With regard to credit-report freezes, the bill would require one consumer-reporting agency to notify all other reporting agencies when it receives a freeze request from a consumer, relieving consumers of that burden. Agencies would have five days to apply the freeze and three days to lift a freeze once a consumer provided proper identification. The bill allows reporting agencies to charge "a reasonable fee" for the service, but only for people who have not been victims of identity theft. The latter would get a freeze for free after providing a police report documenting the theft.

Montezemolo said that five days to implement a freeze was too generous -- especially since a lot of damage could be done in that time. She also wanted credit-reporting agencies to make it easier for consumers to unfreeze data, rather than having to wait three days.

One thing the freeze doesn't do is prevent creditors from issuing pre-approved instant credit applications in the mail, which makes it easy for identity thieves who rummage through mail or garbage to find the applications and open credit accounts in a victim's name. The bill provides a special exception to the freeze to allow creditors to access credit reports to prescreen applicants.

A Senate source told Wired News that federal lawmakers adopted the exception for prescreening from a similar clause in the California legislation.

"That's a state statute that tried to balance the consumer-protection issues and the concerns of businesses to be able to market (to consumers)," the source said.

Fuck businesses, especially credit card companies with their pre-screened mail-in applications. It doesn't take a genius to realize that they are entirely profit-driven and, instead of protecting me, would prefer isntead to prey on the hapless consumer who catches the Debt psuedo-virus. What really ticks me off is that they could just as easily mail an information flyer without the added candy for dumpster divers.

-janelane, unimpressed

One thing the freeze doesn't do is prevent creditors from issuing pre-approved instant credit applications in the mail, which makes it easy for identity thieves who rummage through mail or garbage to find the applications and open credit accounts in a victim's name. The bill provides a special exception to the freeze to allow creditors to access credit reports to prescreen applicants.

A Senate source told Wired News that federal lawmakers adopted the exception for prescreening from a similar clause in the California legislation.

"That's a state statute that tried to balance the consumer-protection issues and the concerns of businesses to be able to market (to consumers)," the source said.

Fuck businesses, especially credit card companies with their pre-screened mail-in applications. It doesn't take a genius to realize that they are entirely profit-driven and, instead of protecting me, would prefer isntead to prey on the hapless consumer who catches the Debt psuedo-virus. What really ticks me off is that they could just as easily mail an information flyer without the added candy for dumpster divers.

-janelane, unimpressed

[ I second that. Caveat emptor and all, but this has always seemed shady. I have pretty good credit and I've gone through periods where I got an average of one of these per day. I *ALWAYS* tear them multiple times or shred them. I'm not too paranoid, but that doesn't mean I think it's ok. -k]