Lifelock

For the past few months, I have been hearing commercials for Lifelock [lifelock.com], which claim that they can protect you from identity theft. These are the commercials in which the CEO of the company gives out his SSN and essentially dares people to try to steal his ID. I have always wondered how that worked.

Well, now I know: ID Security Firm LifeLock Sued For Misleading Marketing [informationweek.com]. Here's a quote:

"The company allegedly fails to make clear that it charges subscribers for an annual credit report that's available to them for free when placing a fraud alert. And it allegedly fails to adequately disclose that its $1 million service guarantee 'is essentially futile' given the way the guarantee is worded..."

"'LifeLock does not necessarily protect its subscribers' identities as advertised,' the lawsuit claims. 'Indeed, the statements by LifeLock's CEO regarding the ability of LifeLock to protect his own identity are deceptive because his identity was stolen while he was a customer and is, upon information and belief, presently being misappropriated by at least 20 identity thieves.'"