Identity Guard is a solid option for identity theft protection that we would feel comfortable using ourselves. It touts itself as one of the best identity theft protection services, but what does that look like? With a plain-language privacy policy, extra features (like a password manager), and up to $1 million in identity theft insurance on all plans, this service offers a lot.

We find that a lot of identity protection products have a high price tag without a lot of additional value, but Identity Guard might be different.

Identity Guard review at a glance

Identity Guard, like most ID-theft prevention services, monitors your financial accounts, Social Security number (SSN), social media accounts, emails, and credit. It also sends alerts if your information appears on the dark web. Identity Guard lets you know when there’s suspicious activity in any of these areas and gives you the resources to fix it.

It also helps remove your information from data brokers like BeenVerified by sending an opt-out request and updating you on the status. That way, you can reduce the amount of information about yourself online and hopefully avoid becoming a victim of identity theft.

In addition to monitoring your personal information, Identity Guard provides you with remediation tools in case your identity is compromised. Identity theft insurance and lost-wallet services help ease the stress of having to replace everything. We did find it odd that there was no mention of identity recovery services anywhere, however. Our research appears to show that Identity Guard will pay for a lawyer and other identity remediation fees, but there doesn’t seem to be any real assistance provided with recovering from identity fraud.

Otherwise, the portal is clean and easy to navigate, services seem to be easy to use, and all information is available for you to review. The monitoring services within the portal are organized by section.

The only real caveat is the price. If you want identity and credit monitoring for you and your family, the monthly plan can quickly become steep. But we will admit that just the basic identity monitoring plan is one of the least expensive we’ve seen, especially for an individual plan. If you need bare-bones coverage, this is probably your best bet.

Identity Guard pros and cons

What does Identity Guard protect against?

Identity Guard protects against common forms of identity theft and monitors any place information is posted to make sure your identity and credit aren’t being used fraudulently. It also helps remove identifying information about you from data brokers across the web. With email, device, and information monitoring, you have full-spectrum coverage, which will make identity protection worth it in the long run.

The following are covered and monitored by Identity Guard:

• Dark web
• Financial institutions
• Home titles
• Public records (like arrests or traffic tickets)
• Address change monitoring (if someone tries to change your address to theirs)
• Monthly credit score
• Credit protection
• Data broker sites
• Social media
• New account notifications
• Monetary transactions (bank and credit cards)
• Child identity (family plans only)

Identity Guard features

We liked the organized view of Identity Guard’s dashboard, which had prominent information available at a glance. We were also impressed that we didn’t have to turn on the data broker services. As soon as we activated our account, Identity Guard went to work, opting us out of the data broker sites.

We had a little bit of trouble with the credit monitoring as it didn’t connect immediately after we activated it. Within a few minutes, though, it was working. We were able to get the Equifax report of our score, but the Experian and TransUnion were still reading “N/A” a few hours later.

Credit monitoring

The credit monitoring guide is found in the main dashboard, but if you want to get more granular, you can click into the section and look around. The credit lock feature is turned on automatically, and it limits access to your Experian credit in an attempt to help thwart identity theft. Here is the full list of credit monitoring features.

• Credit reports from all three credit bureaus
• Month-over-month credit score tracker
• A credit score breakdown that tells you what you can improve on
• Credit score checker for Experian and TransUnion

Credit reports and credit scores

Keeping an eye on your credit score will help you when it becomes time to rent an apartment, get a new credit card, buy a car or house, or anything else that requires a credit check. Identity Guard updates your credit scores monthly and shows you a month-to-month view of your credit so you can track how it's moving.

Alerts

Alerts are broken down on the main Identity Guard dashboard. You can then click on that section to read more about the alerts and Identity Guard’s recommendations. Different alerts are available depending on what plan you have.

You can also manage how your alerts are received in your settings. Email and text are automatically activated, while phone calls and WhatsApp messages are coming soon.

Our experience with Identity Guard

Identity Guard was one of the easier-to-understand services that we’ve tried. We liked the clean layout of the dashboard and the ability to click through different features to explore the offerings. We had a few hiccups, but there were also things we really liked.

First, paying for our subscription was difficult. There were options for PayPal, ApplePay, and card payments. Any chance to not input card information is one we’re going to take, but neither of the other two options worked. We received error messages from both PayPal and ApplePay. It appeared the issue was on Identity Guard’s end as the website’s payment service configuration had a bug.

We ended up using our card (which is the same card hooked up to our PayPal and ApplePay), and it went through. We also had issues getting our credit scores from the different bureaus to display correctly and some were not active for hours after initiating the service.

As far as what we liked, we were impressed with the low monthly price for the Value plan. Coming in under $9 a month isn’t seen often in privacy protection services. While this is only going to get you basic features like dark web alerts and safe browsing, it still comes with the $1 million identity theft insurance.

We also liked how efficient the layout was in our portal. We didn’t have to search for account information, customer support, features, or anything else promised. Identity Guard makes using its product easy. Overall, Identity Guard is a good service that we’re comfortable using.

