PrivacyGuard Review 2025: Who Is It Best For?

Ransomware and hackers have opened up the door to widespread data and identity theft, but services like PrivacyGuard vow to help you keep it safe.
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4.2
Editorial Rating
Learn More
On PrivacyGuard's website

Identity Protection
PrivacyGuard
  • Robust Total Protection plan
  • Additional alerts and reports, like a registered offender list
  • Sells data to third parties

PrivacyGuard is a credible service but the price point may be too expensive compared to other identity theft protection services. You can customize your protection by selecting identity theft protection only, credit protection only, or combined total protection. 

However, there are no family plans available and no annual subscriptions, so there's no way to save if you're looking for multi-member protection or long-term savings. 

PrivacyGuard does what it says and gives you a comprehensive overview of your credit and identity footprints. The big question is, is it worth it?

Pros
  • Robust Total Protection plan with identity and credit features
  • ID theft insurance up to $1 million
  • Additional alerts and reports, like a registered offender list
Cons
  • Expensive compared to other services
  • No family plans
  • No social media or home title monitoring
In this article
At a glance
Our experience
Who is it best for
What does it protect against?
Prices and subscriptions
Features
Does it keep your data safe?
Compatibility
Customer support
Alternatives
FAQs
Bottom line: Is PrivacyGuard good?

At a glance

Price $9.99–$24.99/mo
Identity theft insurance Up to $1 million
Credit monitoring Yes
Credit reports Yes — Experian, TransUnion, Equifax
Credit score Yes
Identity recovery Yes
Dark web alerts Yes
Social media account alerts No
Learn more Get Privacy Guard

How we test and rate identity theft protection services

To review identity theft protection services, we sign up for the service several days prior to our review. This allows the service time to begin populating our dashboard with identity and credit monitoring information and send us real-time alerts. During this time, we also evaluate the service's ease of use, contact customer support, and play around with the extra features. 

After spending some time with the service, we use our proprietary grading rubric which calculates a star rating based on prices, identity monitoring features, credit features, and other criteria. 

To learn more about how we test, check out our full ID theft testing methodology here.

We last tested PrivacyGuard on February 11, 2025.

4.2
Editorial Rating
Learn More
On PrivacyGuard's website
Identity Protection
PrivacyGuard
  • Robust Total Protection plan
  • Additional alerts and reports, like a registered offender list
  • Sells data to third parties

Our experience

PrivacyGuard was fast to sign up for and get going. After you enter basic information like your full name, address, and date of birth, along with your Social Security number (SSN) to verify your identity. 

You can check your credit scores, get recommendations on how to increase your scores, and navigate various dashboards like the Identity Alert menu above. There’s also a link to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store to download the PrivacyGuard mobile apps.

To take advantage of the full power of the product, you’ll have to enter information into multiple monitoring areas. Thankfully, the dashboard is intelligent and lets you know what information you’ve input and which sections you still need to fill out. 

There are red dots indicating information PrivacyGuard is monitoring and yellow caution signs where you still need to input your info.

You can opt to receive text and email alerts from PrivacyGuard if anything changes regarding neighborhood reports, public records, online fraud, and more.

Navigation to each section was easy. You’re quickly able to view the monitoring information for each section, like our birthday below. Since we didn’t enter our driver’s license or passport number, that was still blank.

You can add additional info for PrivacyGuard to track and monitor, including your date of birth, passport number, and driver's license number.

One feature that didn’t work for us was the Registered Offenders locator. We disabled our ad and cookie blockers, cleared our cache, and made sure cookies were enabled, but it still wouldn’t load. We aren’t quite sure why, but we couldn’t make it work.

Also, we don’t love a product that makes us enable cookies and disable ad blockers to use it. Since the other services work without this hassle, we aren’t sure why cookies needed to be enabled for the Registered Offenders locator to work. 

We already know PrivacyGuard is collecting and selling our data, so requiring us to disable blockers is especially annoying. 

We couldn't get the registered offenders list to load while using PrivacyGuard, which was frustrating.

Overall, we can see why someone would want to use PrivacyGuard. It has a clean dashboard, it’s easy to use, and it provides a lot of information. When we went to cancel our trial, we were able to do that from our account page and without much incident. 

If you’re concerned about your credit and identity safety, this may be a great service for you.

Who is PrivacyGuard best for?

  • For any individual or single parent looking for customizable protection without needing to cover multiple adults.

PrivacyGuard's best plan is also its most expensive, which means that the monthly cost could quickly add up for families with multiple adults. But if you only need to protect your own information, then PrivacyGuard is a solid option. 

