LifeLock Inc. (NYSE:LOCK) is an American identity theft protection company based in Tempe, Arizona. The company offers the LifeLock identity theft protection system, which is intended to detect fraudulent applications for various credit and non-credit related services. As of 20 November 2016, it is a subsidiary of Symantec.
In 2015, it was ordered to pay $100 million to settle Federal Trade Commission contempt charges for failing to protect consumer information and deceptive advertising, the largest monetary award obtained by the Commission for an enforcement action.
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History
LifeLock was co-founded in 2005 by Robert J. Maynard and Todd Davis. Amid controversy, Maynard left the company in 2007.
In December 2008, LifeLock entered into an agreement with TransUnion, one of the three main credit bureaus, to automate the process of alerting customers of potential unauthorized access via their credit reports. LifeLock acquired ID Analytics following a round of funding in March 2012. ID Analytics operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of LifeLock.
Following the announcement of the company's IPO in August 2012, Hilary Schneider joined the company as president. Schneider had previously been working with TPG Capital after leaving Yahoo in 2010.
In December 2013, LifeLock acquired Lemon Wallet for $42.6 million. Lemon is a digital wallet platform which stores payment, loyalty, and identification cards on members' smartphones. Lemon Wallet Plus was a premium service which offered lost wallet service, account monitoring, and some security measures. Wallet Plus has been folded into a new service offered by LifeLock which includes identity fraud alerts. The company temporarily removed the app from mobile stores in May 2014 when the company learned that certain parts of the app were not in compliance with payment industry standards.
As of February 2014, LifeLock had 3 million subscribers.
In July 2015, CNN reported that FTC and 35 United State Attorneys General deemed LifeLock in violation of a previous settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. In November 2016, Symantec announced its intent to acquire LifeLock for $2.3 billion.
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ID Analytics, Inc.
In March 2012, ID Analytics, Inc. became a wholly owned subsidiary of LifeLock. ID Analytics was founded in 2002. It provides consumer risk management with real-time consumer behavior insights and in-depth visibility into identity risk and creditworthiness. Both government agencies and U.S. companies utilize ID Analytics for risk based decision making on revenue enhancement, fraud reduction, cost saving drivers and customer protection.
Funding
The company started with $2 million in seed funding, with another $5 million in its Series A funding in 2006 from Bessemer Ventures.
In April 2007, LifeLock raised $6 million in its series B funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. The following January, its Series C Funding ended with $25 million, led by Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. In August 2009, a series D funding round raised $40 million for the company. LifeLock raised $100 million in new equity funding from Bessemer Ventures Partners, Goldman, Sachs & Co., Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Symantec Corporation and River Street Management in March 2012. The funds were used towards the acquisition of ID Analytics, an identity theft risk prediction technology.
On August 28, 2012, LifeLock announced its plans to take its identity theft protection business public and filed for an initial public offering worth up to $175 million. On October 3, the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange and trades under the symbol LOCK, according to its U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Product
LifeLock offers Standard, Advantage, Ultimate Plus and Junior monitoring services. LifeLock Standard offers identity theft detection and alerts within its network, lost wallet protection, address change verification, black market website surveillance and reduced pre-approved credit card offers. LifeLock Advantage contains everything in the Standard plan plus fictitious identity monitoring, court record scanning, data breach notifications, credit card, checking, and savings account activity alerts, and an online annual credit score and report through Equifax. LifeLock Ultimate includes bank account takeover alerts within its network, enhanced credit application alerts and online credit reports and scores on top of the Standard and Advantage features. Its Junior protection provides identity theft detection and alerts, credit file verification, black market website surveillance and file sharing network searches.
LifeLock provides a $1 million guarantee in the event of identity theft. The guarantee is that LifeLock will spend up to $1,000,000 on legal and associated fees necessary in restoring a customer's identity. The guarantee does not cover the direct losses such a customer incurs from identity theft or pay restitution to them for money lost.
