A:  TrustedID's identity theft protection service will not prevent your husband from using his bank or credit union accounts. That's because TrustedID doesn't monitor the activity within your bank account, but instead scans for the fraudulent use of your bank account number(s) in hundreds of public record databases and the Internet black market. If any unusual activity is detected you'll be alerted. To activate this functionality make sure to enter your bank and credit union account numbers into your online TrustedID account when you enroll (or you can login post-enrollment and add it).

TrustedID doesn't just monitor your bank account number though, read our TrustedID review to learn more about the service and how it helps protect you from identity theft. Right now NextAdvisor readers can even receive a special deal, getting a free 14-day trial and 10% off the subscription price, bringing the cost down to $9.38 per month (w/annual prepay).

A:  Yes, TrustedID IDEssentials will help protect both your debit/credit cards and your bank accounts from fraudulent use.  When you sign up for TrustedID, you will need to enter any debit/credit and bank account numbers you wish to have monitored.  Once you've entered this data, TrustedID will patrol the Internet black market for any suspicious use and alert you if it occurs.

In addition to monitoring the Internet black and public records for your personal information, top-rated TrustedID IDEssentials also provides 3-bureau credit monitoring, access to all three of your credit reports and scores, medical record protection and anti-spyware software.  Right now TrustedID is offering NextAdvisor readers a free 14-day trial, so you can try it out at no cost.  The best part is you'll get access to your 3-bureau credit scores and reports when you sign up for the free trial, and they are yours to keep even if you cancel during the trial period.

A:  Identity Guard® TOTAL PROTECTION will walk you through the steps to set a fraud alert at each of the 3 credit bureaus.  Identity Guard will not help you set up credit freezes. You can always do this on your own although there is typically a cost that varies on a state by state basis.

If you're interested in an identity theft service that will set credit freezes for you, Trusted ID IDEssentials is an excellent choice. Trusted ID features an add on to their service called CreditLock that will do this on your behalf. There is a cost of $44.95 to lock your credit reports with all 3 bureaus and $39.95 to unlock them, but you would have to pay even if you did it on your own. Trusted ID is one of our top reviewed identity theft protection services and offers a free 14-day trial to NextAdvisor readers.

Before you move forward, it's a good idea to distinguish between what a fraud alert and a credit freeze are.  A fraud alert is set for 90 days and asks the 3 major credit bureaus to verify your identity by using "reasonable policies and procedures" prior to opening an account in your name.  Typically this means they will call you to confirm.  A credit freeze completely prevents any new creditors from being able to access your credit report for any reason.   To learn more about the differences between credit freezes and fraud alerts see our Fraud Alert and Credit Freeze Guide.

A:  Good question!  A couple of our top-rated identity theft protection services offer protection for your children too.  Most people don't realize it, but children are easy prey for identity thieves because their lack of credit history means they usually don't have any credit records.  Therefore, the occurrence of credit-related identity theft can go undetected for quite some time. And even if a child does have a credit report it typically isn't checked until after they turn 18, which means fraudulent activity could have happened without anyone being aware of it. That's why it's a good idea to subscribe to an identity theft protect service that will help protect your child.

Both of these services we discuss below are highly recommended by NextAdvisor, and are great choices to help protect your children from identity theft.  They both also offer free trials to NextAdvisor readers, so you can give them a test drive without reaching into your pocketbook.

TrustedID's IDFreeze will protect your entire family, including your spouse and children, for just $13.46 per month (with annual prepay). The only requirement is that everyone has to be living at the same address. IDFreeze will monitor the Internet black market for your child's Social Security number, bank accounts, name and address. It also monitors the Internet and public records for any changes to or misuse of your child's name, address, or Social Security number. In addition your child will be given an Identity Threat Score which provides a gauge of his/her individual risk level.  Right now Trusted ID is offering NextAdvisor readers a free 14-day trial, so you can test drive it free of charge and see if it's a good fit.

Identity Guard TOTAL PROTECTION® features an add-on service called kID Sure. kID Sure monitors the Internet black market for your child's Social Security number (SSN) and registered bank account numbers, scans public records for you child's SSN and name, and provides ongoing monitoring of applications submitted using a child's data. It also features ID Risk Assessment^® of your child's current risk level for identity theft.  Although kID Sure requires that you sign up for Identity Guard TOTAL PROTECTION first ($14.99/mo with NextAdvisor discount), it's just an extra $4.99 per month per child. Identity Guard is extending NextAdvisor reader a 30-day free trial of their TOTAL PROTECTION service, so you can see if the service is to your liking before adding kID Sure to it (Note: there is no free trial for kID Sure).

