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

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

“New parents have enough to juggle without having to jump through hoops to protect their children’s financial future,” said Senator Hassan. “Identity theft can be especially damaging to children because they may not be aware that their identity was stolen until they become adults. This bipartisan bill will streamline the process for parents to protect their children’s credit file by freezing it.”

“Children are easy targets for identity theft, leaving them vulnerable to years of undetected fraud,” said Senator Cornyn. “By streamlining the process for parents to freeze their children’s credit files, our bill would help protect families from financial damage and identity theft.”

“TransUnion welcomes the opportunity to help parents protect their children’s financial well-being with this legislation,” said TransUnion. “We are proud to be a partner in every parent’s mission to safeguard their children and help them build for a bright future.”

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 Kids 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.

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