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PrivacyGuard Review: Identity Theft Protection |
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| Great credit protection & data with our top-rated Internet security software | |
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PrivacyGuard has been providing its identity theft protection service for a long time and has assembled an impressive array of benefits and features. PrivacyGuard really shines with the amount of credit data it provides. Members get all three credit reports and scores upon signup in addition to three-bureau credit monitoring. PrivacyGuard updates your credit scores and reports monthly, which is more often than its closest competition. The service also adds some solid identity theft protection features, particularly the inclusion of our top-rated internet security software package, Norton Internet Security Online. It lacks some of the internet and black-market scanning for your personal information that some other services provide, but for those most interested in monitoring their credit, it's hard to beat PrivacyGuard. You can try it out for 30 days for just $1 to decide if it's the identity theft protection solution that's best for you.
When you sign up for PrivacyGuard, you can instantly activate your three-bureau credit monitoring and get access to your three-bureau credit report and all three credit scores. The scores you receive are based on the CreditXpert scoring system. While this isn't exactly the same as FICO, the most popular credit scoring formula, in our testing we've found that CreditXpert scores more closely approximate your FICO score than any alternative and are usually within just a few points. We highly recommend the type of three-bureau monitoring that PrivacyGuard offers because each bureau usually has different credit information on file for you. Creditors often only report to one bureau and it only takes negative information on one of your credit reports to make you ineligible for a loan or indicate that you are a victim of identity theft. PrivacyGuard does a nice job of organizing your credit information in an easy-to-read format. The service goes beyond just giving you the facts by giving you highly detailed explanations of your scores. It details both factors that are helping your score and factors that are hurting it. It also gives a great breakdown of the discrepancies in your credit reports across the three different bureaus. This information can be very helpful in detecting erroneous information that one of the bureaus may have on file. You also get an excellent what-if simulator that will estimate how your scores might change if you took various actions such as paid down a debt or had a credit inquiry. PrivacyGuard updates your reports and scores monthly so you always have very current data. This is more frequently than any other credit monitoring service in this price range and is a great benefit. The service then provides a nice graphical representation of how your credit scores change over time. Overall, PrivacyGuard's credit information and tools are second to none. Another valuable benefit PrivacyGuard offers is a free subscription to Norton Internet Security Online. This is the top-rated product in our internet security software reviews and is included in your subscription to PrivacyGuard. Norton Internet Security offers top-of-the-line antivirus, antispyware, antispam and antiphising protection plus a lot more like email and IM protection, password management and parental controls. You'll receive up-to-the-minute protection as long as you are a PrivacyGuard member. PrivacyGuard has some other nice identity theft protection benefits including up to $1,000,000 identity theft insurance and identity fraud support. These benefits will come in very handy in the unlikely event you become an identity theft victim while enrolled in PrivacyGuard. We particularly like the fraud support, which gives you a dedicated caseworker to help you navigate the confusing and laborious process of restoring your identity. PrivacyGuard lacks some of the identity theft monitoring tools that other services have, such as internet black market scanning for use of your personal information like social security number and bank account numbers. PrivacyGuard offers some useful extra benefits and tools such as multiple financial calculators. They also include neighborhood reports (which include information such as home values, demographics, crime rates, pollution measurements, etc.) for virtually every neighborhood in the United States, reimbursement for access to your driver's record, and secure storage for your credit card and other financial count information. This storage allows you to quickly access your accounts online should your wallet be stolen or you are otherwise without access to that information. PrivacyGuard's service has been around for a long time, a fact that is apparent in its user interface. While you won't have a problem getting the information you need, the account center is a bit dated and could use a refresh. It also employs some extra security in order to access your credit information which can be a bit of a pain. On the positive side, PrivacyGuard goes to great lengths during the sign-up process to be very clear about what you are committing to and what you are receiving. Overall, PrivacyGuard is a first-rate credit monitoring service that offers some great additional identity theft protection benefits such as Norton Internet Security Online. Its monthly update of all three reports and scores makes it particularly strong in providing credit data although it lacks some of the additional identity theft protection tools that Identity Guard Total Protection has such as public record monitoring and internet black market scanning. Sign up for PrivacyGuard | Compare to Other Identity Theft Protection |
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| Price: | 30-day trial for $1; $14.99/mo |
| Fraud Monitoring: | Monitors 3-bureau credit report, Internet security |
| ID Theft Insurance/ Guarantee: | $1,000,000 insurance |
| Reports Delivered: | All 3 bureau reports & scores monthly, social security report, medical information bureau report |
| Computer Security: | Norton Internet Security Online |
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