PlayStation Network is on the brink of a third week of downtime, and Sony America CEO Howard Stringer has stepped up to the plate to introduce a new initiative for US account-holders: a free year of identity protection.
Stringer made the announcement via an open letter on the official PlayStation Blog:
A program for U.S. PlayStation Network and Qriocity customers that includes a $1 million identity theft insurance policy per user was launched earlier today and announcements for other regions will be coming soon.
Stringer also stressed that there is still no evidence that any of the stolen credit card or personal information has been misused, but the launch of this $1m identity theft protection suggests Sony is preparing itself for just such a possibility.
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has not yet made an announcement for its territory but is expected to have something to say later today. We'll keep you updated.
[source blog.us.playstation.com]
Comments 7
a free year wow thats great...not. Is it just me thinking this or is Sony trying to make money off this thing by offering their paid services for a limited time things like their plus network thing that i dont even know the name of (or is that all its called, "plus") and now this. In sales this sort of thing is called puppy dog sales you give soemone something for a short time, even if they dont want it they keep it going becase its a hassle to cancel it; I bet all the stuff they have offered so far has an automatic subscription every year unless you email them and canel, I would rather have them give me a free retail game to say sorry. I remember microsoft doing the free game thing for something they screwed up, but hey you got to admire Sony for turning a screwup in to a moneymaking scheme
But still, when sign up for PSN they say your information will be protected and they could not hold up to this statement. I mean people's credit cards information are being sold because of this.
Bottom Line: I don't want to pay to keep my identity safe when I was promised it in the first place.
@Tokool2007 But you're not paying, Sony is offering this for free
How about sony just gives us the cool mill they would pay to cover me for a year..im not looking for free games or any trash add on's. I understand they are not a fault 100% because of the hack but they need to hold up on there end because all our info is being sold.
Sony has said there's no evidence that anyone's details have been misused so far, and I haven't heard of any incidents of people having their accounts raided etc.
@ JamesNewton
While so far anecdotal, some of my online friends have reported strange CC charges, or that their email account tied to PSN was locked because someone had entered the wrong password too many times. And I've read reports of similar issues from others I don't know.
I just think it's far too early for anyone to say yet what has or will happen with the information taken. But unlike 1 month of PSN+ which I feel is more marketing to get people to join than something of value for our inconvenience, I do feel this ID protection service is valuable as I think there's far less risk from the stolen information after a year has passed than there is right now.
I'd rather they just show they can lock the system down well enough so there isn't anymore hacks ever.
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