LifeLock has been sued by Experian a London, England based corporation who is one of the big three American credit bureaus. Experian is alleging that the service provided by LifeLock violates the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act passed by Congress in 2003. The FACT Act states a fraud alert can be placed

"by a consumer, or an individual acting on behalf of or as a personal representative of a consumer, who asserts in good faith a suspicion that the consumer has been or is about to become a victim of identity theft."

Experian is alleging that LifeLock's Identity Theft Protection Service has no right to place fraud alerts on behalf of consumers as they are not an individual. Furthermore, they allege that Life Locks perpetual renewing of the fraud alert and in some cases their initial placing of the fraud alert violates the condition that a reasonable suspicion of being or becoming an identity theft victim must exist. We believe that 210 million exposed personal records in the last three years and over 20 million identity theft victims gives every American a reasonable suspicion. LifeLock CEO Todd Davis called the lawsuit baseless and felt that Experian was reacting to Lifelock's success in penetrating their market and challenging their business model. Experian also points out in the lawsuit that fraud alerts only protect you from financial identity theft and don't do anything to protect you from other types such as employment fraud. Do they not realize that people know this and that the fact someone is already using your SSN for employment gives you another reason to believe you might become a victim of financial fraud. Also the part about a perpetual renewal being illegal is nonsense, how can anyone know that they are going to become an identity theft victim within 90 days or not at all. The fact of the matter is that fraud alerts prevent credit bureaus from providing open access to your credit information and limits their ability to sell your information which is one of their main sources of income. This lawsuit is all about money and Experian would be the last company looking out for consumer interests.

Like a typical lawsuit Experian alleges everything else under the sun including misleading advertising and that LifeLock is not open about the fact that fraud alerts can be placed for free at any of the credit bureaus. Besides Identity Theft Labs, LifeLock.com is one of the only websites we know of that actually does say that you can place fraud alerts for free. We also found the misleading advertising accusation comical since it comes from a company who was mandated by Congress to provide free credit reports in an open manner and yet they own and run a website at www.freecreditreport.com that competes with the legitimate website www.annualcreditrepot.com. They advertised on the radio, T.V. and in newspapers not the legitimate site but their competing one. Their competing website then illegally enrolled consumers automatically in to a $80.00 credit monitoring package. Eventually the FTC put an end to this practice and charges were settled with Experian paying $950,000. Speaking of the FTC it is important to note that they have not said anything about the placing of fraud alerts by LifeLock, or any other identity prevention company, even though it falls within their mandate to do so.

Another interesting point is that Experian sued LifeLock but none of the other identity theft protection companies. LoudSiren, Debix, TrustedID, Identity Guard and about a half dozen other companies all provide the same fraud alerts on behalf of consumers. Do they have separate deals with Experian or is Experian just targeting the market leader and hoping the other identity protection companies will fall in line. We believe it is the latter. Experian hopes to use the LifeLock lawsuit to cut a deal and receive compensation for their role in placing fraud alerts. They will then use that deal as the basis for future deals with LoudSiren, Debix, TrustedId and the rest. Even if Experian were to win a legal battle against LifeLock it is likely the Government will step in and allow them to continue placing fraud alerts because consumers are demanding that this service be allowed. The old draconian days of the credit bureaus having complete control over our information is over. The Fact Act was passed because Congressman realized that the old system did not work and that identity theft had become to big a concern to ignore. They put some power back in consumers hands, giving us some measure of control over our credit and personal information, and regardless of how we execute this control, whether it be by ourselves or through an identity protection service, it will be difficult to take this away. Over one million Americans are already enrolled in identity protection plans provided by LifeLock and their competitors, and at least another million will enroll before a lawsuit is settled, so it is very unlikely that Congress would go against the wishes of that many voters. We advise consumers to protect their identity and credit using whatever means and/or service they prefer and to leave the legal posturing to the lawyers. Furthermore, we invite you to visit LifeLock.com to verify how open they are about the services they provide to consumers.