A: It depends on which identity theft protection service you select. Most base their protection on a per-person basis, so they charge separately for each person. However, TrustedID offers a great family plan that covers everyone living at the same address, so both husband and wife would be covered.

TrustedID is an excellent value at just $20 per month for the family plan (with annual prepay), and provides it's members with a broad range of identity theft protection features. TrustedID IDEssentials monitors the Internet black market for any suspicious activity involving your personal information such as your credit cards, bank accounts and Social Security number. Trusted ID also monitors the Internet and public records for any changes to or misuse of your Social Security number, name or address. Other features include medical record protection, free anti-spyware software and a host of other features.  In addition, IDEssentials provides 3-bureau credit monitoring and  all 3 credit reports and scores when you sign up.

Overall, we think TrustedID IDEssentials is a great deal, and right now they are offering a free 14-day trial and 15% discount if you sign up for one of their annual plans. And if after your sign up you don't feel the service is a good fit for you, you can cancel during the trial period free of charge and still keep you free credit reports and scores.

Rumors abound that Facebook is now making public contact lists from smartphones that use Facebook Mobile. Although Facebook denies that this is true, a longstanding feature that syncs contacts from your phone to your Facebook account has been discovered by many. This means that Facebook has probably stored every number in your phone on a server somewhere.

You can see the phone numbers of all your contacts, which means that they can probably see your phone number. Regardless of the method Facebook may have used to get your number, here's what you should do:

1. In your phone's Facebook app, tap the Friends icon in the main menu. Then in the upper-right of the screen, click Sync.

2. When you're on Facebook, click on Account at the top-right of the screen. Then click Edit Friends. On the left side of the screen, click on Contacts. You'll see this text on the right: "If you would like to remove your mobile contacts from Facebook, you need to disable the feature on your mobile phone and visit this page." Click to go there, and then click the Remove button.

3. Double-check the privacy settings on your Facebook account to make sure that only the right people are seeing your number. We recommend deleting it completely.

For those worried about protecting their privacy, we recommend identity theft protection. Companies such as Identity Guard, Trusted ID, and LifeLock monitor your credit score and other records and alert you of fraudulent activity. Plus, NextAdvisor offers you a discount!

Google+, the web giant's answer to Facebook, debuted in late June. While interest has grown quickly, the service leaves many wondering about the differences between the two. Aside from Circles, Google+'s way of helping you share your party photos with your friends and the pictures of your new kitten with Grandma, Google+ has a different and much more direct take on privacy.

We wrote about ways to manage your privacy on Facebook, but even that lengthy article can't cover everything. Facebook's privacy policy is long (almost 6,000 words!), shifting, and complicated. The privacy controls aren't as visible as we think they should be, and the company has come under fire for adding new "features," such as the ability for other people to tag you in Places, and automatically enabling them with little to no warning to the user.

Luckily, Google+'s privacy policy is shorter and simpler, with no confusing legalese to sift through. A sample quote: "We may share aggregate statistics about Google+ activity with the public, our users, and partners, such as publishers, app developers, or connected sites."

The advertising practices of Facebook and Google+ differ, and it appears Facebook has the upper hand here. Facebook's ads only target the data you enter into your profile. Google, however, records what you do with tracking cookies to create an "anonymous profile" of you, which ads can then target. This data can't be traced back to you at this time, but Google keeps your information, from the emails you send in Gmail to the keywords you search for, and the company might choose to use it differently in the future.

One tip we just learned: Even though Google+ automatically places you in a system that uses its "+1" feature (similar to Facebook's Likes) on other sites, which show up on ads with +1s from your friends, you can shut it off here.

Google+ collects so much data from its users but doesn't put it toward advertising, whereas Facebook does exactly the opposite. The best attribute of Google+ is its plain-language, no-fuss privacy policy. At least you know what you're getting into. The best way to make sure your information is safe? Identity theft protection, like Identity Guard and TrustedID, will monitor your credit report and other personal info for fraud, give you ID theft insurance in case your identity is stolen, and provide you with copies of your credit report.

A: TrustedID IDEssentials monitors the Internet black market for any suspicious activity involving your personal information such as Social Security number, credit cards and bank accounts.  They also monitor your 3-bureau credit reports for changes and the Internet and public records for any changes to or misuse of your name, address, or Social Security number.

If any changes are noticed in your credit reports, you will be notified via email.  If any unusual activity is seen during the Internet black market and public record monitoring, TrustedID will call you on the phone.

