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.

If you’ve ever seen the 1993 movie “Groundhog Day”, you have a glimpse of what it’s like to write about the Federal Trade Commission’s enforcement of the Red Flag Rules.

In the movie, bitter TV weatherman Bill Murray is forced to cover the same Groundhog Day events he’s covered several years running, but he wakes the next day to experience the same series of events, day after day. All the other characters say and do the same things, day after day.

Earlier deadlines were November 1, 2008 and May 1, 2009.

Again this time, the FTC cites continued confusion about their definition of creditor and what creditors need to do to comply with Red Flag Rules. And, again this time, the FTC promises to “redouble its efforts to educate them about compliance”.

The Rules are intended to protect consumers from identity theft by familiarizing businesses and financial institutions with the warning signs of ID theft, and requiring that they establish procedures for responding to possible incidents of identity theft.

The FTC’s Red Flag Web site at www.ftc.gov/redflagsrule, provides resources to help businesses determine whether they fall within the definition of “creditor,” and provides templates for designing compliance programs.

The FTC and other financial regulatory agencies established the Rules as part of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003.

The Rule was intended to protect consumers from identity theft by requiring that financial institutions and creditors develop procedures for confirming applicants’ identities, responding to suspected identity theft, and train their employees in the newly developed procedures.

The extension was granted in response to continuing confusion regarding who has to be in compliance, with most people assuming the Rule applied only to credit card issuers and financial institutions. In fact, according to federal law, a creditor is “any entity that regularly extends, renews or continues credit; any entity that regularly arranges for the extension, renewal or continuation of credit; an assignee of an original creditor who is involved in the decision to extend, renew or continue credit.”

It has taken many by surprise to learn that the Rule applies to doctors, car dealers, utility companies, cell-phone companies and any nonprofit or government entities that defer payment for goods or services.

In the mean time, consumers can’t rely on creditors of any kind to take reasonable steps to protect their customers’ identities.

LifeLock provides a wide array of services to help protect consumers from identity theft. Visit LifeLock.com to learn more about the identity theft protection service chosen by almost 1.5 million Americans. Enroll in their services using the LifeLock promotion code Defense for a deep discount.