VT Lawmakers: After Equifax, please ban consumer fees for security/credit freezes

After the Equifax security breach, I put a security freeze on my credit reports with the big three credit reporting agencies. Equifax waived the fee but the other two charged $10

each. These fees are set by state law and in at least six states (including Maine and New York) there is no fee. Vermont lawmakers from the Upper Valley, please take note. Amend 9 V.S.A § 2480h, so that no fees are charged to consumers for placing or removing a security freeze on his or her credit report.

This is not the first time credit bureaus have experienced a security breach.  As observed  at the website Krebs on Security: "The credit bureaus - which make piles of money by compiling incredibly detailed dossiers on consumers and selling that information to marketers - have for the most part shown themselves to be terrible stewards of very sensitive data." Protecting my identity should be their cost of business.  Allowing consumers to freeze and unfreeze their credit reports for FREE is a good but small step.



LINK: KrebsOnSecurity [no affiliation with website].