LifeLock and Avue Technologies held a press conference yesterday to announce a joint venture that could provide identity theft protection to a couple hundred thousand federal employees. Avue will purchase identity theft protection from LifeLock.com for all eligible full-time federal employees who wish to enroll. To be eligible the employee must work for a federal agency that has a contract with Avue who is a premier government human resource and software supplier. Federal Government Agencies will reduce their identity theft liability in the event of a breach as many employees will have their credit and name protected by LifeLock and their one million dollar service guarantee. With a growing number of public sector data breaches Avue has strengthened their market appeal to federal agencies wishing to transfer their potential breach liability to LifeLock. This is a significant announcement as government agencies had previously utilized identity theft protection after a breach, but have never offered a proactive solution that would prevent identity theft. Federal employees who are eligible should immediately take advantage of this special offer from LifeLock and Avue. Employees can also buy LifeLock identity theft protection for their children and spouses for an additional charge and though the price has not been released it is expected that there will be a discount. It is not known whether the LifeLock discount will be less than the readily available promotion codes found all over the internet including right here at Identity Theft Labs. Those unfamiliar with Life Lock can learn about them, their services and how they place fraud alerts to protect consumers credit by reading our LifeLock review.

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Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield and Davidson Companies Expose over half a Million in Final Days.

After a record number of data breaches in 2007 one would think tighter security would become a priority in 2008 but the first month showed no signs of this. Though, on average, there was a breach every day in January many seemed small in nature until the end of the month which closed with a bang led by large breaches at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield and Davidson Companies. A hacker tapped in to Davidson Companies database and stole the personal information of 226,000 clients of the financial services company. The personal information included names, addresses, SSN's, bank account numbers and balances. Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield also reported at the end of the month that a stolen laptop contained private information including social security numbers on over 300,000 clients. Large breaches earlier in the month occurred when online store Geeks.com was hacked (unknown number), GE Money lost the records of 150,000 on a backup tape, and the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services used a vendor who printed the SSN's of 260,000 people on the outside of an envelope they mailed. Universities continued their poor streak with 10 reporting breaches in January the largest coming from Georgetown University in Washington, DC who had a hard drive, containing the SSN's of 38,000 students, alumni and employees, stolen. If January is any indication it looks like 2008 is going to be another bad year for data breaches.

Another breach of note occurred at OmniAmerican Bank who was hacked by an international gang of hackers who stole account numbers, created new PIN's and debit cards and then withdrew cash from ATM's all over the world including New York. The Bank was on to these criminals quickly and mitigated the loss to about 100 clients by shutting everyone's bank account down. This is of particular interest however because it showed the vast network of these criminal gangs and the speed at which they can work. Withdraws were done all over Eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Canada, Britain as well as in New York. We at Identity Theft Labs have been saying for awhile now that there are large professional gangs both inside and outside the US who are targeting Americans and this was just another example of what we already knew. It is unfortunate but apparent that our personal information can not be held securely and that it is being used against us. This is why it has become essential to take the necessary steps to protect yourself from identity theft and to include some form of insurance in your identity protection plan. The reason Lifelock, Loudsiren and TrustedID are growing so quickly is that many Americans have realized this, though it is far from mainstream. This is why identity theft education is so important. Far too many Americans are sitting back thinking that identity theft won't happen to them, thinking that they never had to purchase identity insurance before so why should they do it now. Quite simply its a different world than what we grew up in and insurance no matter whether its life, fire, car or whatever always feels like a waste of money until it happens to you. The fact of the matter is that we can't afford to not protect ourselves. So get out there and buy a cross cut shredder, place those fraud alerts at the three credit bureaus, remove yourself from pre-approved credit card offers, order your free credit reports and buy some identity insurance. It simply needs to be done. If your not going to do this yourself then look in to the identity protection services from LifeLock, LoudSiren or anyone else and have them take all these steps on your behalf. In three minutes you can have the peace of mind that their insurance or service guarantee provides, and the most effective identity protection plan on the market today. Trust me its worth it.

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Readers of Identity Theft Labs probably noticed that we recently removed credit monitoring from our LifeLock and LoudSiren comparison and added a new company TrustedID. This was done as we believe that credit monitoring, while still useful in a total protection plan, should not be used as your sole protection from identity theft. We firmly believe that fraud alerts and identity theft insurance are far more important. This is for two reasons that the team has previously informed you about. Fraud alerts stop identity theft before it happens as opposed to monitoring which informs you after the crime has been committed and we believe identity insurance is a must as there is no such thing as full proof protection. We are committed to only reviewing the best protection plans and Trusted Id meets are qualifications as one of the best identity protection companies. They were recently endorsed by the Identity Theft Resource Center who is a well respected authority in identity theft education. In fact, Trusted Id is the only identity protection company to have received this honor. They are well established and have a great product with some interesting benefits that we thought would compete well with LifeLock and LoudSiren Debix. You will have to wait for all the details, but not for long, as we are in the process of completing a full TrustedID review. For now you can compare them on our comparison chart and visit TrustedID.com for further information. Keep checking back often as we have much more in store for our readers. We are already working on some new articles that will go in depth on how to protect yourself from all kinds of identity theft including medical and employment. We are working hard to make Identity Theft Labs a great resource for identity theft information and how we can protect ourselves and our families from this alarming crime wave. Check out our new resource area and keep an eye on some of our existing categories such as the FAQ as we will be adding a lot more information to them in the near future. We thank you for your patronage and hope that you too will continue to inform others of this serious crime.

