Do you know what your identity is worth to you?

Everything we do is a cost benefit analysis. Before we do anything, we look at what we have to give up, in relation to the value of what we expect to get in return. We won’t even get out of bed in the morning until we have done the math. We rate the cost (get out of the warm bed) versus value (mmm, breakfast burrito). Once we weigh the two, we decide whether to “risk it”, and then get to work, or do nothing.

Problem is, human beings are very poor at rating the value of anything. We have a difficult time deciding what is a reasonable amount to pay/work for something, because we are extremely poor estimators of the actual value of anything. We spend billions on lottery tickets, will pay twice as much if shoes have a particular logo scribbled across them, will drive 30 miles to save 100 dollars on a TV, but will not leave a dealership for the one two miles down the street if it does not offer greater than a $2,000 savings on our auto loan.

So what does this have to do with your personal identity and identity theft protection?

Two questions:

• Do I truly recognize the true value of keeping my identity safe?
• And what is a reasonable price to keep that identity safe?

We already know there is high risk for identity theft. Identity theft is on the news almost every day. Odds are that most of us have some idea of the pain caused by identity theft, either through our own experience, or through the experience of someone we know. This risk gets greater every day. Every person on earth should be making efforts to protect themselves, but still some millions don’t do anything about it.

Why not? Perhaps in their eyes, the perceived likelihood of identity theft, and the possible pain of losing their Identity still doesn’t warrant the effort and cost of enlisting identity theft protection? LifeLock is the industry leader in identity theft protection, and offers its service for less than $10 a month. A pair of Double Chai Latte’s cost more! Yet some still refrain from enlisting identity theft protection services. This leads me to believe that some people have not truly understood the value of their identity. They do not recognize the value of not only not losing your identity, but also keeping your Identity.

So you may ask yourself, what is the value to me of keeping my identity secure? Let’s put it in terms of cash value. Imagine a handsome, yet slightly mysterious stranger came to you on the street and said, “I cannot tell you why, but I need your Social Security Number, current address, and first and last name. I am ready to hand you cash today. How much will you require?”
So, how much money would it take for you to give him your personal information? Knowing you will have to make every effort as soon as you get home (and for the rest of your life) to make sure that information cannot be used to affect you personally? Did you demand $100? $30,000? A million?

Now look at situations in the past where you did just that. You gave your personal information to a stranger. Maybe he wasn’t as handsome as the gentleman in our example, but the scenario was very close. You gave your personal information to a stranger the last time you bought a car (a $25,000 purchase?). But you would feel highly concerned if personal information was required in order to buy shoes ($100)? What is the threshold at which it would be “reasonable” to give them your personal information?

The cash value in each scenario may give you a clue of what the cash value of your identity is to you. Is the amount required in the car salesman scenario even close to the amount you would have required from the handsome stranger?

Now that you have a better idea of the cash value of a secure identity to you, what would be a reasonable amount to invest to keep it?
May I offer a suggestion?

LifeLock is the industry leader in identity theft protection, and offers its service for less than $10 a month. Our job is to protect your good name. As a consumer, you have rights that allow you to take more control over who uses your identity and how they use it. We do the mechanics, the details if you will, to enforce those rights. And we stand behind our service with our $1,000,000 total service guarantee.

We don’t think you will see a guarantee like this anywhere else from any other company. If you do, let us know because we’d like to do business with them. If you have a reason to think that you will become a victim of identity theft, we can help you stop looking over your shoulder, because we’ve got your back. We understand the investment on your part is twofold: trusting us with your personal information to allow us to protect you, and $10 a month.