LAS VEGAS, Oct. 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at IBM's World of Watson 2016 conference, Identity Guard® (NASDAQ: INTX), a Chantilly, VA-based leader in providing identity protection services to more than 47 million U.S. consumers, employers and breach victims, announced a partnership with IBM (NYSE: IBM) that incorporates Watson cognitive computing technology into Identity Guard's identity and privacy protection platform - Privacy Now™.

With the recent influx of large data breaches and server hacks, protecting one's personal privacy has become a key concern in the digital age. According to Ponemon Institute, almost half of American adults were hacked in 2014. To help consumers who care about protecting the identity and privacy of their spouses, partners, and themselves, Privacy Now™ provides prompt resolution support with automatic case openings and ongoing case management when Privacy Now™ suspects fraudulent or other potentially harmful activity.

Privacy Now™ combines financial account monitoring of traditional identity protection services with comprehensive monitoring of consumers' self-reported behavioral, social, and professional data. In addition, the proprietary risk algorithm by Identity Guard® monitors the web, public record data and other relevant safeguards. Privacy Now™ analyzes this data combined with personal profile data that users choose to share to provide near real-time alerts. It also gives feedback for a highly personalized service that redefines identity theft protection and addresses the much larger market of providing protection for privacy and personal information.

Because it utilizes IBM Watson, Privacy Now™ also has the ability to communicate via news alerts and personal recommendations, as well as monitor relevant content and categorize various factors that contribute to a consumer's identity protection and privacy. Watson's AlchemyData News API will enable Privacy Now™ to digest more than 250,000 news articles from 75,000 sources every day to flag news that could impact a consumer's digital safety. In addition, when Privacy Now™ combines its advanced monitoring of various data sources with the Watson Natural Language Classifier API, it can quickly interpret the information users report via a survey when accessing their account. Privacy Now™ can use that analysis to help determine that user's risk level to cybersecurity threats.

'We are extremely proud to partner with IBM for the development of Privacy Now™,' said Johan Roets, Identity Guard® President and COO of Intersections. 'By leveraging Watson's cognitive computing technology with proprietary technologies by Privacy Now™, we have introduced a product that offers an unprecedented personalized aspect to protecting one's private information, thus helping to safeguard subscribers against identity theft and other online misuses.'

Privacy Now™ provides a more robust customer service offering beyond agent resolution/restoration support and $1 million identity theft insurance. The service supports subscribers with personalized action steps when suspicious activity is confirmed, automatic case openings when activity is flagged, 60-day post resolution case monitoring following case resolution and a resource library.

Privacy Now™ is available starting today to subscribers at www.identityguard.com.

About Identity Guard®

Identity Guard® is a proactive identity and credit monitoring service that delivers premium solutions to help busy families and individuals take control over their personal and private information. Our services help educate and empower individuals to protect themselves from the growing threat of identity theft with premier identity protection and credit monitoring solutions. Identity Guard® is provided by Intersections Inc. (NASDAQ: INTX), which, since 1996, has protected more than 47 million consumers.www.identityguard.com

About IBM Watson: Pioneering a New Era of Computing

Watson represents a new era in computing called cognitive computing, where systems understand the world the way humans do: through senses, learning, and experience. Watson continuously learns from previous interactions, gaining in value and knowledge over time. With the help of Watson, organizations are harnessing the power of cognitive computing to transform industries, help professionals do their jobs better, and solve important challenges.

As part of IBM's strategy to accelerate the growth of cognitive computing, Watson is open to the world, allowing a growing community of developers, students, entrepreneurs and tech enthusiasts to easily tap into the most advanced and diverse cognitive computing platform available today. Watson solutions are being built, used and deployed in more than 45 countries and across 20 different industries.

For more information on IBM Watson, visit: ibm.com/Watson and ibm.com/press/watson. Join the conversation at #ibmwatson.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/identity-guard-by-intersections-inc-launches-privacy-now-the-first-ibm-watson-enabled-consumer-identity-protection-and-privacy-service-300349695.html

SOURCE Intersections Inc.

Beyond PR Group, Beth Feldman | Lisa Hanlon, bfeldman@beyondprgroup.com | Lisa.Hanlon@beyondprgroup.com; Nancy Ngo, IBM External Relations, nngo@us.ibm.com

Intersections Inc. published this content on 24 October 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
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