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LifeLock just hit another home run receiving $25 million in funding from prestigious firm Goldman Sachs Group Inc. With a rapidly growing customer base and great financial backing LifeLock is poised to continue their domination of the credit fraud and identity theft protection market. Unlike their main competitors LoudSiren and Trusted Id who have advertised little, Life Lock knew how to market their product from the beginning and used traditional media to draw attention to themselves. This new funding is not only a huge vote of confidence in the company but also in their very successful marketing efforts. Its like they say presence builds presence and Lifelock's presence just keeps getting stronger. Need proof, how many Americans can say they haven't heard of LifeLock CEO Todd Davis or that guy who advertises his Social Insurance Number. Not many, and this is what has given LifeLock their dominating market share.

LifeLock is based in Tempe, Arizona and is one of the fastest growing companies in the world and recent recipients of the Red Herring Top 100 Global Award given to the top 100 startup companies. LifeLock places fraud alerts on your credit file preventing identity thieves from opening new accounts or making changes to your existing accounts. They back their service with a million dollar guarantee that promises to fix any problems if they occur. They also released recently a new value added service called WalletLock. If you ever lose your wallet or ID one call to LifeLock will free you of the burden of canceling and replacing your credit cards and identification. LifeLock will fill out all necessary paperwork as well. Wallet Lock won't get much appreciation until you need it and become very thankful for the service. Consumers wanting to learn more about LifeLock can read a full LifeLock review from Identity Theft Labs or can read our previous posts on LifeLock for more news.

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Part 4
2007 Data Breaches Due to Lack of Proper Policies and Procedures

Data Breaches in part one to three were mostly caused by identity theft criminals who were seeking the personal information of Americans. There is another disturbing contributor to the emerging Identity Theft epidemic and that is the lack of proper procedure and policies to secure our personal information. Governments, institutions, and companies are exposing our records foolishly and this makes the job of an identity thief all too easy. Here are some examples of personal data that was compromised due to this negligence.

• In California Secretary of State Debra Bowen’s office had the Social Security numbers, addresses and signatures of more than 650,000 Californians available for sale on a website for $6 each.
• The University of Idaho posted the names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of 2700 University employees on their web site.
• The Census Bureau posted personal information from 302 households on a public Internet site.
• RadioShack in Portland, Texas threw thousands of unshredded records containing customer names, addresses, telephone numbers and other data in an alley dumpster.
• CVS Pharmacy store in Texas dumped 1000's of unshredded customer records in an alley trash can.
• An identity theft activist in Virginia provides the links to government websites that have the SSN’s of numerous congressman, judges, and district attorneys posted for all to see.
• The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) printed 100's of Social Security numbers of employees on the outside address labels of reappointment letters.
• Concord Hospital announced 9,000 patient's personal information was exposed on the Internet for more than a month.
• The state of Massachusetts warned 150,000 members of its Prescription Advantage insurance program that their personal information may have been snatched by an identity thief. No means of loss were disclosed as their is an ongoing criminal investigation. One suspect is in
  custody.
• Social Security Numbers and private information of over 300 employees of American Airlines were exposed on the company Web site.
• 200,000 customers of Blockbuster in Florida had their private information exposed when they threw out unshredded membership applications in to the trash.
• Georgia Tech announced a brief internet exposure of 23,000 current and former students.
• The credit card and checking account information of 1,200 parents who enrolled their children in youth recreation programs in Encinitas, California were posted on the city’s website.
• Milwaukee PC exposed 65,000 credit card numbers.
• Louisiana Board of Regents exposed the Social Security numbers, names, and addresses of students and staff on the web for up to two years.
• SAIC, a military contractor, announced they compromised the personal records of 580,000 military personnel when they failed to encrypt transmitted data.
• 5,000 customers of ABM Amro Mortgage Group had their Social Security Numbers and other personal details accidentally leaked over a file sharing network by a former employee.
• A Commerce Bancorp Inc. employee gave out personal information on an unspecified number of its customers.
• 1,800 Pfizer employees and their families were informed of a data breach at Wheels Inc. who rents them cars.
• In a study by The Washington Post personal information including the SSN of Colin Powell and Troy Aikmen were found in public government records on the internet. This information was readily available from land deeds. Think of how many people in Washington own a house.

