LifeLock settles dispute with the Federal Trade Commission
Much has been written here about LifeLock and their identity theft protection services. This week much was written elsewhere about LifeLock’s services and the settlement they reached with the Federal Trade Commission.
At the heart of the dispute was the question of whether LifeLock services can prevent every member from every possible form of identity theft one hundred percent of the time. All involved parties agreed that it is impossible for any identity theft protection service to control all potential for human error and evil.
The FTC took exception to LifeLock advertisements in which Todd Davis, the company’s CEO, displayed his own Social Security number and claimed that LifeLock “prevents” identity theft. The FTC asserts that claiming to prevent ID theft is fraudulent advertising because there is no way to secure information entirely.
Apparently, the FTC attorneys are unaware that the Centers for Disease Control claim that fluoride prevents cavities. If that is true, why, after 50 years of water fluoridation, do children still get cavities? If fluoride does not entirely, completely, universally and forever prevent cavities, why hasn’t the FTC brought action against the CDC?
Within the National Institutes of Health, there is even a Division of Cancer Prevention. If we follow the FTC’s reasoning, the NIH must now be able to prevent any of us from ever developing cancer.
The U.S. Department of Justice provides funding to crime prevention councils in every state in the nation; yet everyday more crimes are committed. It seems these well-intended programs prevent only some crime.
LifeLock also prevents some ID theft. It is impossible to prove a negative, to say how many identity theft crimes LifeLock has prevented, but LifeLock’s members must feel well protected: 75% of the members who signed up during LifeLock’s first 18 months in business are still members today, and 90% of LifeLock members renewed their memberships last year.
Do LifeLock’s 1.6 million members believe that they are now impervious to all threat of identity theft? Probably not. However, they probably do believe they are far better protected from identity theft with LifeLock’s services than without them … just like they are better protected by brushing their teeth, maintaining their health, and locking their doors when they leave home.
