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Sony To Offer Free Identity Theft Monitoring
olsmeister writes "Several weeks after having the PlayStation Network hacked, and apologizing to users for the breach, Sony is offering $1 million in identity theft protection for users who sign up before June 18th. The protection is being offered through Debix and is called AllClear ID Plus. This appears to be some kind of custom plan especially for Sony, as their normal offerings are called AllClear ID Free and AllClear ID Pro."
So, when we sign up for this (somewhat unknown) Debix service, can we look forward to our full identities being stolen in the near future?
What rights am I signing away by doing this?
If I understand this correctly, Sony will sell you insurance to the tune that, if doing business with them gets you ripped off, you get reimbursed?
And a year for free!
I have the lifetime policy, I don't do business with them.
It looks awfully like an American company for American users. What about the rest of the world?
Not that I care as I don't own anything made by Sony.
Not like that at all. Since it's a service that attempts to deal with the results of your data being stolen, not a service that attempts to stop your data being stolen in the first place. So it's more like a damp hand towel than an umbrella in that analogy.
Hmm.... if there was some way to find out... if only...
This post contains no rudeness or derision of any kind. All arguments are friendly. Terms and exclusions may apply.
This quote has been there for a few days now though, I noticed it because I often see what random funny quote is down there.
This is the sig that says NI (again)
As a victim of Identity Theft, I'd recommend to the people impacted by the Sony debacle (or any other ID breach) to freeze your credit. It costs (in New York, varies in other states) $5 per credit company per person. There are 3 major companies, thus $15 per person. Of course, this fee might be waived if you are a victim of ID theft. Details (and state specific fees) can be found here: http://www.consumersunion.org/campaigns/learn_more/003484indiv.html
Once frozen, nobody can check your credit or open new lines of credit. If you need to allow this action (e.g. because you are buying a car or applying for a job which requires a background check), you can temporarily unfreeze your credit. You can even specify who the temporary unfreeze applies to and for how long. (For example, "Friendly Car Loans can read my credit file from May 6th through May 20th.")
Of course, the credit bureaus don't like you freezing your credit because it means you can't sign up for those "Save 5% on your purchase by opening a credit card with us today" store cards. It also means they can't sell your credit information to other companies. But, honestly, those negatives for them are just more pluses for us.
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
I think he knows that. This is Sony making a deal with a 3rd party which deals in identity theft to help out people who may be affected by the PSN hack.
Despite it being something that they should really be obliged to do after their screwup, and therefore they shouldn't be congratulated too much, it's also something that the "Sony is the devil" types around here wouldn't actually expect them to do. I think that people should at least recognise that they're doing the right thing here.
Since it seems to be official (although it could potentially be a social engineering trick by whoever hacked the network, since they presumably have the details to upload to the PSN blog, etc), and free, I probably will sign up, despite having already cancelled the card I used for PSN stuff.
which is totally what she said
I think he knows that. This is Sony making a deal with a 3rd party which deals in identity theft to help out people who may be affected by the PSN hack.
Despite it being something that they should really be obliged to do after their screwup, and therefore they shouldn't be congratulated too much, it's also something that the "Sony is the devil" types around here wouldn't actually expect them to do. I think that people should at least recognise that they're doing the right thing here.
Since it seems to be official (although it could potentially be a social engineering trick by whoever hacked the network, since they presumably have the details to upload to the PSN blog, etc), and free, I probably will sign up, despite having already cancelled the card I used for PSN stuff.
It isn't free, it's free for a year. That's not free, that's "Oh, well, we have this insurance in place, so we are not obligated"
It doesn't even come close to being free, but it does set a precedent for the future. Making it free for a year has the effect of sliding it by us.
And I agree, it is something they should be obliged to do, regardless of whether or not they have "screwed up", under the laws of the land. (Or what the laws should be.)
So will they be up and running by June 18th so we can sign up?
And will this be one of those "Free for one year, and then we'll start charging you $20 a month unless you remember to cancel", type things?
In some reports, there were 77 million people's credit information stolen, but Sony is only setting aside 1 million dollars. Sony must be getting a really good deal on this credit monitoring they are giving out. That or they don't expect very many people to sign up for it. Sorry, it was only for the first 100,000 customers, you are out of luck.
-- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
No. Just doesn't fly.
The fact is, this "key information" is being used as a "key" to gain access to resources. This same "key information" is being used to assign liability for the ab/use of these resources. The personally identifiable information is copyable, true. But it is used to gain access to things that shouldn't be accessible. This has no similarity to copyright infringement. And if it did, then we are not the owners of our "copyrightable information" then are we as we do not have the right to sue for infringement. The parties who are actually and directly harmed do, however -- that would be the financial institutions involved.
What I don't understand is why everyone is so afraid of ID theft after this hack.
I'm not going to defend Sony here on any of their actions, from the reports so far it seems they really f-ed up (even though it's the actual criminal that should get primary blame), but apart from the possible CC info (which I already had replaced), what informations do(es) the hacker(s) really have? Name and Address? We do realize that for most world citizens that have the money to have bought a PS3 system, that information is already... I don't know, like everywhere? Actively being collected by hundreds if not thousands of corporations and being (legally) sold between entities throughout the world.
The only major thing is the password (though hashed, it might be retrievable with rainbow tables as I haven't read anywhere they also salted it) and the security question. Both can be a problem if you use the same one often of course. But it's not like someone has your SSN and can go open a credit in your name right? Or is it really possible in some countries to do that with just your name and address? I can't imagine, but if it is, those countries really need to rework their financial branch a.s.a.p.
Look, I'm not saying this is extremely inconvenient (cancel CC, get new one and if you didn't use a unique password / security question, change them elsewhere) and I'm pissed this happened, but being afraid of the ID theft because of this hack, seems like being afraid of dieing when you've just been stung by a bee... I'm not saying it's impossible, but seems highly unlikely. But please, if I missed something somewhere, correct me if I'm wrong.
"This should be fun, and by fun, I mean a wholly depressing insight into the cognitive ability of some grown adults."
Seconded. I got the opportunity for "free credit monitoring" after a breach at a different company. However, the online form to submit your info was unencrypted. I checked the page's source. No https anywhere. And they were asking for things that an ID thief would need to steal me identity. I wound up walking away. Unfortunately, it wasn't a company I could boycott, because I was no longer doing business with them for unrelated reasons (a former bank).
Judging by the negative reactions already, I wonder.. what should SONY do?
You're new here, aren't you?
Viable options only, please. "Die in a fire" and "pay me $1M" and such I'm gonna guess aren't viable - solid arguments as to why they would be are welcomed nevertheless, they might yield a +5 Funny if nothing else.
Well, that answers my previous question...
The only thing Sony could do to please the haters is become a 100% open source Linux company, and even that's a long shot. Sony has raised the religious ire of the nerds, and only complete repentance and conversion, or ceasing to exist altogether, will suffice. Such are the non-negotiable demands of religious crusaders.
So what Sony should do is completely ignore the peanut gallery and simply do right by their *actual* customers. Catering to the Slashdot crowd would virtually ensure Sony's failure. It would be like someone actually going through the effort to appease the Westboro nutters. No matter what you do, you probably won't make them happy, and, even if you do, you'll have alienated everyone else.