While we are busy monitoring and protecting our credit scores and identities, it is easy to overlook our children’s. After all, they don’t have any cards and accounts… However, in 2017 over 1 million children were victims of identity theft – Forbes reports it here. That is more than 1 in every 100 kids! You can imagine the numbers aren’t getting better.
It takes longer to catch a child’s identity theft situation, and the fraudsters can do a lot of damage before we notice. The amount of work to repair that damage is no less than an adult’s ID theft incident. Also, children may need to take additional precautions for the rest of their lives.
(Yes, you can change an SSN under certain circumstances, read here.)
So, what are our options?
Be frugal sharing it in the first place. When schools, businesses, etc. request a child’s SSN, do not just hand them the information. Ask questions to understand if it is an ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY piece of information for that case. Don’t be afraid to PUSH BACK. Some organizations love collecting data, just in case!
Monitor it regularly, along with your own. A simple habit, taken an additional minute. This would allow you to respond faster, even if something has happened. Also, there are credit monitoring services, like LifeLock, that extend the offer for children too. (This is not an endorsement, just an option for you to explore)
Lock it / freeze it. The paper-heavy process is something I am still chewing on, understand it but I don’t like the idea of mailing what I am trying to protect, THREE TIMES. Below are the links to all three major credit bureaus and how to freeze your child’s credit. It is not as easy as freezing an adult’s credit online. The benefit is, it is proactive, and monitoring by itself is not. It is a free, long-term solution and allows you to have a conversation with your child when it is time to unfreeze it.
(Here are the processes for Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion)
I made an analogy in a previous blog, I am going to repeat it. Managing children’s privacy is absolutely no different than managing their diet, their sports activities, or the TV shows you let them watch. All of these require you to learn about them, decide whether it is right for the child(ren), and engage at the level you determine. Protecting childnren’s identity and credit is no exception. It requires us to be intentional on the effort we find necessary to protect it.
What do you think? Do you have any best practices to offer the rest of us?
A Blog About Children's Privacy 