iJustine has an excellent video where she asks if you have ever met anyone in “real life” who was completely different than they were online. This is something I have run into many MANY times, actually. It seems as though everyone online creates a separate persona for themselves.

Justine notes that a person like this is called a Catfish. A Catfish is someone who pretends to be someone they are not using Facebook and other social media outlets to create false identities. This is usually done to create and pursue a deceptive online romance.

HOWEVER!

It’s not only romance people feel they have to create a persona for. Many business people tend to do this. Young people wanting to break in to the online world (such as on YouTube or blogs) feel they have to be something they are not. The problem is, no one wants to follow you or listen to a damn thing you say if you aren’t being YOU.

You are unique. Being yourself is the best thing you can do. So what if you aren’t the most handsome guy or gorgeous girl on the ‘net? Who cares if you aren’t the best… the smartest… the funniest? You are you… and that is pretty damn cool.

Have you ever met someone in person who was completely different than what you thought they would be after knowing them online?

Do People Lie on the Internet?

LifeLock CEO Todd Davis has sworn for years that his product was good enough to keep your identity safe. He was so sure of this fact that he prominently displayed his own social security number on the website and in television commercials. The problem is that Todd was wrong. His own identity has been stolen at least thirteen times, and the FTC isn’t happy.

The FTC fined Davis and LifeLock back in March to the tune of twelve million bucks. The Federal Trade Commission said that LifeLock’s claims were completely untrue and accused the company of operating a scam and con job. The commission announced with 35 state attorneys general that they had thrown the fine at LifeLock for deceptive business practices and failing to secure customer data. Nearly all of the fine was earmarked to be paid in refunds to customers who had subscribed to the service.

Todd and company are making headlines again today, but for a very different reason. This time it wasn’t customers who had their information stolen out from under the supposed “guaranteed” safety of LifeLock’s nose… it is the CEO himself. In June, 2007, someone used Davis’s identity to obtain a check-cashing loan in the amount of $500.00. That was never paid back, of course. The CEO only learned of this debt when the company called his wife’s phone to attempt to collect on the bill. Four months later, someone in Atlanta used his information to obtain AT&T service in his name. This person racked up over two grand in charges which were never paid. Davis only found out about these charges more than a year later when AT&T handed him over to a collection agency.

Last year, he found several more discrepancies on his credit report. There are several outstanding debts to companies from all over the country… places Davis has never done business with. He has credit bureaus climbing out of the woodwork to get the money that they are owed.

The problem in all of this is that at least one police department is quite ticked off. It’s not only his own identity that he put into danger, according to a spokeswoman for the Albany police department. By putting this information out there and daring people to try and use it, he has hurt the companies who now will never be able to collect on the debts for services and goods rendered. Those are the ones who are hurt most in all of this. The only thing Davis has lost is his credibility, and the time it takes him to refute the charges on his credit report. Those companies have to swallow the monies that they are entitled to.. and which many people feel that Davis himself should be paying.

The company has claimed for years that they guarantee your information is safe if you use their service. In fact, they back that guarantee with one million dollars should they fail. It would be mighty interesting to see if they’ve ever had to fork that money over to any customers… or if they’ve refused and have customers fighting them for it. If Davis’ own information was so easily used without his knowing it, who knows how many customers have had their identities compromised… and they sadly may not even know it yet.

This sure doesn’t give me the warm fuzzies and make me want to rush out to purchase this service for myself. I’m not saying it never works… but if it didn’t work for the CEO, there’s no way in hell I’m trusting it to work for me.

Does LifeLock Promote Identity Theft?

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Apple wants to drop DRM blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Microsoft embraces OpenID blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Today’s Blogosphere