Weird they are taking this so seriously. I thought this was just another one of those spam VPN review sites?
VPNs used to play a large role in the site (they no longer do), but we've never accepted any affiliate requests. (We do however operate a sponsorship programe which we are working on making a criteria for). [2,3] We have a strict criteria for the few VPNs we do list on our site. [4] We strive to educate users on the purpose of VPNs [5], and try not to recommend when there are other options.
[1] https://blog.privacytools.io/the-trouble-with-vpn-and-privac... [2]https://www.privacytools.io/sponsors/ [3]https://github.com/privacytools/privacytools.io/issues/2134 [4] https://privacytools.io/providers/vpn/#criteria [5] https://blog.privacytools.io/understanding-vpns/
I hope the process around software-suggestions gets clearer with this move; the backlog has been growing steadily for over a year [0] with developers left hanging without any follow-up (for ex, a suggestion I submitted hasn't been looked at in over 6 months).
[0] https://github.com/privacytools/privacytools.io/labels/%F0%9...
If you run a serious web project, ownership of domain names is critical asset management, especially if you care for privacy. If the current domain was to get hijacked by someone's commercial ambitions, the site would probably be reworked towards the kind of BS VPN blabbering you described.
I don't agree with all of PrivacyTools' angles and priorities, making a lot of their advice pretty impractical for most people. But the purist approach is also interesting to follow, even if one doesn't jump on the bandwagon.
Their privacy recommendations are good. It’s my go-to place, and I have been a frequent user.