New Legislation to Combat Identity Theft

coondoggie writes to tell us the Washington Post is reporting that new legislation in a numbers of states and the District of Columbia allows consumers to place a "security freeze" on their credit files. "For the millions of consumers who receive notice each year that their personal or financial data was lost or stolen, a preemptive security freeze can offer peace of mind. It blocks businesses and potential fraudsters from gaining access to a consumer's credit report and score and from granting new lines of credit in the consumer's name. In many states, consumers who want to remove the freeze can use a special identification number to unlock access to their credit file."

Comments

Re:OK but ...

[Qzukk]

If you aren't buying a house, car, or a new credit card, you should preemptively freeze your credit and leave it that way.

Stop dilly dalling

[LiquidCoooled]

Just give us one time keys.

If I can use a piece of important information only once before it changes then nobody can replay it.

Incidentally, how do you prove you are you to actually put the freeze/unfreeze in place?

A More In-Depth Look Here

[tsu doh nimh]

The Post also ran a much longer, more in-depth piece looking at the process of passing freeze legislation in Delaware, easily the most banking- and business-friendly state in the union. That piece is here

One highlight, which looks at the role of the Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA), the lobbyist group that works for the data broker industry and the credit bureaus:

"Goldberg, who has worked with advocates in more than a dozen states to enact freeze legislation, said that in 2005 the CDIA and the credit-reporting agencies shifted their strategy. They no longer were outright opposed to credit-freeze laws; instead, they worked to convince states to allow the bureaus to charge as much as possible when consumers place, lift or remove credit freezes. "The credit reporting agencies clearly want consumers to pay more for the security freeze than we certainly think they should," Goldberg said. "But given that those same agencies collect all of this sensitive financial data about consumers and then turn around and sell it, we think they should also have the obligation to protect the consumer, and that's where the security freeze comes in.