Identity theft is a major problem costing our economy an estimated 57 Billion dollars each year. Part of the problem is that we make it all too easy for perpetrators of identity theft to acquire our information. Often they do not even have to commit a crime to obtain this information. Governments are reluctant to clean up their mess due to costs associated with blacking out SSN's and manpower required to pull records and change the in place systems. This has got to change, they need to be setting an example for the rest of the Country to follow. Identity theft is one situation where lawyers might actually be the cure by holding accountable those responsible for exposing our records. Its hard to admit that, but government action has been inadequate and their is an unwillingness to fix the problem in many areas. We will have more on that later. As we have been saying throughout this 4 part series, your identity is not safe. Already in 2008 over 1.3 Million Americans have had their private information compromised. The trend continues and we hope you decide to protect yourself from the ongoing threat of identity theft. It does not matter if you use an identity protection company or do it yourself. What does matter is that you realize the inherent dangers and take action to protect yourself and your loved ones.

Learn more about identity theft protection services at LoudSiren.com, LifeLock.com or TrustedId.com

The associated press has reported that GE Money, part of General Electric Capital Corp. has mailed letters to 650,000 customers informing them of a Data Breach. GE Money processes payments for over 100 retailers including J.C. Penney. GE Money was informed in October of the missing backup tape from Iron Mountain Inc, a data storage company, and spent two months reconstructing the missing information. Personal information as well as Credit Card and Social Insurance Numbers were included on the tape. GE Money estimates about 150,000 customers had both SSN's and credit card information compromised. Consumers should be aware that the mailings are being sent by GE Money and may appear to be a pre-approved credit offer since most people have their credit card thru the retailer and may not know that GE Money processes the payments. GE Money has not yet stated retailers were affected though it is known that J.C. Penney was one of them. Identity Theft Labs advises all consumers affected by this breach to ensure they have an identity theft protection plan in place and to insist that they receive a new credit card number from the retailer. Consumers who are informed that their Social Security Number was also exposed should place fraud alerts immediately, consider identity insurance and continue to monitor their credit.

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Part 3
2007 Data Breaches Via Lost or Stolen Backup Tapes, CD's and Hard Drives

The number of people who have had their personal information exposed in 2007 is staggering. Part one and two of this sequence of articles mainly described how identity thief's were stealing your information by hacking databases and stealing laptops. This article shows how your private information is being exposed by companies and institutions that are "misplacing" or having storage devices stolen. Regardless of how your information is getting compromised what we need to understand as a society is that our private information in the wrong hands can be devastating to potential identity theft victims and as such we have to pressure those who hold our personal information to treat it with the security and proper procedures that it deserves. Unfortunately this is not being done due to costs of implementation and what we believe is a lack of understanding of identity theft and what companies and institutions need to do to protect their data from being stolen by criminals. It will be interesting to see how all the lawsuits against TJX change the mindset that data protection is not worth the cost.

Here is a partial list of data that was compromised in 2007 due to insecure data storage devices:

• 1300 California National Guards who were deployed to the Mexican border had their Social Security Numbers, birth dates and other identifying information compromised when a hard drive was stolen.
• 48,000 veterans plus 535,000 doctors and patients had their private information compromised when a hard drive was stolen from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Birmingham, AL.
• 26 IRS computer tapes containing taxpayer information were reported missing after they were delivered to Kansas City Hall.
• 135,000 employees and patients of John Hopkins University were affected when 8 computer tapes sent to a contractor were "misplaced". SSN's and bank account information of the employees were stored on the tapes.
• 196,000 customers of WellPoint's Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield in Virginia had their private information including SSN's compromised when cassette tapes holding this information was stolen from a vendor.
• Hortica Insurance clients had their data compromised when backup tapes were lost in transit.
• 2,900,000 Georgia residents were put at risk when a CD with their personal information was lost by Affiliated Computer Services. Personal information included addresses, birthdates, dates of eligibility, full names, Medicaid or children's health care recipient identification numbers, and Social Security numbers.
• 100,000 Transportation Security Administration employees, including federal air marshals and airport security officers had their private information exposed when a computer hard drive containing payroll information was stolen.
• 47,000 J.P. Morgan Chase’s bank clients were put at risk when a computer tape containing personal information went missing at a secure off-site storage facility.
• 500,000 Ohio state employees, and taxpayers, had their information including SSN's compromised when a state agency intern had a backup data storage device stolen from his car.
• Merrill Lynch had a computer device stolen containing personal information, including Social Security numbers, of 33,000 employees.
• University of Michigan’s School of Nursing compromised 8,000 patients of two clinics when a computer hard drive was stolen.
• A flash drive stolen from an employee’s desk at the University of Cincinnati had private information, including Social Security numbers of 7,000 current and former students.
• 230,000 Hartford Financial Services policyholders in Ohio were put at risk when 3 backup tapes were "misplaced".
• Tax Service Plus in Santa Rosa, California had a backup computer stolen which contained financial data on 4000 tax returns dating back three years.
• Hortica of Edwardsville, IL had a locked shipping case of backup tapes stolen. The tapes contained personal information including names, Social Security numbers, drivers' license numbers, and bank account numbers.
• TSA of Arlington, VA "misplaced" a storage device with 100,000 records including historical payroll data, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, time and leave dates, bank account, routing information, and details about financial allotments and deductions.

