There is a definite bright side to the news that LifeLock CEO Todd Davis had his identity stolen, in direct contravention to his I-dare-you marketing tactic of advertising his personal Social Security number on a mobile billboard:

It means this budding staple of hokey low-rent TV commercials should get quickly snuffed out, sparing my eyes from coming across it another 15 million or so times.

Davis is issuing the proper spin in blaming the agencies on the other end of the process for not having more stringent screening processes. But that only highlights how useless LifeLock is to begin with: It only works if all sides agree to funnel ID information through the big credit bureau clearing houses. And even then, it only acts as middleman by forwarding on the ping. No value added at all.