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Identity Guard®
SecureScore™: 9.3/10
Identity Guard offers extensive protections built on the framework of IBM’s Watson artificial intelligence platform. This means their services are proactive, dynamic, and available for the whole family.
LifeLock takes a unique approach to identity theft protection in that they are really cybersecurity-forward. That said, they also offer strong core services and some surprising bonuses as well. It’s a great option for the Internet-active youngster.
With Aura’s modern, all-in-one app, parents can eliminate the threat of ID fraud and cyber predators before they strike, while keeping tabs of their children’s online behavior. Aura is also one of the few ID theft protection providers we’ve reviewed that comes with a VPN, password vault, and virus protection for safer browsing.
Identity Guard offers extensive protections built on the framework of IBM’s Watson artificial intelligence platform. This means their services are proactive, dynamic, and available for the whole family.
LifeLock takes a unique approach to identity theft protection in that they are really cybersecurity-forward. That said, they also offer strong core services and some surprising bonuses as well. It’s a great option for the Internet-active youngster.
With Aura’s modern, all-in-one app, parents can eliminate the threat of ID fraud and cyber predators before they strike, while keeping tabs of their children’s online behavior. Aura is also one of the few ID theft protection providers we’ve reviewed that comes with a VPN, password vault, and virus protection for safer browsing.
Top 3 Child Identity Theft Protection Services in 2024
Identity Guard® - AI-based, dynamic identity protections for the whole family.
LifeLock - Cybersecurity protections with an additional focus on children.
Aura Identity Theft Protection - Easy-to-use parental controls and real-time cyberbullying alerts protect children from silent online threats
IdentityForce - Great all-around protections with unlimited coverage for kids.
You might not think there's much value in child identity theft, but unfortunately, children are 51 times more prone to having their identity stolen than adults. Because of this sad fact, adults should seriously consider protecting their children's identity as much as they protect their own.
We keep our finger on the pulse of identity theft protection services, and there are several services specifically tailored to children. While some of these are packaged as additional services for adult plans, some companies offer standalone identity theft protection for children. Below, we have laid out the top four identity theft protection services for children, the pricing structures and what is included.
Identity Guard is one of our all-time favorite identity theft protection services. They offer a wide range of protections built using IBM’s Watson artificial intelligence platform. Their threat-response is dynamic and their services comprehensive. Before we break down why they’re great for kids, let’s take a look at their pros and cons.
Pros & Cons:
Pros:
Affordable basic identity monitoring starting at $7.50 per month
Family plans cover five adults and unlimited children (similar to Aura)
Preventative services powered by IBM’s Watson AI
U.S.-based customer service and expert fraud resolution
Near real-time alerts
Cons:
Entry-level Value plan lacks credit and financial monitoring
No resolution service in Value plan
Total and Ultra Family plans are expensive, at $29.99 and $39.99 if billed monthly
Insurance coverage is the same regardless of the plan
Doesn’t offer antivirus protection
Our Experience:
One of the key aspects we found when we reviewed Identity Guard is that their family plan covers everyone living at the same address, up to five adults. Do you and your partner have two kids in an apartment? You’re all covered under an Identity Guard plan. Got eight kids and a set of grandparents on your compound? No worries, you’re all covered. Some other services that charge per child can get pretty pricey quickly if lots of little ones are involved.
We also liked Identity Guard’s rapid data breach notification system as a major selling point. Schools and pediatricians’ offices are two of the biggest targets for hackers. If an attack on these targets or others results in your child’s information getting exposed, you’ll want to know as quickly as possible.
Did You Know? If you or your child’s information has been exposed via a data breach, there’s a 20-percent chance it will result in some sort of identity theft.
When we tested and reviewed LifeLock, we found it to be in a class all its own. Their robust cybersecurity protections coupled with powerful identity theft protections and real-time monitoring capabilities make them a formidable force in the fight against identity theft. Before we look at their child-specific offerings, though, let’s have a look at the pros and cons.
Pros & Cons:
Pros:
Up to $3 million in identity theft coverage per adult
Can be bundled with Norton 360, a high-quality antivirus
All plans include at least $1 million in identity theft coverage
Quality notifications with helpful descriptions and tips for minimizing exposure
Cons:
Expensive even with an annual plan discount
Cheaper subscriptions only include one-bureau monitoring
Free trial is hard to find on the Norton website
Prices increase after the first year
Our Experience:
LifeLock’s core functions are beyond reproach and their add-ons and perks are noteworthy, but we want to talk about their child-specific functionality. And right off the bat there are a few neat things to point out.
If you have kids, you probably lie awake at night thinking about the shady websites they might be visiting. LifeLock offers powerful cybersecurity protections that will keep your kids safe while they’re browsing, while keeping hackers out of your network. We’re talking encrypted password vaults, virtual private network access, webcam protections, and antivirus software just to name a few features. If your kid is old enough to surf the Internet, you can rest assured they won’t expose your network to malware or bad actors.