We do like that PrivacyGuard is split into plans exclusive to identity monitoring, plans exclusive to credit protection, and a plan that includes everything. You may already be receiving credit monitoring from Credit Karma or identity theft protection from Identity Guard, so you can purchase a PrivacyGuard plan just to fill any gaps. 

PrivacyGuard prices and subscriptions

There are three plans offered by PrivacyGuard ranging from $9.99–$24.99/mo. You can test out any plan for $1 for the first 14 days — after that, you’ll be charged the full price of the plan.

PrivacyGuard is on the higher end of identity theft protection, but it also doesn't have any monthly plans to save you money in the long term. Here's how its starting price compares to top identity theft protection services:

  • PrivacyGuard: $9.99/mo
  • Identity Guard: $6.67/mo (billed annually)
  • Aura: $9.00/mo (billed annually)
  • LifeLock: $7.50/mo for first yr (billed annually)

Total Protection, the most expensive, is a combination of the other two plans and offers the most coverage. In addition to all the features offered in the Identity and Credit Protection plans, it also includes extras like emergency travel assistance and medical record reimbursement.

If the Total Protection price tag has you doing a double take, there's the more affordable Identity Protection plan for just $9.99/mo. While you won’t get the credit monitoring services offered through the credit plan, you will still have monitoring for your SSN and financial accounts. 

Plan PrivacyGuard Identity Protection PrivacyGuard Credit Protection PrivacyGuard Total Protection
Price per month $9.99/mo $19.99/mo $24.99/mo
Who’s covered 1 adult 1 adult 1 adult, 10 children
Identity theft insurance Up to $1 million Up to $1 million
Identity recovery
Credit monitoring
Financial activity alerts
Credit reports Yes — Experian, TransUnion, Equifax Yes — Experian, TransUnion, Equifax
Credit score
VantageScore
Dark web alerts
SSN monitoring
USPS address change alerts
Learn more View plan View plan View plan

A 14-day trial to PrivacyGuard is $1, and you can cancel at any time.

Features

A lot of the features found in PrivacyGuard come pretty standard with identity protection services, but there were a few we appreciated that were extras.

Since schools are such a hot target for ransomware criminals, we now have to worry about children's SSNs being compromised before they turn 18. The addition of monitoring kids’ credit is a really nice feature. 

We were also impressed with the neighborhood reports that give you information on just about any neighborhood in the U.S. — and the registered offender list that can alert you if a registered offender moves into your neighborhood.

Identity monitoring

For the sake of covering all protections provided, we’re going to list the situations PrivacyGuard protects against on the Total Protection plan. While the Identity and Credit Protection plans can be purchased separately, the Total Protection plan includes features found in both of those plans plus additional features that come only with Total Protection. 

PrivacyGuard's monitornig areas include:

  • Credit score tracking and monitoring
  • Public and dark web scanning
  • SSN monitoring
  • Driver’s license and passport monitoring
  • Bank account monitoring
  • ID, application, and public records monitoring
  • Neighborhood reports
  • Registered offenders list

Credit monitoring

PrivacyGuard uses the VantageScore reported by Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion and provides you with daily credit monitoring and a monthly credit score.

The bureau credit monitoring feature checks for changes to your credit report and alerts you if it spots any. If you receive an alert for changes you didn’t make, PrivacyGuard helps you assess and remediate these changes with its identity theft protection services. This feature includes $1 million in ID theft insurance as well as online fraud assistance.

Alerts you’ll receive with credit monitoring include but are not limited to:

  • New inquiries
  • Derogatory information like a past-due bill
  • New accounts opened
  • Public records added to your credit file
  • Change of address

PrivacyGuard's dashboard includes multiple types of alerts, including new accounts, public records, and more.

Credit reports and credit scores

PrivacyGuard sends monthly credit score reports so you can monitor for inaccuracies or potential identity theft. The service also wants to help you understand your credit score, what it means, and how it can affect things like buying a new car or renting an apartment.

Landlords and lenders are likely to look at your credit score. You can monitor your VantageScore through PrivacyGuard. Your VantageScore is determined by the three major credit bureaus. The higher the score, the more likely you are to secure a loan with a good interest rate or get approved for an apartment.

A good VantageScore is 661 to 780, while 781 and above is considered excellent.

The PrivacyGuard Total Protection plan includes credit reports from all three major bureaus.

Alerts

While you can monitor your credit and identity with other services, one of the benefits of having PrivacyGuard is the way it alerts you. There’s an app where you can check your credit and ID reports whenever you want. Also, PrivacyGuard will send you text and email alerts as well as a monthly credit report.

