Weekly Sponsor Concerns Update - Feb 9, 2024

[Other James]

Hey everyone! I’m back. Between CES and being pulled away for some other work, Geoff had to step in and post for me last week. But I’m happy to be here again with some updates on some of the things I’ve seen over the past week.

Dbrand
dbrand has been a long-term and staple sponsor with us here, so seeing a bit of an influx in issues around shipping times, their customer support, and the quality of product upon arrival is a bit of a bummer to see. We’ll reach out and see if we can gather any information about the changes we’ve seen in the aforementioned fields. 

Certo
On Mac Address this week we ran a spot with Certo, a spyware detection system for Apple devices. An individual on the forum questioned the validity of the claims, specifically around the softwares ability to dig through and delete files. We reached out to Certo to get some more information. 

According to Certo the poster is absolutely correct. On device, there wouldn’t be a way to detect the threats due to sandboxing. Certo uses a computer for this. Their software extracts data from an iPhone for analysis by creating a backup of the device using the same service/method that iTunes would. This gives them access to all files where evidence of malware exists. There’s no need to go into personal data while doing this, though a small percentage of devices do have backup encryption enabled. In this case, Certo would ask for the password during the scan to decrypt and analyze. 
Regarding removal, some threats can be removed by interacting directly with the device over USB, such as disabling WiFi Sync spyware. For more persistent threats that require intervention from the user, the software provides easy-to-follow removal steps tailored to the specific threat.
Certo has been pretty transparent about this and is willing to get a bit more into the weeds as well, but we thought this addressed the concern brought to our attention.

 

Volta
This week, there was a complaint about Volta. Again, I just want to reiterate that we have not worked with them since around mid-last year, and there’s no intention to restart our partnership as is.

AG1
We plan to have an in-depth conversation with AG1 regarding any claims they make and ask them to back it up. There will be a sponsor spot with them on the WAN Show tonight due to prior obligations, but we want to ensure additional transparency from them moving forward. One concern that stood out was an individual who had blood work done and had a spike in their liver enzymes. Right now, as far as feedback goes, we aren’t looking for more concerns around it being snake oil. However, if you have used AG1 yourself and want us to bring anything up to them, feel free to DM me, and I’ll do my best to compile a list of specific issues.

Pulseway
Lastly, a follow up on our partnership with Pulseway. When we last spoke with them, they had addressed the complaint about a user being constantly pestered by a sales individual. This, and their difficult cancellation policy, had us holding off before signing them on for anything new. We’re happy to say that we have seen evidence not just of a cancellation policy that allows people to pay month by month or freely leave a contract even during a longer term, but they have shared internal policies with us to ensure that aggressive sales tactics are not commonplace. If you use Pulseway and do encounter an individual who refuses to put you on a do-not-contact list, please let me know. This shouldn’t be the norm, and Pulseway wants to make sure anyone who is doing this is being trained properly.

We hope you all have a great weekend. And I’ll be back next week with more updates. Thanks again.