The Opt-Out Detectives
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Sunday, January 31st, 2010 (No comments yet) |
So a little while back, I did a Blogtalk radio interview with Mike of the Opt-Out Detectives. Before the interview, I checked out the optoutdetectives.com website and saw that like so many others, they are a service you can purchase to help prevent ID theft. Though I didn't have time to evaluate the service at the time, far be it for me to pass up the opportunity to reach more people and tell them how to stop ID theft.
I talked with Mike for a while during and after the Interview and discovered more about who they are and what they do. His site was born out of the need to protect the information of detectives and police who sometimes have bad guys threaten them and their families. The service is not a monthly fee. It is instead a one-time cost for a one time service (instead of a monthly cost for a one-time service like some people think is ok to charge).
I asked Mike for the chance to try out his service and this is the results of my evaluation:
How can they help?
I've always said that there are two parts to protecting your identity: keeping the data from the bad guys and keeping them from using it. Keeping them from using it (for credit anyway) is pretty easy with a Credit Freeze. Keeping them from getting the data in the first place is really hard!
There are too many companies out there abusing your data leaving you little option of when and how it's used. But can you do something about it? Some of these companies give you the option of opting out of being bought and sold like a slave. The challenge is finding who to opt out with and then actually getting it done (an extremely arduous task to say the least).
Enter Opt Out Detectives.
The point of this service is protecting yourself not only against ID theft, but other kinds of crime that come from people having too easy access to where you live and other important data about you. Granted there are other tricks to protecting your information than just getting your name off lists and out of databases, but data brokers are one of the biggest sources of the problem so dealing with them is a good start.
What they provide
Depending on what level of service you want, the price will vary, but for the most part the money you pay is for a large PDF file about 64 pages long with helpful advice, instructions, and pre-filled letters (they ask for some of your basic data so they can do some of the work for you).
If you go through the packet, it will provide a list of e-mail addresses to send opt-out requests to, links to online removal forms, websites to sign up for that will help you control and remove your data, and, of course, information on why to get a credit freeze and how to do it (score big points for the Opt Out Detectives for that!).
It's easy to read, easy to understand, and easy to follow. This makes the process of combating the data-brokers a snap. You'll still have to take the time to go through it and you'll also need to print out the letters and send them, but they're already addressed and have the necessary details on them so most will just need to be signed and sent.
Results
In my case, they provided what they call the "Business Select, Sports and Celebrity package".
Before I'd even gone through the packet, I'd already received my first letter from a data-broker stating that they intended to comply with the request to remove my information. I got two more where one complied and the other requested that I fill out their specific form for removal, but the process was working.
From what I could tell, the Opt Out Detectives service that I received already took care of the first part of the packet leaving me with the letters and credit freezes to do myself.
I already have my accounts frozen so that's under control, but I haven't sent the letters yet because I also want to know what information the companies had in the first place. I'm talking with Mike about a revision to the letters that would make that possible and that would also let me opt my wife and kids out at the same time.
Once I complete that process, I'll post some updates here, but the package as-is should be more than enough for people who aren't interested in data-aggregation research.
In Conclusion
The Opt Out Detectives is the first ID-theft service of any kind that I've ever found that has any merit. Not only do they NOT charge monthly, what they do charge for is a useful service that will help you to prevent ID theft and worse.
Remember there's plenty of other things people can do to you if they can find enough personal data about you which Mike and his crew well knows. This is a service created to protect law enforcement and their families from the revenge of criminal elements. The same service will help protect you too.