Right now TrustedID is offering NextAdvisor readers a 14-day free trial of their service.  As an added bonus you'll receive all 3-bureau credit scores and reports when you signup for the trial.  These scores and reports are yours to keep, even if you cancel during the trial period.

Q:  If both my wife and I sign up, can we both do so under one account (i.e. give you both our Social Security numbers), or would we need to purchase two separate accounts?

A: Trusted ID, one of our top rated identity theft protection services, offers family plans that will cover both you and your wife.  The plan actually includes everyone living at the same address, so if you have children or inlaws living with you it would cover them too.  When you sign up you'll need to provide both your wife's and your Social Security number, as it is an unique identifier that allows TrustedID to access your credit history.  Also, TrustedID needs to know your Social Security number so they can monitor for the suspicious or fraudulent use of it.

There are 2 family plan options.  IDFreeze is a bit cheaper, at $13.46 per month (paid annually), but doesn't include credit report monitoring or credit scores.  However, it does provides comprehensive identity theft protection by monitoring the Internet black market for your Social Security number, bank account numbers, credit cards, name and address.  IDFreeze also monitors public records for changes to or misuse of your Social Security number, name and address.  In addition, IDFreeze includes lost wallet protection, free fraud alerts, medical record protection, junk mail reduction and free anti-spyware software.

IDEssentials includes everything that IDFreeze offers, but also provides 3-bureau credit monitoring, access to all three of your credit reports and scores, and a Facebook privacy app.  IDEssentials is a little more expensive at $20 per month for the family plan (paid annually), but still an excellent value as it includes the gold standard of identity theft protection—3-bureau credit report monitoring.

Right now TrustedID is offering a free 14-day trial for both IDFreeze and IDEssentials, which is a great way to try it out and see if their service is a good fit.  Plus, if you choose IDEssentials you'll get to keep your credit scores even if you decide to cancel during the trial period.

Q:  My husband has lost his wallet.  We cancelled his credit card, but are concerned about the Social Security number on his Medicare card and also his driver's license.  Which identity theft protection service would cover both my husband and me?

A: Losing your wallet can be a traumatic experience, but immediately cancelling your credit cards is the right thing to do.  You should also cancel any debit cards that might have been in his wallet and have the bank reissue them.  Here's a tip—since most people can't recall everything in their wallets, you might want to consider photo copying all the items in both of your wallets.  Then if your wallet goes missing you'll  know right away what needs to be cancelled and be able to take action.

As you mention, it's also a good idea to sign up for an identity theft protection service to help protect your personal information from fraudulent use. TrustedID IDEssentials offers a family plan for just $20 per month (with annual prepay), which is a 15% discount over the monthly plan.  This cost covers everyone in your family living at the same address regardless of their age, so both you and your husband would be covered.

Right now TrustedID IDEssentials is even offering a free 14-day trial for readers who sign up from the NextAdvisor site.  As soon as you sign up you get access to your credit scores and reports from all 3 bureaus, as well as 3-bureau credit monitoring.  And if you decide to cancel during the trial period, you still get to keep your free credit scores and reports,  which makes this an especially great deal.

Q:  Do any of your identity theft protection services monitor for social security theft and who is applying for your credit?

A: Yes, they do. Both IDENTITY GUARD® and Trusted ID, our top identity theft protection services, would be a great choice for you.  As soon as you sign up for Trusted ID it begins monitoring the Internet black market for any suspicious use of personal information like your Social Security number, credit cards or bank accounts.  It uses the Social Security number you entered when signing up, but you'll need to add your bank account and credit card numbers.

Trusted ID also monitors all 3 credit reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, and will alert you if it sees any changes.  3-bureau credit monitoring is a great way to stay in constant touch with your credit history, and will let you know if anyone is applying for credit using your personal information.  In addition you'll get all 3 credit reports and credit scores at sign up—free of charge.

But Trusted ID doesn't stop there, it includes a whole host of extras like medical record protection and a suite of identity theft protection tools with free anti-spyware software and free anti-phishing software.  Right now Trusted ID is offering a free 14-day trial to NextAdvisor readers, so it's a good time to sign up and try it out without having to pay.  If you're not happy with the service, just cancel during the trial period and you won't have to pay a cent.  Plus, you'll get all 3-bureau credit scores and reports free of charge.

We couldn't let this news pass by without commenting. This woman has 152 Facebook friends, and she took video showing her getting a sleeve tattoo of profile picture thumbnails of every single one. Although it turned out to be nothing more than an advertising stunt, such a tattoo could raise some serious questions. She claimed to have gotten the permission of all of her friends, but could having your face on somebody's body put your identity at risk?

