McAfee’s higher-tier consumer plans combine antivirus with identity monitoring, theft coverage, privacy tools and support. Each of these has its own terms, which the License Agreement incorporates: some software and services have extra terms of service that form part of the agreement, and the Product Terms of Service list them.[2] For a licence manager the practical effect is that entitlement to these services depends on more than the device count. It also depends on residency, age, the way the subscription was bought, and in some cases the hardware it is tied to.
Identity monitoring and theft coverage
Eligibility
The Identity Protection Services terms apply only if the customer is entitled to the services from McAfee or a trusted partner. By enrolling, the customer certifies that they are above the age of majority and will only use the features to monitor accounts and information associated with their own personal information. Some features are available only to residents of the United States who have a valid Social Security number. During enrolment McAfee asks for contact details, identity-related information such as date of birth, driver’s licence number and Social Security number, and financial information, and the customer authorises McAfee and its data providers to access consumer reports from the national credit reporting agencies.[1]
The offer terms state which subscriptions carry the entry-level service: McAfee Identity Monitoring Service Essentials is available within active McAfee+ Premium, McAfee+ Advanced, McAfee+ Ultimate, McAfee Total Protection and McAfee LiveSafe subscriptions, and not all identity monitoring elements are available in all countries.[3] The License Agreement adds that dark web monitoring requires the user to be over 16, that users may provide only their own data (or that of minors or others for whom they have authority, if the subscription allows), and that McAfee cannot remove breached information from the dark web.[2]
Theft coverage with stolen funds reimbursement
Identity theft coverage with stolen funds reimbursement is not available in all locations and is not available to customers in New York.[1] The offer terms repeat the New York limitation and add that purchase is required to activate coverage.[3] The provider depends on how the subscription was bought. For a qualifying McAfee Security for T-Mobile subscription, the insurance is underwritten and administered by American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida, an Assurant company, and is not available in New York or Puerto Rico. For another qualifying McAfee identity protection subscription, the expense reimbursement benefit is underwritten by certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s under a master group policy issued in the name of Cyberscout Limited, Sontiq Inc. and its subsidiaries, with restoration services from Sontiq, Inc. Summaries of terms are provided for customers with USD 2,000,000 and USD 1,000,000 of coverage, and the customer can confirm the amount of coverage within the McAfee product.[1] The coverage section shows a “Last Updated” date of 5 July 2023.
For asset records the consequence is that the same marketing label (up to USD 1M or USD 2M) can rest on different policies and exclusions. The catalog records this as the program Identity theft coverage with stolen funds reimbursement.
Credit services
The terms disclose several limits. McAfee is not a credit repair organisation, credit monitoring covers only the purchasing consumer’s file, McAfee does not monitor all transactions at all businesses, and credit services may be withheld until identity verification is complete, with a reduced service fee charged until then. The credit scores offered are VantageScore 3.0 scores based on data from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, and third parties may use a different score.[1]
Personal Data Cleanup and Scam Detector
Personal Data Cleanup scans data broker sites for the customer’s personal information and helps raise deletion requests. The License Agreement states that not all data brokers are in jurisdictions with privacy regulation, that some may refuse requests, and that where McAfee helps send requests it does not act as the customer’s agent.[2] The offer terms say Scam Detector’s video scam analysis is currently trained only on English audio, so scanning non-English audio may give less accurate results.[3] These are feature-level conditions rather than licence metrics; they affect what a plan can be relied on to do, not how many units are licensed.
Secure Home Platform
The McAfee Secure Home Platform protects a home wireless network through router software and a mobile app. Its terms grant a nonexclusive, revocable, non-assignable, non-sublicensable licence for personal use only. The Platform is intended to be used only on the router on which it is pre-installed, and the app only on a supported mobile device owned by the user. The licence is nontransferable and McAfee may revoke it if the user violates the terms; on termination all use must stop.[1] Unlike the antivirus subscriptions, the entitlement is therefore bound to a piece of hardware. The terms tie the entitlement to the router on which the platform is pre-installed.
Virus Removal and TechMaster services
The Virus Removal and TechMaster terms cover technical support delivered by telephone, chat or remote access on specified PCs, tablets and mobile devices. A “Service Ticket” is the unit of support: the agent makes reasonable efforts to complete the service during the interactive session, and the customer has seven days after the session to ask for further help on the same issue.[1]
| Service | Description |
|---|---|
| Virus Removal Service | Assesses a Windows PC for malware and removes what it finds |
| Tune-Up for PC | Assesses operational health and improves efficiency |
| Set-Up & Optimize | Remote, over-the-phone setup guidance |
| Advanced Troubleshooting | Remote help resolving computer problems |
| Concierge Gold | Subscription including all the services above |
| Concierge Platinum | Subscription including those services plus a one-year licence for McAfee Total Protection and McAfee TechMate |
The services are not transferable: they may not be sold, leased, licensed, rented, loaned or resold without McAfee’s advance written approval, and third parties may not benefit through timesharing or service-bureau arrangements or for hardware or software the customer does not personally own.[1] A single-incident service is paid for at the time of purchase before the service is provided. McAfee TechMate separately requires a Concierge Gold or Platinum subscription or the auto-renewal benefits of a qualified McAfee+ or Total Protection subscription,[5] which links the support entitlement back to the renewal rules described in renewals, refunds and the Virus Protection Pledge. The Virus Removal entry in the system requirements is marked “Valid for single service incident” and lists the participating countries.[5]
Account and Payment Protection
McAfee Account and Payment Protection, effective 18 April 2022 in the terms, supplements the License Agreement. The terms may be accepted only for oneself, not on behalf of others. Payment Protection is not intended for people under 21, and eligible users must supply legal identity information, which McAfee verifies with a third-party provider, at a minimum name, address, postal code and date of birth. The fee schedule lists no charge for creating safe cards, a non-refundable fee on purchases of USD 0.31 plus 2.99 percent of the purchase amount with a minimum charge of USD 0.50, and a USD 25 chargeback loss processing fee that applies only if McAfee contests and wins a chargeback.[1] These are per-transaction charges rather than licence metrics, and they apply only where the service is included in the subscription.
McAfee Assist
McAfee Assist is a live guided session for installation and feature setup. The Assist page lists a one-time price of USD 29.99, says the service call must be used within one year from the purchase date, and says McAfee+ Ultimate subscribers already have Assist included.[4] The plan comparison tables list McAfee Assist protection setup as a feature of the plans,[6] so a subscriber should check the plan held before buying Assist separately.
Disclaimers that apply across these services
The identity services are provided “as is”, McAfee says that no identity can be completely secure and that it is not responsible for losses from identity theft, and the License Agreement’s cap limits liability to the price paid for the subscription term. In the identity terms, McAfee and its providers do not guarantee accuracy, timeliness or completeness of the data.[1][2] The Fair Credit Reporting Act statements in the terms remind US customers that they may obtain a free annual credit report from each national agency and dispute errors without paying a third party.
Out of scope
This article does not cover the privacy notice, the cookie notice or individual data requests, which are privacy documents rather than licensing terms. It does not describe the insurance policies themselves, which are available from the provider on request, or services sold only outside the United States.