Did You Know? LifeLock can prevent hackers from remotely accessing your webcam. Didn’t even know that’s a thing? It is, and it’s really creepy.
They also recently started offering a new tool called “School Time” which allows parents to toggle access to certain websites on and off during certain hours of the day. This feature is great for parents looking to set boundaries for their kids and maintain academic expectations.
Keep in mind, LifeLock has a ton of features across various pricing plan structures. To keep it all straight and see what might work best for you, head over to our breakdown of LifeLock’s tiers of service.
Includes antivirus protection, VPN, and a password manager
Antivirus protection with VPN and a password manager
Family plans include child safety tools and parental controls
14-day free trial and 60-day money-back guarantee
Cons:
A little pricey since it lacks tiered subscriptions
VPN and antivirus services are not feature-rich
Our Experience:
Even though Aura doesn’t have multiple tiers of plan options, we’ve found that the bundle of protection services from Aura does offer comprehensive protection for the entire family. In addition to credit bureau and transaction monitoring, Aura also offers some child-specific features.
When we tested Aura’s family plan, which covers up to five adults and unlimited children, we could monitor our kids’ Social Security numbers and freeze their credit at all three bureaus, just as we could for ourselves. Aura also has child-specific tools like in-game text and voice monitoring to quickly spot any creeps in our kids’ Discord chats. We also liked the family fraud alerts that let us share intel on suspicious online behavior.
Did You Know? Online predators often pose as children on popular platforms like Discord. Just like they do in the real world, they attempt to groom children through these platforms for twisted purposes.
Aura packs a lot more child protections into their app — real-time cyberbullying alerts, content and screen time controls, a free VPN, and antivirus software, to name just a few of our favorite features. Read our complete Aura ID theft protection buyer’s guide for a run-through of those.
The price tag for all of this protection? It isn’t what you’d expect: $25 per month with the yearly plan, which is all paid upfront. That’s about $5 per head for a family of five. If you are in a multi-generational household and want to add grandpa and grandma onto your plan, it knocks your bill down to a little over $3.50 per person, per month. As a great value for the whole family, we’ve rated Aura as our overall best identity theft protection service for 2024.
This is another one of our favorite identity protection services, particularly for parents looking to protect their children. In our IdentityForce review, we found they offered robust social security monitoring, fraud alerts, and social media protections that will ensure the whole family is protected, but they also have a keen interest in protecting children specifically. Let’s unpack that after we look at the pros and cons.
Pros & Cons:
Pros:
Comprehensive, 24/7 identity theft monitoring
3-Bureau credit monitoring, scoring, reporting
Cyberbullying, phishing, and ransomware reimbursement
Exclusive digital safety protections for families
Extremely detailed reports
Actionable notifications
Excellent desktop interface with intuitive design
VPN access through mobile app
Cons:
Underwhelming mobile app
Somewhat high price tag
No external frills
Our Experience:
Moreso than with other services, IdentityForce provides protections many different angles. It also prioritizes the protection of children in a few key ways. For one, their family plans extend to an unlimited number of children, so they’re immediately standing head and shoulders above many other services in the industry.
Identity Guard also offers a special “ChildWatch” feature that prioritizes the protections of children, watching out for instances of their Social Security numbers or any other identifying information being used inappropriately.
Did You Know? According to recent research, it’s estimated that the out-of-pocket expenses for families dealing with the theft of their children’s identities is upwards of $540 million per year.
Finally, Identity Guard has some of the best social media monitoring on the market today. If you’re enrolled in the family plan, IdentityForce can keep an eye on your kids’ social media platforms for inappropriate or dangerous activities. This is great for parents who want to make sure their kids aren’t engaging in risky online behaviors, but don’t want to pry too heavily into their kid’s privacy.
Like the rest of the services on this list, the company offers various pricing structures so families can stay on budget while keeping everyone safe. To get started, have a look at our IdentityForce services and costs guide.
So now that you’re up to speed on what the best identity theft protections for children are, let’s discuss why these services are necessary in the first place.
Product Specs:
Dark Web Monitoring
Yes
Credit Protection
Yes
Family Plans
Yes
Insurance Coverage
$1 million
Free Trial
30-Day
Guarantee
None
Why Are Children Often the Targets of Identity Theft?
When people think of identity theft, they usually associate it with adults and their Social Security numbers, finances, and other personal assets. We can see why people think this way. After all, adults are the ones with the credit cards, the retirement accounts, the deed to the house, etc. It makes sense that they’d be the primary targets of identity thieves, right?
Well, yes and no.
Yes, there’s more to immediately gain by attacking an adult, but adults also have protections in place. Even if you’re not using an identity theft protection service, your bank account is still password-protected, you still keep your credit cards in your wallet, and if thousands of dollars suddenly go missing, you’re going to address it immediately.
On the other hand, a child’s identity is a blank slate. Apart from a Social Security number and some medical records, a young child doesn’t have much of anything by way of an established financial history. When a hacker steals the personal information of a child, there are very few hurdles to clear when building a fraudulent identity.