We say probably not, in this case. The images are pretty small, and no names are given. The biggest problem anyone might have with this tattoo is its lack of clarity!

Another great tip learned from Rep. Weiner: Never take compromising photos of yourself, and definitely never send them to anyone!

So it turns out that Representative Anthony Weiner's (D-New York) Twitter photo scandal wasn't a hack after all. But let it still be a reminder to keep your confidential information safe with identity theft protection services and to change your password!

A: Both of our top rated identity theft protection services, Identity Guard TOTAL PROTECTION® and Trusted ID protect your bank accounts and provide computer protection.  When you sign up for these services, you need to take the time to register your bank accounts numbers and credit cards so they can patrol for suspicious activity on either.

Identity Guard and Trusted ID help to protect your computer from fraud with their included computer software.  Identity Guard includes Zone Alarm Internet Security software, a total Internet security suite providing anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, and anti-phishing protection with your subscription. Trusted ID includes free anti-spyware software from highly reputable Sana Security with your membership.

Both Identity Guard and Trusted ID are offering free trials if you sign up from NextAdvisor.   Take a look at these and other top rated identity theft protection services to see if they will be a good fit for your needs.

We here at NextAdvisor like to harp on identity theft protection. Why? Because you need it. You never know when, for example, workers at your bank will leak confidential information about your accounts to scammers, resulting in more than $10 million in total losses, which is what happened recently at Bank of America.

Even if you entrust your entire financial life only to big-name companies, this event illustrates why you should take the extra step of getting identity theft protection for yourself and your family to combat fraud. We think that the best companies for ID theft prevention are Identity Guard Total Protection (for the most complete ID theft protection), TrustedID (for families), and LifeLock (for the best value). Click on those links to see our reviews of these services (you'll find even more here), and don't go another day vulnerable to identity theft!

Q. How often are babies' and children's identities stolen?

A. Good question. It might not seem worth it to check your child's credit reports, but according to the FTC, 400,000 children have their IDs stolen each year, 51 times more often than adults. Why? With clean credit histories, kids are easy targets, and many thefts go unnoticed for years, until the child—now an adult—applies for a credit card, loan, or mortgage. So if you want to keep your children's identities safe, consider our favorite identity theft protection services for families: TrustedID and LifeLock.

Q. Can I sign up for and pay annually for an identity theft protection membership service? I prefer to pay annually in lieu of monthly.

A. When you subscribe to a service such as identity theft protection, often it's more convenient or fiscally responsible to make one larger payment a year rather than a small one each month. Luckily, several of the services we review offer annual prepay options, and sometimes it even saves you more money:

TrustedID, $84.12 per year and up: This service monitors a number of different accounts for you and provides you with anti-spyware protection and one three-bureau credit report each year. We think it's the best value of the services out there, especially for families, because it offers a free 14-day trial and a 15% NextAdvisor discount.

LifeLock, $99 per year and up: This service gives you a free 30-day trial and monitors a wide variety of public records as well. NextAdvisor can offer it to you for 10% off. It's also a pretty strong value; it just doesn't have as many features as TrustedID.

Suze Orman's Identity Protector, $125.04 per year and up: Rounding out our annual prepay offers for identity theft protection services is Suze Orman's Identity Protector. When you sign up with Suze, you'll get three-bureau credit scores and reports. Plus this option bears the name of finance guru Suze Orman.

So whether an annual payment fits better into your budget or is less of a hassle, any of these three services could be great choices for you.

A: Our top rated Trusted ID IDEssentials monitors your credit reports at all 3 credit bureaus 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  You'll receive same day alerts for any changes to your credit reports, including (but not limited to) new lines of credit being opened, inquiries into your credit reports, address changes and name changes.

Trusted ID also monitors the Internet black market and public records for the use of your Social Security number, credit cards, and bank accounts.  In addition, you'll get credit scores and reports from all 3 credit bureaus, medical record protection and anti-virus computer software.  Overall it's a extremely comprehensive package, and it's even a great deal.  Right now you can sign up for a free 14-day trial and discounted rate of $10.42 per month (paid annually).

Q. What information do I need to give for identity theft protection? How quickly can it be activated?

A. Most identity theft protection services, including top-rated Identity Guard Total Protection, Trusted ID, and LifeLock, require similar information: first and last name, full street address (with state and ZIP code), phone number, date of birth, Social Security number, and email address. If you haven't lived at your current address for at least the past six months, you will need to provide your previous address.