We understand that the theft of these devices can not always be prevented but with quite a few companies announcing their storage devices as "misplaced" or "lost" it becomes clear that better policies and procedures regarding their security needs to be put in place. We also realize that some of these devices may in fact have been stolen though they have no proof of this and as such are reporting them lost. Hopefully companies will start to see the costs associated with improper protection of personal data, the risks of identity theft, and the need for them to take an active role in preventing identity theft. We also hope that Americans realize the ever present danger of this horrible crime and put an identity theft protection plan in place for themselves and their loved ones.

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Nashville Mayor Karl Dean announced today that all 337,000 registered voters whose personal information was compromised will get free identity theft protection through Debix. The move is in response to a large outcry from concerned and frustrated residents. The compromise occurred when two laptops were stolen from the Davidson County Election Commission in a burglary that occurred over the Christmas Holiday season. The stolen laptops were not encrypted though they did have password protection.

“My goal is to not only protect the voters whose Social Security numbers have been put at risk, but also to protect the integrity of the election process. We’re going into an extremely important election season and I want all citizens to feel 100 percent confident that they can and should participate in this process without worrying about their personal information being compromised,” Dean said.

The City signed a contract with Debix giving voters free identity protection for the first year and a significantly reduced rate the second year.

“We are honored to extend the Identity Protection Network to the voters of Nashville,” Bo Holland, CEO of Debix, said. “In the past six months, we protected similarly affected citizens on behalf of the state of Ohio and the state of Connecticut and are well prepared for the mission at hand.”

Debix will place fraud alerts with all three credit bureaus and automatically renew them. Using state of the art, patent pending technology, Debix's automation system receives phone calls from creditors and forwards this call to three customer phone numbers. Customers then hear a recording of their own voice and can approve or disapprove the transaction by use of a personal identification number. This technology even prevents an identity thief who has your cell phone from taking advantage of your credit. Identity Theft insurance is also provided.

Debix has been the most requested provider of Identity Protection by companies, states, and cities who have experienced a data breach. Debix in partnership with LoudSiren, has also made great headway in to the business to consumer market trailing only the market leader Lifelock.

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LifeLock Ceo Todd Davis has been active this week announcing two major signings for LifeLocks Identity Protection Services. LifeLock has signed Founders Bank and NARFE Premier Federal Credit Union. Both companies will offer LifeLocks services to their employees and customers. LifeLock has clearly been the leader in enrolling consumers due to their effective marketing strategies and is now taking their success and message to the financial business community. After recruiting executives from Bank of America and Visa in June, Lifelock has made inroads in the financial sector signing a half dozen or so major players before this weeks announcements.

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing and most talked about crimes in the United States if not worldwide and businesses are now paying attention and looking for solutions. They are turning to companies like LifeLock and the LoudSiren Debix team to offer their employees and customers a proactive identity theft solution.

NARFE Premier FCU wanted to do more than tell members to protect themselves. Working with LifeLock we're actually doing something about identity theft. Most programs will only tell you there's been a problem whereas LifeLock keeps it from happening at all," said Todd Hoepker, Senior Vice President.

"We are very excited to partner with Life Lock by offering their valuable
theft protection service. ID Theft is the fastest growing crime in the nation. We are so convinced of the value of this service to combat ID Theft protection, we are extending our special discount pricing to not only our customers, but the community as well," said Michele Madia, Senior Vice President of Founders Bank.

We at IdentityTheftLabs.com have been pleased to always offer the same LifeLock discount. Please take the time now to review the services of these identity protection companies. They will not only save you the time and hassle of placing fraud alerts every 90 days but will also give you the security and peace of mind that only a million dollar guarantee could provide.

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