New state law helps parents ‘freeze out’ would-be ID thieves

NASHVILLE — A new Tennessee state law aims to help “freeze out” ID thieves and scammers.

Parents and guardians now have the power to enact a security freeze on someone in their care in order to prevent a scammer from fraudulently getting their credit information, according to a release from the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance.

The freezes can be enacted for persons younger than 16 or an incapacitated person under the care of a guardian or conservator.

Once in place, the freeze would prevent consumer reporting agencies from releasing the person’s credit report or other information until the freeze is removed. It also may prevent parents or guardians from granting access to information quickly, according to the release.

“As threats to individuals’ personal information seemingly grow more prevalent every day, this law gives parents and guardians an important tool to help protect valuable information from falling into the hands of people who should not have it,” Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance Deputy Commissioner Bill Giannini states in the release. “I advise Tennesseans to take precautions to protect their personal information and the information of their loved ones.”

In order to enact a freeze, the requester must have valid proof of identification and contact the consumer reporting agency directly to request that the freeze be put in place.

For more information, you can see the full news release here.