You will also need to give your credit card information; even though most companies offer a free trial, they need to start billing you after that trial period has passed unless you cancel the service.

Each service takes a different amount of time to kick in. For example, both Identity Guard Total Protection and Trusted ID begin as soon as you sign up, but others, such as Protect My ID, require more time for parts of the service — the credit monitoring can begin immediately, but the account protection depends on when you enter that information for the accounts and how long it takes to verify.

A: Two of our top-rated identity theft protection services, IDENTITY GUARD® and Trusted ID allow you immediate online access to your 3-bureau credit reports.  You can also print them out.  With Identity Guard your credit scores and reports will be updated quarterly.    Trusted ID gives you your scores and reports when you sign up, but they aren't updated after that.  However, both services provide ongoing 3-bureau credit monitoring, so you'll be alerted if there are any changes to your credit reports.

As an added bonus, Identity Guard and Trusted ID both feature free trials, during which time you'll receive your credit scores and reports free of charge.  Then if you don't see value the service you can cancel during the trial period and keep your scores and reports at no cost.  (We recommend keeping the service though, as they are both excellent deals and highly rated identity theft protection services).

A: Yes, you do. Credit bureaus use your Social Security number (SSN) as a unique identifier for you and your credit file. When you set a fraud alert with a credit bureau, they will ask for your SSN to both confirm you are who you say you are and to locate the your credit report.

If you're concerned enough to want to place a fraud alert on your credit reports, you might want to consider an identity theft protection service.  These services help to safeguard your identity by monitoring a variety of places for use of your personal information, including  your credit cards, bank accounts and SSN.  Some of them even include free computer software.  Trusted ID is one of our top-rated services, and will help you set up a fraud alert to boot.  Trusted ID has partnered with NextAdvisor to offer an exclusive 14-day free trial, and then 15% discount on their IDFreeze solution.  After the the 14-day trial, it's only $7.01 per month (with annual prepay).  You can read our independent review and sign up via the Trusted ID page on our site.

A: Yes, TrustedID IDFreeze provides an annual copy of all 3 of your credit reports with your service.  You'll automatically receive your free annual credit reports from the 3 credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian and TransUnion—and be able to review your credit history to make sure your identity hasn't been compromised.  Right now TrustedID has partnered with NextAdvisor to offer a 14 day free-trial and 15% discount thereafter for IDFreeze.  To get this special deal just sign up from our site via the IDFreeze review.

A: Yes, our top-rated Trusted ID IDFreeze will protect everyone living at the same address for just $13.46 per month (with annual prepay).  This means that husband and wife will be protected, along with any other family members (children, parents, etc) living with you.  Trusted ID also offers a 14-day free trial for both their IDFreeze and IDEssential products, so you can check them out free of cost.  You can only get the free trial through our site, so make sure to sign up through NextAdvisor.com via our Trusted ID review.

A: Frequent travel is a great reason to protect your identity.  TrustedID does not actually "block" your accounts, but it does proactively protect your accounts by scanning the Internet black market and public records for any suspicious use of them.   There is no need to let TrustedID know when you travel, because they constantly protect you regardless of your physical location.

When you sign up for TrustedID, they immediately start monitoring the Social Security number you entered during sign up.  To protect your credit card and bank account numbers, you need to enter the information into your secure online TrustedID account.  Once your account is updated, TrustedID will begin actively patrolling for the unusual or suspicious use of the accounts.

In addition, Trusted ID monitors your credit reports at all 3 credit bureaus and alerts you of changes or updates via email or text.  Three-bureau credit monitoring is a powerful tool against identity theft because it informs you of any suspicious activity on your credit files, one of the first places identity theft will show up.

With TrustedID you'll also get access to all 3 of your credit scores, medical record protection, lost wallet protection, anti-spyware software and a whole list of other identity theft protection features.  Plus,  TrustedID offers a 14-day free trial, so you can try it out free of charge.  Overall, it's a great deal and we highly recommend it.

A: The majority of identity theft protection companies, including our number one rated IDENTITY GUARD ^® TOTAL PROTECTION^SM, provide individual and not group protection. However, we do have a very highly rated company that provides family protection—Trusted ID. For only $20 per month, everybody living at your address can be protected, which is a pretty great deal.  Trusted ID also offers a 14-day free trial, so you can check it out free of cost.

Regarding buying monthly credit reports instead, that can be very costly…up to $90 a month to run all 3 credit reports for both your and your wife. You're better off signing up for an identity protection service with 3-bureau credit monitoring such as IDENTITY GUARD^® or Trusted ID.