PrivacyGuard Review 2023 – Is Worth It?

If protecting your identity is a priority, don’t waste your money on PrivacyGuard. Get Aura instead.

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I took PrivacyGuard for a 3-month test drive. Here’s what I learned: 

PrivacyGuard claims to be a fully comprehensive identity protection service, but it fails in key areas. Its monitoring tools don’t catch the threats they should, its site security is questionable, and some standard services are missing entirely.  

Plus, it doesn’t offer options for family protection. So, if you want to protect your spouse or children, you’re out of luck. 

Aura, on the other hand, offers excellent and flexible family coverage. With them, you can add up to five adults to any family plan, including college-aged kids, your in-laws, your spouse, or your parents. And, Aura will provide $1 million in theft insurance coverage per adult, up to $5 million total.  

On top of that, Aura’s monitoring services are uniquely comprehensive, so you can ensure everything from your credit score to your 401(k) is being carefully watched. 
If you’re still interested in PrivacyGuard (or just curious about its many failures), read on. Otherwise, check out Aura instead.

PrivacyGuard Review: Is It Worth Getting?

No, PrivacyGuard is not worth getting. 

This service fails to stand out in any real way. It doesn’t offer any unique protections or features, yet it costs as much as some of the bigger, more reputable names. 

Need me to explain? 

Keep reading, I’ll cover everything you need to know about PrivacyGuard’s below-average offerings.

Editors Ranking Table

Monitoring & Alerts: 6/10

PrivacyGuard’s take on comprehensive identity monitoring leaves a lot to be desired. 

They offer three plan tiers to choose from, “Credit,” “Identity,” and “Total.”  For the sake of this discussion, I’ll focus on their most comprehensive tier — the Total plan. At this level, PrivacyGuard includes: 

They also include monitoring for your children’s Social Security numbers if needed. And, PrivacyGuard will monitor your credit score for signs of fraud. 

If you’re not familiar with identity protection services, you might think this list seems pretty inclusive. But take it from me, PrivacyGuard is missing many key monitoring areas. 

Other services, like Aura, include home and auto title monitoring, credit lock assistance, investment account monitoring, payday loan monitoring, and social media monitoring at a similar (or better) price. 

Unfortunately, my opinion of PrivacyGuard gets worse before it gets better. I might be able to forgive their lack of services if they were super accurate in the coverage they provide — but they’re not. 

Here’s why…

Dark Web Alerts

Here’s the first giant red flag: 

PrivacyGuard’s dark web scan didn’t return a single alert. 

I would love to believe that none of my personal information is lurking on the dark web, but I know that’s not true. Aura found around 15. 

So, to find no alerts makes me think PrivacyGuard isn’t doing what it claims. 

Alerts Dashboard

I can’t complain about PrivacyGuard’s alerts dashboard. 

It’s a little dated, but it’s not bad. Alerts are grouped by category, making navigation relatively easy.  And, the alerts are straightforward and informative. 

All in all, it’s not the best alerts dashboard I’ve ever seen – there’s not enough empty space to make it all that easy to read, and I wish it didn’t take quite as many clicks to get into each alert type. 

Of course, because PrivacyGuard didn’t find alerts on me (like it should have), I didn’t get a chance to really explore the dashboard in full.   

Credit and Financial Monitoring

As far as credit and financial monitoring tools go, PrivacyGuard offers the basics but fails to really impress. 

With their top-tier plan, you’ll get a 3-bureau credit report, credit score tracker, daily credit monitoring, and bank account monitoring. These are great, but you’re missing a few tools that the best identity protection services offer, including:

If you suspect an identity thief has managed to find your personal information, it’s important to take action fast. You can do this by locking or freezing your credit with the major credit bureaus. 

A freeze or lock will block all access to your credit, which helps prevent criminals from opening fraudulent accounts. 

Bigger (and better) name identity protection services help you lock or freeze your credit quickly. Sometimes they do this through their customer service reps; other times it’s as simple as toggling a switch within your profile. 

