Lifelock CEO Todd Davis fault control

Translate Request has too much data
Parameter name: request
Translate Request has too much data
Parameter name: request
Lifelock CEO Todd Davis Does Damage Control skip to content Fight Identity Theft ProtectionDetectionRecovery HomeBlogAboutContact Subscribe Printer Friendly Share this Page HomeBlogMarch, 2010 Lifelock CEO Todd Davis Does Damage Control

If you hadn't heard, identity theft company LifeLock agreed to pay $12 million dollars to settle charges from the Federal Trade Commission and 35 states. The FTC felt that LifeLock ads were deceptive and overstated the protection provided by the service.

Personally, I think the charges are valid and I had to chuckle a bit when I read this email from CEO Todd Davis sent out to his partners. Mr. Davis certainly has his public relations firm working overtime to write something like this.

Here's the Message:

Take a read for yourself. I've got a few more comments below.

Important Message
From Todd Davis, LifeLock CEO

 Dear Valued Partner:

As you know, because of LifeLock's efforts since 2005, more Americans now know of the risks of identity theft, and more importantly, have taken steps to help protect themselves. I am proud LifeLock has had tremendous success in helping to protect consumers' identities.

LifeLock first gained national attention through an innovative advertising campaign in which I published my real Social Security number. Our advertising campaign was created at a time when there were absolutely no guidelines in place that governed the identity theft protection industry. I published my Social Security number because of my confidence in LifeLock's ability to proactively protect me and the knowledge that if my identity was misused, LifeLock would help fix the problem for me - as it would for any member.

Unfortunately, some regulators felt these early advertisements gave consumers a false sense of absolute confidence that they could never become victims of identity theft. As a result, LifeLock has agreed to a set of advertising standards that establishes, for the very first time, federal and state regulatory guidelines for the entire identity theft protection industry.

It is important to note that this agreement resulted from a review of practices from years past and has absolutely no impact on our current advertising, the LifeLock protection members currently receive through your valued partnership, or LifeLock's role as the leader in identity theft protection.

In announcing the agreement, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz wished LifeLock well and expressly stated his conclusion that LifeLock now has a legitimate business model going forward with honest advertising. In fact, LifeLock has been in full compliance with the FTC agreement announced by Chairman Leibowitz for nearly a year.

LifeLock remains as financially strong as ever and is committed to our single-minded mission to help members protect their identities. As part of the FTC agreement, consumers who are not fully satisfied with the LifeLock® service due to its past advertising can request a refund through the FTC.

Significantly, we believe the FTC action explicitly recognizes that LifeLock is the leader in identity theft protection and provides real value to consumers. LifeLock helps reduce the risks of identity theft and will continue to educate consumers on the risks of identity theft. Further, you can rest assured that LifeLock has taken the strongest measures to protect members' data, measures which are certified both as ISO 27001 and PCI-DCS Level 1 compliant - the highest standards for information data security.

We thank you for your partnership and your continued trust in LifeLock. As always, our number one priority is keeping members safe. If you have any further questions about your partnership, please contact your LifeLock Account Manager.

 

Sincerely,

Todd Davis CEO

 

Our Comments...They Have Updated Their Service. This is Good.

The current LifeLock service certainly appears to be better than their previous service - which was based mostly on placing fraud alerts (which you could do yourself for free), putting you on the credit opt-out list (which you could do yourself for free), and providing a million dollar guarantee. We applaud LifeLock for updating their service, though it appears getting sued (and losing) by Experian to stop placing fraud alerts probably factored into their planning.

"Innovative" Is Not a Word I Would Use for Publicizing Your CEO's SSN

This sentence from the email absolutely drives me crazy:

LifeLock first gained national attention through an innovative advertising campaign in which I published my real Social Security number.

Their advertising was not innovative. It was stupid, irresponsible, and sent the wrong message to consumers about protecting their personal data. Calling it "innovative" doesn't sound like Mr. Davis is too sorry about this completely wrong-headed advertising campaign.

Blame the Government

When you don't want to take responsibility for your actions, most people like blaming someone else. Mr. David tries to blame the government for his company's shortcomings:

Our advertising campaign was created at a time when there were absolutely no guidelines in place that governed the identity theft protection industry.

Common sense says plastering your CEO's SSN all over magazines, newspapers, internet, television and radio is probably a bad idea if you're serious about educating people on the dangers of identity theft. You don't need "guidelines" from the FTC or anyone else to point that out. They wanted to create an attention-getting and "innovative" advertising campaign, and they did it. Please don't blame the government when you're told it was a bad idea.

Language Only a Politician Could Love

In the end,  I understand why LifeLock would send out something like this. They need to reassure partners that everything is fine and that none of this was their fault. It just upsets me when I read double-talk like this:

Unfortunately, some regulators felt these early advertisements gave consumers a false sense of absolute confidence that they could never become victims of identity theft.

 Hmmm... where did those consumers get that false sense of absolute confidence? Maybe it was our "innovative" advertising? Nah, couldn't be. It was those bad regulators who just don't see the truth.

