Lawmakers Mull Freezing Consumer Credit Freezes

Shortly after millions of veterans had their identity compromised due to a stolen laptop containing personal data, Congress is considering pre-empting laws in 17 states that allow anyone to freeze their own credit and instead restricting the privilege to ID theft victims.

It?s the ?proving identity theft? part that could be problematic for veterans ? and others — if the bill makes it to law. According to a story carried by USA Today, under the bill, backed by the financial services industry, simply having your data lost or stolen isn’t enough. You must file a police report describing a specific instance of it being used to commit a crime.

“It’s like telling someone you can’t put a deadbolt on your front door until after you’ve been burglarized,” says Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna.

Ohio Representative Steven LaTourette ® sees it differently: ?”Even the simplest process of buying groceries with your credit or debit card will break down if we allow a patchwork of competing and conflicting state laws,” he says.

Andrew Barbour, vice president of government affairs for the Financial Services Roundtable, a banking lobbying group, feels similarly, suggesting, ?If we can protect the data better on the front end, it will diminish the need for law enforcement to chase down the bad guys.? However, with the recent spate of compromised consumer identity due to data-theft, this seems an almost too prosaic solution for the short-term.

You can read the entire story at Bill would limit consumers’ credit rights.