‘LifeLock’ Articles

CSIdentity Protector Tri-Bureau

Only 25%  of identity theft can be detected by traditional credit report monitoring, which means that you need a more sophisticated service than the average offering (LifeLock). If you are time starved, convenience based or just simply want a comprehensive way to detect the inappropriate use of your data, you need to enlist an identity monitoring service. It’s similar to having someone monitor your home alarm system.

Here’s a bit of background. Traditional credit monitoring only detects a portion of identity theft. The remaining theft happens on non-credit loan activities (pay-day loans, etc), as part of public records (court cases, real estate transactions, government filings, etc.), over the internet (bought and sold on identity-for-sale sites), or in relation to medical or criminal records. It is important to monitor these forms of potential identity theft as well as your credit file. CSIdentity’s Protector Tri-Bureau product wins the award for Best-in-Class identity monitoring based on 7 criteria:

The Federal Trade Commission and 35 state attorneys general filed a complaint against the company that “charged that the company used false claims to promote its identity theft protection services,” according to a March 9th FTC press release. LifeLock will be responsible for paying the FTC $11 million dollars as well as an additional $1 million to the 35 state attorneys general.

To clarify a couple of points that aren’t currently being covered by the media:

1. LifeLock did make misleading claims about how completely their product protected individuals, but to their credit, they toned those claims down considerably starting about a year ago. In essence then, the ruling pertains to LifeLock of old, not the current company, marketing materials or product offering.
2. At about the same time as they changed advertising, LifeLock began adding features to its product that bolstered the quality of its monitoring services.

If LifeLock continues to support and bolster the “engine” underneath its product (namely, the sophisticated identity monitoring services that it has already started adding), it will serve as a very worthwhile product in the identity monitoring space.

Here are a few of the charges in the FTC’s complaint that were in the press release:

LifeLock has been the victim of identity theft, and it will ultimately improve their product.

Over the weekend, LifeLock, the identity theft prevention marketing machine, lost a piece of who they are (were) when a judge stripped them of their most fundamental prevention tool — automatic fraud alerts on consumer credit reports. The net result is that LifeLock is having to strengthen it’s underlying identity theft monitoring architecture to fill the marketing hole, moving its product closer to superior identity surveillance services such as CSIdentity Protector.

I have never been the strongest supporter of LifeLock. Why? Because most every protection they offered out of the gate were steps you could take for yourself, for free. For example:

1. Place a Fraud Alert on your credit files. (A stronger solution is to Freeze Your Credit with Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.)
2. Opt Out of financial junk mail.
3. Get a copy of your Credit Report.

In addition, I disagree with their President, Todd Davis, and his constant publication of his Social Security Number for sensational marketing purposes. Mr. Davis is sending the wrong message to the average listener: that if you use LifeLock, your Social Security Number and identity are so safe that you can give them away to anyone. But Mr. Davis has been the victim of several cases of identity theft, not something he advertises on his traveling SSN van. No one solution solves identity theft. It takes a layered approach, much like the deadbolts, police forces, alarms, lights, dogs and neighborhood watch programs that protect our homes.

I just finished delivering an identity theft speech for the Department of Defense to the Airmen and Women of Eglin Air Force Base in Ft. Walton, Florida. It is the highest honor for me to be able to serve the United States military, who so valiantly and humbly serve every American. Thank you Eglin AFB, and a special thanks to the person who asked me to clarify this question after the speech:

Is LifeLock identity theft monitoring service truly free to military personnel, or is it just for certain personnel?

I’ve never been a big fan of LifeLock. You can easily implement most of what this identity theft protection service offers by doing it for yourself – for free (see the identity theft tool box). It appears that Ron Lieber of the New York Times is also questioning the validity of this identity monitoring service (along with many other industry experts, journalists and class action lawyers). But all services are not created equal.