Lawmakers have introduced a bill that seeks to end a major frustration for consumers who’ve sought to protect themselves from the Equifax data breach: the Freedom from Equifax Exploitation Act would force credit reporting bureaus to allow consumers to freeze and unfreeze their credit for free, banning them from charging consumers for the service. The bill would also require them to refund any fees they charged consumers for freezing their credit in the wake of the Equifax breach, the lawmakers said.



“Credit reporting agencies like Equifax make billions of dollars collecting and selling personal data about consumers without their consent, and then make consumers pay if they want to stop the sharing of their own data,” Warren said in a statement Friday. “Our bill gives consumers more control over their own personal data and prohibits companies like Equifax from charging consumers for freezing and unfreezing access to their credit files. Passing this bill is a first step toward reforming the broken credit reporting industry.”

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Source: [H]ardOCP – New Bill Would Let People Freeze Their Credit for Free