New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF-Sag Harbor) announced the Assembly passed legislation that would allow parents and guardians to freeze the credit records of their children as a way to prevent child identity theft (A.8955-B).

“Identity thieves are now targeting children because they know children are not monitoring their credit. This measure allows parents and children’s legal guardians to safeguard their child’s credit and identity until they are ready to manage it themselves, enabling us to be more proactive in combating child ID theft,” Assemblyman Thiele said. “That is why I supported this measure.”

Currently, New York State law only allows a parent to freeze a child’s credit if a credit file already exists in the child’s name. More times than not, a file may exist because the child has already fallen victim to identity theft. This legislation would allow a freeze to be placed without an existing credit report on file for a child, likely avoiding the risk of child identity theft altogether.

This legislation would require credit reporting agencies to place a credit record freeze on a child’s account at the request of their parent or guardian. Following the freeze, a consumer reporting agency would be prohibited from releasing the child’s credit report or any information included in the report to any third party, with a few minor exceptions as required by law. The credit freeze could be removed at the request of the parent or guardian or by the child once he or she turns 16 years old.

This measure – expected to be taken up by the Senate before the legislative session ends – has become increasingly necessary as a 2011 report by ID Analytics, an identity theft protection firm, noted that an estimated 140,000 minors are at risk of falling victim to identity theft annually.

This bill would align New York State law with that of several other states – including Maryland, Wisconsin, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Texas and Oregon – that already have statutes requiring credit reporting agencies to allow parents or guardians to freeze their children’s credit even when no file exists. States such as Florida, Virginia, Indiana and Pennsylvania all have similar statutes pending.

“This legislation allows parents to be proactive in protecting their child’s credit and identity before they fall victim to identity theft,” Thiele said. “Parents deserve to have the ability to protect their children’s sensitive information.”