Marketing
LifeLock has partnered with major banks, national corporations and has celebrity endorsers. In addition to sponsoring NPR programming, LifeLock advertises heavily on the Internet and radio; its ads can be heard on the radio shows of Paul Harvey, Rush Limbaugh, Adam Carolla, Kim Komando, and Charles Osgood. Celebrity spokespersons for LifeLock have included Howard Stern, Paul Harvey, Mark Levin, and Rush Limbaugh.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is a spokesman and was featured in the company's TV commercials in 2013. LifeLock entered a cross-promotional partnership with Universal Pictures in its 2013 movie Identity Thief.
Affiliations
LifeLock sponsored the NASCAR Chicagoland Speedway LifeLock.com 400 Sprint Cup Series race from 2008 to 2010.
In June 2009, it announced a sponsorship agreement with the Women's National Basketball Association's Phoenix Mercury. The sponsorship launched the first branded jersey in the Women's National Basketball Association and lasted through 2013.
LifeLock has an ongoing relationship with American Airlines via their AAdvantage program as well as a partnership program with Northrop Grumman.
LifeLock's advertising agency of record is Lowe Campbell Ewald. In January 2014, LifeLock announced a new television commercial, called "Do Your Thing", and a redesigned company logo.
Starting in 2010, LifeLock has partnered with the FBI-LEEDA (Law Enforcement Executive Development Association) to provide educational seminars to law enforcement officials on identity theft. The seminars occur multiple times a year in various regions throughout the United States. In February 2014, the company partnered with the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) with the goals of helping kids learn safe online habits.
In April 2014, the company entered into partnership with Vivint to offer home and identity protection together.
Controversies
Robert J. Maynard, Jr., a co-founder of the company, resigned in June 2007 amid questions about his past and the integrity of his story regarding his founding of LifeLock. Maynard spent several days in a Maricopa County Jail in 2003 because of an alleged unpaid $16,000 casino marker from The Mirage. Under Nevada law, casino markers are considered the same as checks. Maynard reportedly came up with the plan for LifeLock while sitting in his jail cell. An investigation by the Phoenix New Times revealed that the $16,000 casino marker actually was his. The Mirage had gotten a copy of his Arizona driver's license when it made him the loan, and charges were dropped after Maynard repaid the marker. The New Times found that Maynard had been banned for life from the credit-repair industry after an agency he owned was shut down for numerous deceptive practices. It found evidence he ordered an American Express card in his father's name and ran up $150,000 in fraudulent charges. Maynard no longer has any affiliation with LifeLock.
Also in 2007, co-founder Todd Davis publicly posted his Social Security number as part of an ad campaign to promote the company's identity theft protection services. Davis was a victim of 13 cases of identity theft between 2007 and 2008. Regarding the campaign, Davis said, "We were trying to make the point that ... all it takes is one data breach. The point of that campaign was to take proactive steps to protect your identity."
In February 2008, the credit information company Experian sued LifeLock for fraud and false advertising. Experian alleged that LifeLock placed false fraud alerts on behalf of its clients, thus keeping LifeLock clients' files in a constant state of alert. As part of a 2009 settlement, LifeLock set up a new proprietary service that does not rely on setting fraud alerts.
In March 2010, LifeLock was fined $12 million by the Federal Trade Commission for deceptive advertising. The FTC called the company's prior marketing claims misleading to consumers by claiming to be a 100% guarantee against all forms of identity theft.
FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, referring to the LifeLock TV ad showing the truck, said that "the protection they provided left such a large hole ... that you could drive that truck through it." LifeLock agreed to pay $12 million to settle charges, by the FTC and 35 states, that the company's identity theft prevention and data security claims were false.
In 2015, the FTC found LifeLock to be in contempt of the 2010 agreement, charging that they "failed to establish and maintain a comprehensive information security program", and "falsely advertised that it protected consumers' sensitive data". The FTC obtained a $100 million monetary penalty against LifeLock to settle the contempt charge. Of that fine, $68 million is to be held for class-action refunds to LifeLock customers.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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