Freezing your credit reports

People in at least 16 states, including California may "freeze" their credit report can therefore be accessed only in very limited situations. With few exceptions, this option is offered free of charge to victims of identity theft, providing a police report to the bureaus. Those who do not become victims of identity theft may have the option of freezing their credit reports for a fee in those states that offer the freeze.

The sale of credit header was very controversial. Several bills have been introduced in Congress to restrict the sale of headers, or at least on the sale of Social Security numbers contained in credit headers.