COLUMBUS- Parents could create and freeze a credit record for a child under legislation headed to Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
The Ohio House approved Senate changes to the measure Tuesday. Backers say it is intended to protect minors from identity theft.
The final bill, similar to legislation passed in 21 other statesm includes language prohibiting certain personal information from being included in public records, including state tax identification numbers, debit card numbers, bank account numbers and other financial and medical account information.
Sponsoring state Rep. Ron Maag (R- Lebanon) says he became aware of the issue when some constituents told him how their 11-year-old daughter’s identity was stolen after their family’s personal data was compromised. The parents were able to freeze their own credit to prevent the identity theft, but they were not able to do the same for their daughter.
Under current Ohio law, an individual can only freeze their own credit record, not the record of a child without existing credit.
According to a 2012 report, one in 40 U.S. households with minor children had at least one child whose personal information was compromised by identity criminals, Maag said.