Did You Know? It’s unsettling, but a significant number of child ID theft cases are perpetrated by someone close to the child. This might be a family friend, a coach, a mentor, or even a member of the family.
Using a child’s Social Security number as a foundation, the thief can open credit cards, retail accounts, buy vehicles, and make other large purchases — pretty much anything and everything they set their mind to. And since a child probably won’t be using their credit for their own purposes for many years, that gives an enormous window of opportunity in which to operate before the crimes are discovered.
That’s why it’s so important for parents to be hyper-vigilant when it comes to protecting their child’s identity. They should protect it as much, if not more so, than their own.
How Can I Best Protect My Child from Identity Theft?
The best way is to enlist the help of one of the identity theft protection services above, but beyond that, there are other ways to protect your child’s identifying information from falling into the wrong hands.
For one, you can place a freeze on a child’s credit before they are old enough to use it. Contact the three credit bureaus — Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax — to understand your options and to get started. It might seem like overkill, but with the stakes this high, do you really want to take the risk?
Also, be vigilant in where and to whom you provide your child’s personally identifying information. If their school is asking for their Social Security number, for example, ask why they need it and how it will be stored. See if a less risky form of identification will be acceptable such as the last four digits or their date of birth. Ask for a copy of the school’s privacy policies and ask about opting out of their director information program if they have one. As a general rule, the fewer people who have access to your child’s personally identifying information, the safer they will be.
If your children are older, make sure they’re aware of the dangers of posting personal information on social media. If you trust them to shop online, keep an eye on their purchases and review account statements with them so they can develop an understanding of what normal activity looks like, and how fraudulent activity might appear.
The name of the game is vigilance. You want to shore up your defenses as best you can, and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Remember — if it seems out of the ordinary, it pays to investigate.
Here are some of the most common identity theft services for minors:
SSN Monitoring
Keep an eye out for this feature when searching for ID theft protection for children. SSN Monitoring is powered by AI and other advanced technology. It scours the internet and online databases to see if your child’s SSN is being used, bought, sold, traded, etc. It also taps the USPS and other hotspots where your child’s identity might be at risk.
Black Market Surveillance
It might seem far-fetched that your child’s personal info would be sold on the Black Market. But the truth is, this is happening night and day. Black Market Surveillance searches illicit websites, forums, chat rooms, internet databases, and newly created sites for suspicious activity and the buying and/or selling of your child’s personal information.
Social Media Monitoring
Youth today are especially susceptible to fraud via social media. That’s why Social Media Monitoring has become a popular feature offered by ID theft companies. Social monitoring leverages AI and other sophisticated tech to search social media platforms, the dark web, hacker forums, and elsewhere. If your kid’s identity falls into the wrong hands, you’ll be the first to know.
Dark Web Monitoring
Children are at great risk of their personal information being dealt with diabolically. But Dark Web Monitoring can counteract the fraudsters’ most clever ploys. This form of cyber monitoring most often comes with alerts so that you can take immediate action if your child’s sensitive information makes it to the dark side of the web.
Identity Theft Insurance Coverage
Get peace of mind for the kiddos (and your pocketbook!) with ID theft insurance coverage. If your child’s identity becomes compromised, this feature covers the related costs. Identity theft happens, and it’s rarely cheap to fix. So it’s nice to know you’ll be reimbursed — sometimes up to a $1 million — for the steep price.
Identity Restoration
Not to be confused with ID theft insurance, this restoration feature actually restores your child’s identity in the aftermath of fraud. Identity restoration often includes full-service assistance from a dedicated investigator. The aim is to completely recover your child’s identity, and clear their name of any damage caused by fraudsters.
Lost Wallet Protection
If you’re a parent to a teenager, you know they often carry a purse or wallet -- sometimes with sensitive information inside. If this is your child, you’ll benefit from lost wallet protection. If for any reason their wallet grows legs, if you will, this feature helps to cancel or replace their bank cards, social security cards, driver’s license, etc.
Credit File Detection
Believe it or not, a kid’s credit is a prime target for criminals. So identity theft protection services offer a helpful feature that monitors significant changes to their credit file and credit activity. This value-packed option will send an alert the moment suspicious activity is detected, allowing you to take action before it’s too late.
File Sharing Network Searches
Protect your child against file sharing across a variety of networks and platforms. This feature offered by ID theft services for children searches file-sharing networks to ensure your child’s sensitive information isn’t being sold or traded for fraudulent purposes. This option is especially important for parents with teenagers in their household.
Max Sheridan brings over two decades of writing experience to our team. He has spent 1,000-plus hours researching VPNs, identity theft protection, and various topics in cyber technology. Previously, Max was an investigative journalist, and he is also a published novelist. He earned a B.A. in Classics from the University of Virginia and an M.A. in Classics from the University of Illinois. He currently lives in Nicosia, Cyprus.
