Since I last wrote on the topic of child identity theft legislation in April, a few states have made progress on the topic, following the lead of Maryland where the concept was introduced:
Delaware passed a bill in April and it was signed by Governor Markell in June: http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-334919816.html
Utah seems to have chosen a voluntary approach in partnership with TransUnion to allow parents to add their minor child’s information to a special protected group of credit records but it’s not as powerful as a credit freeze. Information can be found here: https://cip.utah.gov/cip/SessionInit.action
In Oregon, they passed a bill to allow a parent to create and freeze a child’s credit. It went into effect last month (September). You can find information on Oregon’s law here: http://www.cbs.state.or.us/dfcs/identity_theft/security_freeze.html. It appears that each credit reporting agency requires a $10 fee to freeze a child’s credit though a mention on the webpage seems to indicate that one of the three reporting agencies, TransUnion, doesn’t charge any fee for a freeze. I suppose the residents had better just try it and see what happens.
The state of Florida has introduced an initiative to create a bill similar to Maryland’s. HB493 from Representative Heather Dawes Fitzenhagen seems to be gaining traction and will likely be approved.
Similarly, in Wisconsin, a bill from Representative Jeff Stone is moving in a similarly positive direction. There will be a public hearing in the State Capitol this Thursday. Information on the hearing time and location can be found here.
I’m aware of efforts in California to draft similar legislation and have high hopes to share more about that in the future. If you know of other states I should have mentioned, please let me know and I’ll edit this entry. Thanks!