Mythbusters: Lifelock...Busted!

I am positive you have heard the advertisement. In fact I heard one of them this morning on my way to work. The CEO of Lifelock, Todd Davis, broadcasts his Social Security Number in his radio commercial and says he is not afraid to share it. Why? He speaks for his company with extreme confidence and guarantees that you cannot steal his identity because of the great security system that the company provides.

At least that's what he claims. Yesterday while browsing some news sites I came across this article in the Charleston Gazette. There is a class action lawsuit being filed against Lifelock, claiming that it does not give the protection it promises. In fact, the suit claims that over 20 driver's licenses have been obtained across the country under the name of Todd Davis. According to the article, if you perform a background check on Mr. Davis with his SSN, you will find that it inaccurately depicts him as being 67 years old. Such is the extent that his personal information has been used.

The article goes on to mention several different points that are worth observing:
1. One of the lawyers involved in this class action suit claims that the safeguards Lifelock sets up for $110 a year can be set up for free by yourself.
2. The co-founder of Lifelock has been in trouble for fraud several times during his life, including the identity theft of his own father.
3. A former client of Lifelock claims that once you get past all the fine print, the only promise Lifelock makes is that they will fix their system when it gets bypassed; there is apparently no promise to restore your credit and identity.

What do we take from this? In yesterday's sermon our senior minister Frank Weller reminded us to test everything, holding on to what is good. For starters that probably means I should look into Lifelock myself instead of taking this article for its word, which also ruins the fun of this post.

Second, if you're signing up for something you should always take the time to read the fine print. My father, a licensed IRS attorney cannot agree with this enough. Know everything that you are getting into. Be wary of the fine print. Fine print can help or hurt you depending on what you do with it. (Side note: The fine print you see in your Bible will always help you better understand the context in which the passage you are reading was written.)

Lastly, and I don't mean to intentionally crack the hammer on this again, but Frank couldn't have said it any better yesterday: Test Everything. Whether you are looking for identity theft protection or seeking where God would send you next, seek Him first. Put God first in your life and seek him. "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things (the things that you need, not want) shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33)