Bottom Line - Apologize and Be Forgiven

I don't see an apology here. I'd feel better about LifeLock if they would apologize. What I see is more breast-beating and blaming. It's too bad. LifeLock is the biggest identity theft service and they got there because of the millions of venture capital dollars they've spent on advertising and their "innovative" marketing. They could apologize without jeopardizing their #1 status, but I don't think it will happen in my lifetime.

 

March 16, 2010 3 comments Share This Page: Email Facebook Google Twitter MySpace Digg Add a comment3 Comments Denise Richardson Posted 3/17/2010

Dave- I want to thank you very much for taking the time to respond. I will say it is funny, and often the case, that two people can read the same words on a page–and come away with two different perceptions. I didn’t read Todd Davis’ words to be a cop out –not at all. I read them to be a sincere “explanation” of what they believe transpired. I also didn't read it as though they are blaming the govt. -not at all –to the contrary. I think they are simply offering an explanation to their partners. I can’t speak for them –I can only say what I perceive.

Now having said that, my point made in my earlier blog is meant to share a genuine longtime concern I have about identity theft –and the identity theft protection industry. I believe that the credibility of this industry is severely damaged by the continual negativity and personal judgments that seem to be driven by, or on behalf of, industry competitors. It's similar to dirty politics -and consumers don't get anything out of that.

I think you will find that I have consistently come out in favor of supporting companies in this industry who are really trying to become part of the solution. And I have not judged or said a disparaging word about any of the many companies on the market today, –with of course –one major caveat: the big 3 credit bureaus.

What gets me is there are a lot of predators out there and all too much deceptive practices taking place –yet nobody is outraged at their actions. And consumers are noticing this -and from my email -outraged by it too.

Consumers are confused and rightfully so. Doesn't it stand to reason that if this industry is divided, it looses it's credibility with consumers. My email consistently shows that consumers are confused –and I can’t blame them. They are not getting the proper message about identity theft -or this industry. Fighting with each other is bad for consumers and in the end bad for business. And I must say, right now it looks as though the only company not out there bashing a competitor has been LifeLock.

Can you explain why it is this industry is so divided? As I said earlier, if the debt collection industry, credit, cra’s, financial, auto, utilities and others can stand unified, –why not this industry? It would sure go a long way in helping consumers understand how and why they need to protect their data, money and very identity. Just saying…:)

Dave Posted 3/17/2010

 Denise, thanks for your comment and for your excellent blog article on this topic. Let me respond:
- LifeLock has been singled out by me because of their over-the-top advertising campaign and their initial poor product. It was a company based on selling a service that was available to consumers for free and using millions of venture capital dollars to out-advertise other (better) offerings.
- I agree with your point made in your blog post regarding Experian and their Free Credit Report service. They've also had issues with deceptive practices and have settled with the FTC over those practices. I'm not a fan of the FreeCreditReport.com service, because of the way they've marketed that service over the years.
- Other identity theft services are equally guilty of over-promising the ability of their products to protect people against identity theft. What made LifeLock more of a target was their parading around their CEO's SSN - a ridiculous and wrong-headed publicity stunt.
- What I was hoping was that LifeLock would admit that their "innovative" advertising was wrong. Instead, they've tried to blame the government for not providing guidelines for the identity theft industry. That's a cop-out and is disappointing. 

Denise Richardson Posted 3/17/2010

Ironically, this posting is an ABSOLUTE PERFECT example of what I just described in my blog today! Please take time to read it and the links provided and I hope you will see that this type of bashing of LifeLock by their competitors is EXACTLY what is turning off consumers and harming your very industry. And does nothing to combat the real problem: identity theft.

http://www.givemebackmycredit.com/blog/2010/03/identity-theft-protection-industry-divided-we-stand-for-better-or-for-worse.html

Connect With Us

We invite you to become a fan of Fight Identity Theft or just join in the discussion. You can find us on Facebook or Twitter.

 

Fight Identity Theft Newsletter
Enter your email address and keep up to date. More info | Unsubscribe

Recent Blog Entries Facebook Does About-face With Your Privacy Lifelock CEO Todd Davis Does Damage Control Five Ways to Protect Against Identity Theft via Tax Information Proof the Most Secure Facebook Profile is No Facebook Profile At All Is Your New Computer Complaining About Expired Virus Protection? Replace It for Free. Subscribe to our RSS feed May, 2010 (1) March, 2010 (1) February, 2010 (1) January, 2010 (3) December, 2009 (1) November, 2009 (5) October, 2009 (6) September, 2009 (2) August, 2009 (3) April, 2009 (2) February, 2009 (3) January, 2009 (8) December, 2008 (8) March, 2008 (1) January, 2008 (1) December, 2007 (3) November, 2007 (2) October, 2007 (3) May, 2006 (1) March, 2006 (4) February, 2006 (4) January, 2006 (10) December, 2005 (7) July, 2005 (3) June, 2005 (4) May, 2005 (5) March, 2005 (1) Credit (12) Fraud (38) Government (21) Identity Theft (39) Junk Mail (5) Phishing (13) Privacy (19) Scam (32) Technology (52) Telemarketing (2) Viruses (11) Visitor Stories (1) Worms (11) Navigation Protection Detection Recovery Home Blog About us © 2001 - 2011 Fight Identity Theft Privacy policy Disclaimer Contact us Site map Link to this site Other resources Over 3 million visitors served. As seen in:

View the original article here