With PrivacyGuard, you’ll have to initiate locks and freezes yourself. That means reaching out to each credit bureau on your own. It’s not the worst task in the world, but it’s also not fun. Given the amount PrivacyGuard charges, it would be nice if they offered lock and freeze assistance. 

It would also be ideal if they offered investment account monitoring. 

Bank account monitoring is great, but it only looks at your regular accounts, not long-term holdings like your 401(k). My retirement savings are some of my biggest assets, and I don’t want to leave them vulnerable, but with PrivacyGuard, they are. 

Public Records Monitoring 

PrivacyGuard offers public records monitoring, meaning they’ll alert you if a new public record appears in your name. This is pretty standard across identity protection services. 

However, there’s one public record service that PrivacyGuard doesn’t offer – home title monitoring. If you’re a homeowner, that’s a service you’ll want, but to get it you’ll need a service like Aura rather than PrivacyGuard. 

Threat Resolution: 7/10

I had a great experience with PrivacyGuard’s customer service team, which leads me to believe that their fraud resolution specialists would be helpful and knowledgeable if I needed them. 

Of course, you have to find a threat before you can resolve it. 

Given PrivacyGuard’s monitoring capabilities, I’m not so sure that’s happening.

But let’s start with the positives, shall we? 

Customer Service

I called PrivacyGuard’s customer service team on a Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. They answered in less than a minute and were helpful from the start. 

Sometimes customer service reps make you feel like they want to get off the phone as soon as possible. With PrivacyGuard, that wasn’t the case. Instead, I felt like they wanted to ensure all of my questions were answered. 

The only downside in this area is PrivacyGuard’s hours. 

The customer service team is only available 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. If you work during normal business hours, that might make it difficult for you to call. And, if you need them urgently because there’s a breach outside of office hours (assuming PrivacyGuard can find it), you’ll have to wait to do anything. That can be stressful, to say the least. 

Concierge Service

PrivacyGaurd offers expert threat resolution should you become a victim of identity theft. Their team promises to create an action plan appropriate to your unique situation. They’ll help you contact creditors, file paperwork, and work through the credit dispute process. 

Given my experience with their customer service team, I have no reason to doubt their concierge abilities. Again, though, if they don’t find the threats, they can’t help you resolve them. 

Wallet Protection

Wallet protection means that your identity protection service will help you cancel bank cards should you lose your wallet. Many services also offer to contact appropriate government entities to help you recover your ID. Most services also offer to monitor your credit score and account a bit more closely for signs of fraud. 

PrivacyGuard offers the basics here. They’ll help you cancel your bank cards with their Total plan, but that’s all. They don’t assign a rep to watch your credit more closely, nor do they offer to contact government entities regarding your ID cards. 

Theft Insurance: 7/10

PrivacyGuard meets the industry standard for theft insurance. They offer $1 million in coverage and include reimbursements for certain legal fees, lost wages, travel expenses, and elder, spousal, and childcare. 

Unfortunately, PrivacyGuard doesn’t give a complete breakdown of their insurance coverage anywhere that’s easy to find. They promise $1,500 in lost wages for up to five weeks but otherwise fail to discuss how the coverage breaks down. 

Insurance coverage should be transparent – it’s part of what you’re paying for, after all. 

Still, the $1 million policy meets industry standards, so I can’t be too harsh. No other company matches Aura’s $1 million per adult, for up to five adults. So, if you want the best theft insurance coverage for your family, you’ll want Aura – not PolicyGuard. 

Family Plans: 1/10

If you’re trying to protect more than yourself, PrivacyGuard isn’t a good choice. They don’t have any family plan offerings. 

With their top-tier plan, they will include children’s Social Security number monitoring, but that’s it. There’s no coverage for your spouse or any adult family members without purchasing a separate plan.  

If you have a family to protect, you should look at Aura. Not only do they provide up to $5 million in theft insurance coverage for families – they also offer lots of flexibility. With Aura, you can include up to five adults. That means you can cover your adult children, your spouse, your parents, or your in-laws. 

Even when identity protection services offer family plans, most of them only allow for two adults and children under 18. So, Aura is way above the industry standard, while PrivacyGuard doesn’t come close to meeting it.  

