Senators Hassan and Cornyn Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Against Child Identify Theft

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced bipartisan legislation to help parents safeguard their children from identity theft.

“Identity theft can upend the lives of Americans, and it is especially damaging when it destroys the credit history of children who may not be aware that their identity was stolen until they become adults,” said Senator Hassan. “This bipartisan legislation would not only increase awareness of the steps parents can take to freeze their children’s credit and protect them from fraud, but it would also streamline the process for parents.”

“Children’s lack of credit history make them easy targets for criminals and leaves them vulnerable to years of undetected identity fraud,” said Senator Cornyn. “By enhancing cooperation among credit bureaus, we can simplify the process for parents to freeze their child’s credit and protect families from the financial burden of identity theft.”

Studies show that nearly one million children a year are victims of identity theft, costing families nearly $1 billion annually as criminals can use the identities to open up credit cards and make transactions in a child’s name. The best way to protect against this form of identity theft is for parents to freeze their children’s credit file. However, today the process can be cumbersome, requiring parents to contact each of the three major credit bureaus individually.

The Credit Freeze for Newborns Act will allow parents to contact only one of the agencies to freeze their children’s credit file and then require the notified credit bureau to inform the other credit bureaus of the freeze within three days. It also requires the Social Security Administration to include information on how to freeze a child’s credit file when issuing Social Security cards for children, spreading awareness about the rise of child identity theft and the process that parents need to complete in order to protect their children’s financial futures.

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