Fear someone will get their hands on your data and open a new credit card? What to do next

Consumers are besieged nearly every day about some news about Elon Musk’s latest moves at the Department of Government Efficiency to gain access to government records that contain sensitive personal data, including Social Security numbers.

The list includes:

• The U.S. Treasury Department's central payment system.
• Sensitive taxpayer data at the Internal Revenue Service.
• Social Security Administration's key records.
• Access to personal information about federal workers at the Office of Personnel Management.
• U.S. Department of Education databases.

The DOGE team is building buzz, including efforts to dismember the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CBS's "60 Minutes" featured footage of young techies with backpacks walking into the closed CFPB building. The men reportedly were DOGE workers who had wide access to all sorts of financial data on the agency's computers.

Of course, there's a lack of transparency and we don't know exactly what the DOGE team is doing and where.

What are the risks involving personal information?

Much uncertainty remains over who is getting access to what exactly. And what could happen if something goes wrong and your bank account information or tax records somehow get in the wrong hands?

For many consumers who have been hacked in the past, it's unsettling to think that somehow data that was once thought of as safe could get be more vulnerable at some point with all this data shuffling.

Bruce Schneier, a cybersecurity expert at Harvard and the author of “Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-connected World,” reiterated that the danger from such a transfer of sensitive data is serious but it doesn't have much to do with whether a bad actor would suddenly be able to open a credit card or loan using your name.

When it comes to the DOGE push to gain access to sensitive government data, cybersecurity experts are more concerned about the serious threat of foreign intelligence services in China and elsewhere possibly having an easier time targeting a U.S. government network.

Schneier told the Free Press that the threat is extreme, and should be taken seriously, when it comes to democracy and national security.

In many cases, cybersecurity experts are concerned about the lack of information regarding who is getting access to this data and what protocols are being followed. Do they have the proper security clearances?

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"It's not really clear what data is being touched by whom. Is data being transferred to new IT systems that maybe are not properly vetted or properly secured," said Florian Schaub, associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Information.

"I think there's a lot of uncertainty regarding who has access to potentially sensitive data, Social Security numbers, other payment information," Schaub said."

Overall, he is less fearful that DOGE or any government agency would purposefully leak or publish the data.

He's more concerned about the chances of someone being careless when accessing the data or processing the data, leading to the heightened risk of large scale data breaches in federal records.

"We don't know really who is doing any of these audits," Schaub said.

Legal challenges remain. For example, a federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction that temporarily prevents DOGE from having access to the Treasury Department's central payment system.

And another federal judge granted a temporary restraining order to block the Department of Education and the Office of Personnel Management from sharing sensitive information with DOGE.

Would a credit freeze make sense for you?

Many people remain concerned about the privacy of their personal information, including Social Security numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, income and assets, citizenship status, and disability status.

All this talk about data could make some everyday consumers wonder if it makes more sense to put a credit freeze on your credit file — just in case. Panicking over political haggling isn't necessarily the best strategy. But taking some simple steps could be reassuring in many cases.

Thinking more about protecting your credit from crooks makes sense no matter your political leanings.

A credit freeze is always a good idea, experts say, no matter what's happening in Washington, especially if you don't plan to immediately go shopping for a car loan, credit card or other loan.

"Everyone should have a credit freeze. Period," Schaub said. "If you don't have a credit freeze, you're leaving yourself open to scams and potential identity theft."

Does a credit freeze put a stop to spending?

A credit freeze is not something that will stop you from spending money or using your credit cards, as some think. If you've got a "Frugal February" going where you want to limit how much of your cash is going out the door, you'll need another strategy.

When you initiate a credit freeze, you aren't able to open new credit cards or take on new loans while you have a freeze in place. You could still use the credit cards you already have open.

You would need to take action, though, and have that freeze lifted before trying to open new credit cards or apply for a car loan.

The Federal Trade Commission notes that a freeze is free to put in place and lift and it doesn’t affect your credit score.

Consumers who have experienced ID theft or a data breach often will use a security freeze to prevent someone else from opening new credit, new loans and services in the consumer's name.

A freeze is not the same as a fraud alert, which only tells businesses to check with you before opening a new account in your name. "Unlike a credit freeze, a fraud alert doesn’t prevent businesses from seeing your credit report," the FTC states.

The three big credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — are required to offer you a credit freeze, free of charge. Such a freeze will restrict access to your credit file and help stop crooks from opening credit cards in your name.

Parents are able to get a free credit freeze for children under age 16. A child's credit file would be frozen until the child is old enough to use credit.

Over the years, we've seen high-profile data breaches at places such as AT&T, ParkMobile, Michigan Medicine, Equifax and many more.

Last year, for example, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel alerted Michigan consumers to a "massive data breach affecting millions of current AT&T customers and tens of millions more former account holders nationwide."

AT&T disclosed last March that customer account information appeared in a large dataset released on the dark web, involving about 7.6 million current AT&T account holders across the country and more than 60 million former account holders.

In 2024, National Public Data, which aggregates data to provide background checks, confirmed it suffered a massive data breach involving Social Security numbers and other personal data on millions of people.

Any time your information might have been compromised in a data breach, you should consider putting a security freeze on your credit file.

Where do you go to freeze your credit?

You must request a freeze by directly contacting each of the three major credit reporting bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — online, by phone, or through the mail. Online you'd go to the following sites:

• Equifax — www.equifax.com/CreditReportAssistance
• Experian — www.experian.com/freeze
• TransUnion —https://freeze.transunion.com

Before you apply for new credit, remember, you will need to temporarily lift the security freeze following the specific procedures from the credit reporting company where you placed the freeze.

Many consumers also might want to carve out a bit more time to make sure that no one is opening new lines of credit. You can get a free credit report each week from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion by going to annualcreditreport.com.

It's always wise to check your credit report to fix any errors before you try to take out a car loan or open a credit card. You don't want to end up getting stuck with a higher interest rate on a car loan, for example, because an ID thief opened a credit card in your name and didn't pay the bill.

Reviewing your credit reports might enable you to spot identity theft early. Keep copies, as well.

Contact personal finance columnist Susan Tompor: stompor@freepress.com. Follow her on X @tompor.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Fear someone will get their hands on your data and open a new credit card? What to do next