Does Identity Guard keep your data safe?

You know we love a privacy policy here at AllAboutCookies, and this one is ok. While there is a lot of information collected on you, there are also baseline rules in place in Identity Guard’s privacy policy to keep that data safe. Data is shared with affiliates and third parties, but Identity Guard is open and transparent about it. The company even mentions that it evaluates third parties for their data-sharing practices before sharing your data. Overall, it’s not a bad privacy policy.

Identity Guard’s privacy policy states the following:

• “For collaborating with others. Some services may provide ways for different users to interact or collaborate with each other. Your information will be shared in connection with those activities if you choose to engage in them.
• Affiliates. We may share your name, email address, and other contact information with our subsidiaries and affiliates including Circle Media Labs, Inc. (“Circle”) or Intersections, LLC dba Pango (“Pango”) to better market our collective products and services to you. We and our affiliated entities may also share information with third-party data controllers where such sharing is legally required, such as with the use of certain cookies and related tracking technologies for compliance with specific geographic laws.
• With our partners. We may provide your personal data to partners to confirm your eligibility for joint or co-branded offers or to communicate and administer such offers (e.g. verify eligibility, assess effectiveness of joint offer, etc.). Our partners are not allowed to use any data including personal data that they receive from us for any purpose except for communicating, evaluating, improving, and administering the offer in question. This will not affect the partner’s ability to use personal data that it may already have obtained from you or other sources. If you do not wish to receive promotional emails from our partners, you can unsubscribe directly using the unsubscribe link or tool provided in the partner’s email or other communication to you.
• Third-party service providers. With the exception of any data collected through your use of our virtual private network where our VPN Product Privacy Notice applies, we may disclose the information we collect to service providers to help us provide some aspects of our services. We work with trusted third parties and partners (including our affiliate companies such as Circle Media Labs, Inc. when they act as our service providers). In cases where we may share your personal data, we enter into appropriate confidentiality and data processing agreements with these third parties, review their security practices, and limit information sharing to the scope of what they are helping us with. Examples of activities that third parties help us with include:
• processing customer payments
• providing analytics about our services to help us understand how the services are being used
• providing sales and customer support
• maintaining the infrastructure required to provide our services
• delivering our marketing and advertising content.”

As far as third-party services, Identity Guard partners with companies like Plaid so it can connect to accounts like your bank. This means your financial data is being transmitted through Plaid’s AES 256-bit encryption as well as Transportation Layer Security (TLS).

Identity Guard compatibility

Identity Guard offers a desktop app for Windows and Mac and a browser extension for Chrome, but Identity Guard’s website will work on any browser. There are also mobile apps available in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. The Apple Store app is rated highly at 4.3 stars, but the Google Play Store app only has 2.3 stars. Many of the Google Play Store reviews say the app is much worse since receiving an update, so it may possibly improve in the future.

Identity Guard customer support

We didn’t reach out to support, but if you scroll to the bottom of the page, you’ll see the Contact section where all of the information is located. The support number 1-833-692-2187 is clearly listed as well as the support email customercare@identityguard.com. Support hours are in Eastern Standard Time (EST), but the FAQ page is helpful if you need immediate assistance.

Identity Guard customer support hours:

• Monday – Friday: 8 a.m.-11 p.m. (EST)
• Saturday: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. (EST)
• Sunday: Closed

Identity Guard prices and subscriptions

Identity Guard is priced a little lower than competitors (like Identity Force) for the Value plan, but its price for the more protective plans is similar to the higher-priced plans of rival companies. By signing up for the family plan and including children’s identity protection and additional adults, the cost tops out at nearly $40 a month. Since Identity Guard comes with extras like safe browsing and a password manager, it does offer more than its competitors.

To be honest, we didn’t see the safe browsing option anywhere in our portal. If that’s important to you, you may need to contact customer service to find out where it’s located. We were impressed with the fact that identity theft insurance came with every plan. That’s uncommon in identity protection services. The full breakdown of the plans and their features are below.

Identity Guard plans comparison

Identity Guard FAQs

Bottom line: Is Identity Guard good?

We have looked at a lot of identity protection services, and we’re confident that Identity Guard is one of the good ones. The pricing on the Value product is inexpensive, and the Family plans can cover more adults than most competitors (like PrivacyGuard). We also liked the clean design of the dashboard and easy access to settings like canceling your plan.

Overall, we would feel comfortable using Identity Guard ourselves. Even with the issues we experienced, like our credit score not generating properly, we had a pleasant experience with the product.

If you don’t feel like Identity Guard is for you based on price, there are other identity theft protection services with different features and costs. In this age of ransomware, our personal information is being shared now more than ever. Whatever you choose, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your private information.

Learn More

On Identity Guard's website

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• Easy to use
• Includes extra features like a password manager
• No dedicated identity recovery services

Author Details

Mary James

About the Author

Mary lives in Los Angeles and has been writing about tech for over 5 years. When she's not writing for work or fun, you'll find her in a theatre, at the movies, volunteering, or hiking the gorgeous SoCal landscape.