Ease of Use: 7/10

PrivacyGuard isn’t hard to use, but it is a little dated, and I have some concerns about its security. 

Let’s start at the beginning. 

When you set your login credentials for PrivacyGuard, it asks for a 6-character password. There are no requirements for capitalization or special characters. There are also no security questions or options for multi-factor identification. That put me on edge. 

A password like that is far from secure. Shouldn’t an identity protection service, one that has all my personal information, offer top-notch security on its own site? 

Once you’re set up, everything is pretty straightforward. 

There’s a credit section, an identity watch section, and an alerts area that you can easily get to from an upper menu. I like that they list their contact information in the right-hand margin of each screen, so it’s always on hand should you need it. But overall, it’s not a very eye-catching site. If it hasn’t been updated in the last decade, I wouldn’t be surprised. 

Additional Services: 5/10

When it comes to additional services, PrivacyGuard is a little misleading. 

They don’t offer a VPN, password manager, or parental controls. They do offer a safe browsing plugin. However, the way they present their safe browsing plugin makes it sound like a VPN. 

They say their secure browser “provides you with a secure environment for browsing the web.” A less knowledgeable user might assume that’s a VPN, and given the way it’s marketed, I got the feeling PrivacyGuard might be okay with users thinking it’s a VPN equivalent. But I clarified with their customer service team, and this is simply a plugin that helps block phishing attempts.

If you want a full suite of online privacy features, you want Aura. It comes with a VPN, antivirus software, a safe browser, and a password manager. 

Plus, Aura includes parental controls and safe gaming features with their family plans. These allow parents to monitor their kids across the internet, even giving them the ability to catch cyberbullying and harassment on popular gaming platforms. 

PrivacyGuard Cost: 6/10

PrivacyGuard’s pricing is a little odd. 

Their cheapest plan is the identity protection plan for $9.99 per month. It offers basic identity protection services without any credit monitoring. 

Their Credit plan offers credit monitoring services with none of the identity protection offerings. Strangely, their Credit plan is far more expensive at $19.99 per month. Given that there are free credit protection services available, like Experian’s free CreditWorks plan or Credit Karma, this seems like a strange way to price things. 

Their Total plan includes both credit and identity monitoring for $24.99 per month. There is a 14-day trial available for $1. Why they don’t just offer a free trial is beyond me. 

Though $24.99 isn’t that expensive, it’s also not that great. PrivacyGuard’s service is lackluster at best, and you can get a much better value elsewhere. 

Aura, for example, offers better protection with more thorough monitoring, industry-leading customer service, and up to $5 million in theft insurance for your family, all at a much better price point. 

FAQs

Is PrivacyGuard Worth It?

No, PrivacyGuard isn’t worth it. Its tools fail to catch threats, and there are other services that offer better protection at comparable (or better) price points.  

Is PrivacyGuard Legit or a Scam?

PrivacyGuard is a legitimate company, but I’m not sure I trust them. I don’t like that their site security consists of a 6-character password with no special character requirements or added security questions. Plus, their monitoring tools aren’t effective. 

Does PrivacyGuard Offer a Free Trial?

No, PrivacyGuard does not offer a free trial. They offer a $1 dollar 14-day trial instead. 

Does PrivacyGuard Offer a Promo or Coupon Code?

No, PrivacyGuard does not currently offer a promo or coupon code. 

Final Verdict: 5/10 

PrivacyGuard fails in key areas, and I can’t recommend them as an identity protection service. 

Their customer service representatives are helpful, but the positives end there. Their monitoring tools aren’t accurate, they don’t offer family plans, and their site security is dubious. 

If you want to protect important assets, like your home title, 401(k), and your credit, you need something better. 

My top pick is Aura. It’s the best service I’ve reviewed by far. It provides comprehensive, accurate monitoring, an incredible threat resolution team, and amazing family plans, which include up to $5 million in insurance coverage. 

Better yet, thanks to our discount code, it costs less than PrivacyGuard. For life! 

So, if you’re looking for the best identity protection for you and your family, don’t waste your time with PrivacyGuard. Instead, choose Aura.

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