is that it was founded by Alex Lekander.
This minor, but important inconsistency raises questions about the credibility of their operations. When you combine this with their aggressive and consistent promotion of NordVPN, it creates a conflict of interest.
And how are we supposed to take any reviews by RP/CI seriously, especially when there seems to be a lack of transparency and these shifting details? It’s hard to ignore the possibility that their recommendations may be driven more by partnerships than genuine, unbiased assessments.
Anyways, I’ll be surprised if Alex approves of my comment, given how the “truth hurts” those who are called out. I’ve taken a screenshot to show that it was written.
Hey BBG, Sven Taylor was a pen name I used for privacy reasons on a privacy-focused blog as I’ve explained before. Believe it or not, I actually take privacy seriously, and it’s not some grand conspiracy as you seem to suggest 😅. NordVPN is one of the affiliates we have in this space, and that’s also no secret. We’ve been an affiliate with NordVPN for years (as well as many other privacy brands like Proton) because we found it to perform well and use it ourselves. NordVPN is also a top-performing VPN in the industry and sits in the #1 position on many other tech publications, including TechRadar, Tom’s Guide, Security.org, Cybernews, and others. But no worries, if you still don’t like this, there are plenty of other websites you can visit. 👋 Cheers
Quite certain most people realized Sven Taylor was a pseudonym.
Hope to see the return of privacy tools, review section.
Yeah I thought so too Travis…
Privacy Tools page is here like before, but comments could not be migrated unfortunately.
Me too, just copy your link when you see your comment is waiting moderation. My worry like now because of this change makes, its only like a topic to be burrired. Not part of the cyberinsider About statement. To much change without knowing the roadmap.
Its too busy anymore to even see the old footprint. My 2 cents.