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48 | FALL 2019 Protect your credit T hese days data breaches are more commonplace — Yahoo in 2013, Equifax in 2017 and Marriott just last year — all of which compromised billions of user accounts and personal details. These breaches should serve as a serious warning. Thankfully, there are steps you can take to keep your information safe — as part of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, credit freezing is now free and easier than ever. "Credit freezing is really the best way that we have available right now to prevent new account fraud." says Rob Douglas, identity theft and fraud expert. Here's what you need to know: What is a credit freeze? A credit freeze is a service you can arrange with the three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to restrict access to your credit report. With a freeze, most lenders can't see your information until you unfreeze it — and neither can any would-be fraudsters. "What a credit freeze does is prevent someone from opening a new line of credit in your good name," says Douglas. "It's a proactive approach rather than a reactive approach," says credit expert John Ul- zheimer. Who are credit freezes for? Honestly, everyone, explains Douglas. "The reality is that given the deluge of data breaches exposing personal, medical and financial infor- mation in recent years, we all must assume that information for each of us has been put in jeop- ardy." You can also get a credit freeze for your kid. "With kids you have to create a credit report for them — you're not born with a credit re- port — and then have that report frozen," says Ulzheimer. A freeze prevents someone from us- ing your child's information to do any number of fraudulent things. How do you freeze credit? In order for a freeze to be an effective service, you have to freeze your credit reports with all three credit bureaus. This means you must contact each bureau individually — which you can do online, via phone or via mail — and request a credit freeze. Whether you request a freeze online or through the phone, credit bureaus are required under the new law to fulfill the request in one business day. If you do it through the mail, they have up to three days. How do you unfreeze your credit? If you freeze access to your credit report, you must unfreeze it before applying for any new lines of credit. Thankfully, the process is quick — the bureaus have one hour to lift the freeze after you call or go online and make the request. When you lift your credit freeze, you'll need to let the bureaus know how long you'd like your freeze lifted, and then it will go back into place. Written with Hayden Field JEAN CHATZKY is the Director of Education and Editor in Chief of Savvy Money. She is a personal finance expert and best-selling author. To get your own financial checkup with Savvy Money today, visit SavvyMoney.com/aacu. Freezing and unfreezing your credit