What is LifeLock? And why should I use it?

What is LifeLock?

LifeLock is a company that offers premier service in proactive identity theft protection and prevention. Ever since they opened in 2005, they are considered pioneers in the industry due to their utilization of data, science, and patented technology. The company is also publicly traded and has over 4 million users, so that alone should state their presence in the field. Before I explain how LifeLock protects its users, I first want to explain what identity theft is. Identity theft is when another person uses information about you without your permission. Thieves may use your name, address, social security number, bank accounts, and even medical insurance. (Consumer.gov) When you sign up for LifeLock, you are asked to enter your personal information on a secure server so the LifeLock team has the information necessary to protect you from criminal activity and being put in a situation no one wants to be in. This being said, LifeLock uses 3 vital steps in protecting you from identity theft. The first step is “Detect”, which is the physical action of LifeLock noticing suspicious activity in one of your accounts. LifeLock monitors over a trillion data points to secure your information from people trying to get loans, credit, and services in your name. (LifeLock.com) The next step is “Alert”. When suspicious activity is detected by LifeLock, the user is notified by LifeLock and is asked to confirm if the transaction is fraudulent. If the user confirms fraudulent activity, LifeLock takes action, but if the activity is not fraudulent, LifeLock does nothing. The last step is “Restore”, which includes the use of Identity Protection Agents and Specialists that aid in the restoration of a user’s identity. LifeLock even offers a $1 million guarantee, which states that LifeLock will spend up to $1 million to help restore your identity. The video posted below was posted by LifeLock describing these three steps in detail and gives a great representation of how the service works.

LifeLock is no free service, unfortunately. The company offers three premier membership options in which the user can choose which plan they desire based on their needs. The three options are LifeLock Standard, LifeLock Advantage, and LifeLock Ultimate Plus. The prices range from $9.99, $19.99, and $29.99 per month respectively. The better the membership a user has comes with benefits such as increased stolen funds replacement, credit reports, and advanced activity reports. LifeLock offers a free app for both iOS and Android that easily allows users to edit their profile, receive alerts, and even contact support from LifeLock. The app was designed to create an easy access to your account, but recent reviews say the app is a waste of time and not worth your time or efforts.

Due to modern day technologies, hackers are not only able to hack accounts of individuals, but businesses and corporate accounts as well. Because of this, LifeLock has created a new division of its company that focuses on business solutions. It is a service extremely similar to the other LifeLock memberships I listed before, but helps protect the identities of a businesses members, customers, and employees. According to an article on CNN, the Scottrade hack of 2015 exposed the data of over 4.6 million Americans, allowing the hackers to obtain extremely confidential and personal information. LifeLock offers business solutions to avoid events like the one that occurred at Scottrade. LifeLock offers programs such as Data Breach Solutions, Affinity Programs, Financial Services and even programs for Insurance provides to assure that its clients and their information is safe.

Pros

LifeLock provides a number of benefits in the event that you are a victim of identity theft. Items such as driver’s licenses, birth certificates, and passports are just a few types of documents LifeLock is willing to cover. Along with replacing documents, LifeLock also pledges to reimburse you for traveling expenses as a result of identity theft. Legal costs and loss of income are also listed under the list of reimbursed items and services offered by LifeLock. I personally feel these are a comfortable list of benefits considering these are my worries if I were placed in a situation where my identity was stolen and I needed financial assistance. Other benefits of LifeLock include the speed of which LifeLock notifies you with an alert stating there was suspicious activity in one of your accounts.

Cons

LifeLock is a reliable service, but do you really need it? It is definitely possible to check your own credit and accounts, so why would people pay to have someone else do it? This being said, LifeLock comes at no bargain. The cheapest membership option is valued at almost $10 per month, and can reach up to $30 per month. If you are willing to spend such money on the service, by all means go for it. But as a college student that doesn’t really need to subscribe to LifeLock, there are other ways to keep your identity safe without shelling out money you don’t want to every month. Another con with using LifeLock is that for your premium membership, LifeLock really only notifies you of suspicious activity. Once you are notified, it is your responsibility to take action on protecting your identity. The membership options should also consider a family plan, or a plan that allows you to add members to your account, but instead, LifeLock makes you have a separate account for each individual. With businesses like Spotify and Apple Music, it is extremely popular that the ability to obtain a family plan is available.

What makes LifeLock relevant?

Although there are apps and services that allow you to keep your identity and personal information safe, our society is entering a new era where the technology available to people is allowing them to obtain almost all information regarding an individual. There are only so many companies that offer a service as efficient and popular as LifeLock. IdentityForce is another leading company and service for identity theft, but it comes at a much higher price. But with that higher price you get more out of IdentityForce than LifeLock. LifeLock doesn’t track medical and insurance records, but IdentityForce does. That being said though, the average person does not want to pay an additional $10 a month for those two records. LifeLock is clearly more liked over IdentityForce because it is cheaper and covers the essentials. The system that is currently used by LifeLock was implemented in 2009, which at the time was the best of the best service offered for identity theft. This was when the technique of monitoring over one trillion data points and alerting you if there was suspicious activity was implemented. I also think that LifeLock is innovative for its industry because there have only been apps available for smartphones for about 10 years, and LifeLock was smart enough to hop on the smartphone bandwagon and offer a service that scares so many Americans. LifeLock takes away the stress and efforts of constantly checking your accounts, as well as taking action towards identity theft given the event that you are a victim of such crime.