Minnesota's security freeze rules, including freezing a child's file

Minnesota and federal law both provide security freezes. The rules differ, and where they differ you get the benefit of whichever is better for you.

The Minnesota rules

Minn. Stat. § 13C.016:

How to request (subd. 2) — by certified mail; by telephone providing the identification the agency requires; or directly through a secure electronic connection if the agency makes one available.

Placing it (subd. 3(a)) — “A consumer reporting agency shall place a security freeze on a consumer’s consumer report no later than three business days after receiving a request.” Written confirmation follows within ten business days.

Temporarily lifting it (subd. 4(b)) — no later than three business days after the request. Subdivision 4(c) permits agencies to develop expedited procedures “with the goal of processing a request within 15 minutes.”

Duration (subd. 4(e)) — “A security freeze remains in place until the consumer requests that the security freeze be removed.”

Fees (subd. 8(a)) — “A consumer reporting agency may not charge a fee for placing, temporarily lifting, or removing a security freeze.” Subdivision 8(b) permits a charge of up to $5 to replace a lost identification number.

The federal rules, for comparison

15 U.S.C. § 1681c-1(i) provides a free freeze, indefinite until removal requested, with:

• Placement — 1 business day (telephone or secure electronic), 3 business days (mail)
• Removal — 1 hour (telephone or secure electronic), 3 business days (mail)

The federal timeframes are faster. One hour to lift, against a state rule of three business days with a fifteen-minute aspiration.

Which is the practical answer to the objection people raise about freezing — that it will strand them mid-application. Request the lift electronically and the federal provision gives the agency an hour.

Both sets apply. Neither takes the other away.

Freezing a child’s file

This is the provision most worth knowing and least known.

Minn. Stat. § 13C.10 provides for a protected person security freeze. A protected person is an individual under the age of 16 at the time the request is made.

A representative may request it on the child’s behalf, providing sufficient proof of identification for both the child and the representative, and sufficient proof of authority — a court order, a power of attorney, or a notarized written statement.

The remarkable part: if the agency has no file for the child, it must create a record for this purpose. That record may not be used to evaluate creditworthiness or for any other credit-related purpose. In other words, the statute contemplates creating a file solely in order to lock it.

Timeframes: three business days where a file exists, 30 days where one must be created, and 30 days for removal on a proper request. No fee for placing or removing.

Why child identity theft is worth taking seriously

A child has a clean identifier and no reason to check. Fraud against a minor commonly goes undiscovered for years — until the child applies for student aid, a first job, or an apartment, and finds a history that predates their adolescence.

By then the trail is cold and unwinding it is a great deal of work.

A protected person freeze is free, it lasts, and it is one of the few genuinely preventive steps available in this entire area. If you have children, this is the single highest-value thing on this site for you, and it will take an afternoon.

Practical

1. Each agency separately. A freeze at one does nothing at the other two.
2. Keep the confirmations and any identification numbers. Subdivision 8(b) permits a $5 charge to replace a lost number — the only fee in the section, and entirely avoidable.
3. For a child, assemble proof of identity for both of you and proof of authority before starting, and expect up to 30 days if no file exists.
4. Use the electronic route for lifts. That is where the one-hour federal rule lives.
5. Remember what a freeze does not do — it does not remove anything already reported, and it does not undo an account already opened. See freezes and fraud alerts.

We are not advising you whether to freeze. What the statutes provide, and that a child’s file can be frozen and even created for the purpose, is not fact-specific.