This helps you catch concerning actions quickly and minimize identity theft losses. Additional alerts include:

  • Registered offenders list
  • Neighborhood reports
  • Annual public records reports
  • Online fraud alerts
  • Credit reports
  • Monthly status updates regarding your credit and identity

Does PrivacyGuard keep your data safe?

In very plain writing, PrivacyGuard lets you know that data collection is automatic, which means you don’t have the option to opt-out. You can send an email to service@tenerity.com with a request to stop the marketing communications, but we wish you could actually opt out of the data collection.

The policy notes that PrivacyGuard collects the following information:

  • Log data: Includes IP address, operating system, browser type, browser ID, the URL entered and the referring page/campaign, date/time of visit, the time spent on our services
  • Analytics data: Includiesg the electronic path taken to PrivacyGuard, through the service and when exiting the service, as well as usage and activity on our services, such as the links, objects, products and benefits viewed, clicked or otherwise interacted with
  • Location data: Includes general geographic location based on the Log Data we collect or more precise location when permitted by law
  • Application data: Includes more precise location data as well as use of and interactions with third-party sites and online services 

Compatibility

According to the website, you receive the PrivacyGuard app with any of the plans. The website shows the app is available in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. The app has a 4.8-star rating for iOS and a 4.6-star rating for Android, among the highest ratings we've seen for an identity theft protection app. 

Customer support

PrivacyGuard comes with comprehensive customer support. While the Contact Us page is tucked quietly into the footer of the website, there are several methods of contact once you get there. We appreciated that you can call, email, or even send them a letter.

If you click on the FAQ page, however, you’ll find limited information. While this isn’t as expansive of a self-help section as we see with other security products, it does tend to lend itself to calling the customer service phone number if you really need assistance. We like that focus on personal assistance rather than leaving us to fend for ourselves in forums or identity theft prevention guides.

Top alternatives

PrivcyGuard might not be your thing. Whether you want family protection or monitoring that PrivacyGuard lacks, you have other options for credit monitoring and identity theft protection. Below are some of our favorites. 

Service
Price Starts at $9.00/mo (billed annually) Starts at $7.50/mo for first yr (billed annually) Starts at $8.99/mo
# of people covered 1 - 5 adults, unlimited children 1 - 2 adults, up 5 children 1 - 5 adults, unlimited children
Types of identity monitoring Identity and SSN, account breach, home and auto title, criminal and court records Identity and SSN, dark web, phone takeover, home title, social media Dark web, high-risk, bank account, social media, credit and debit card
ID theft insurance Up to $1 million Up to $1.05 million through $3 million, depending on plan Up to $1 million
Credit monitoring
Identity restoration services
Details Get Aura Get LifeLock Get Identity Guard

PrivacyGuard FAQs

Is PrivacyGuard worth it?

For you to get the most out of your PrivacyGuard subscription, you’ll need the Total Protection plan for $24.99/mo. This is fairly expensive considering there are free products like Credit Karma and TrueIdentity out there that provide you with the essential protection features you need.

Who owns PrivacyGuard?

PrivacyGuard is a service of Trilegiant Corporation headquartered in Stamford, CT. Trilegiant describes itself as, “the premier membership-based provider of travel, shopping, entertainment, and consumer protection services.”[1]

Does PrivacyGuard use FICO or Vantage?

PrivacyGuard provides its customers with their VantageScore, which is an average of credit scores from the three reporting bureaus Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.

Bottom line: Is PrivacyGuard good?

PrivacyGuard is good at what it does, but we think it's too expensive for most interested individuals. The dashboard is user-friendly; all of your information is presented on the screen, and you can continue to add more information to make sure no aspect of your credit or identity is compromised or used anywhere else in the world. We hope the service introduces annual pricing and family plans in the future. 

PrivacyGuard is one of many identity theft protection services that offer both preventative and remediation services. Most people don't think about this type of service as being necessary, but if you've ever lost your wallet or had your bank account hacked, you know how frustrating and time consuming it can be to fix it.

Protecting your identity shouldn't be complicated. Identity theft services are a secure way to give you peace of mind. Make sure you're protected before it's too late.

4.2
Editorial Rating
Learn More
On PrivacyGuard's website
Identity Protection
PrivacyGuard
  • Robust Total Protection plan
  • Additional alerts and reports, like a registered offender list
  • Sells data to third parties
Author Details
Mary is a seasoned cybersecurity writer with over seven years of experience. With a B.S. in Liberal Arts from Clarion University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Point Park University, she educates audiences on scams, antivirus software, and more. Her passion lies in educating audiences on helpful ways to protect their data.

Citations

[1] Trilegiant Home Page