Gov. Haley: Experian service including minors
COLUMBIA — Experian is notifying South Carolina parents they can begin signing up to have their children’s credit monitored, Gov. Nikki Haley announced Friday.
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The Family Secure service is part of the state’s response to the hacking of millions of taxpayers’ personal data. The theft, first announced Oct. 26, compromised nearly 4 million individual tax filers, including the unencrypted Social Security numbers of 1.9 million dependents on parents’ tax returns.
Experian began sending emails and letters Thursday on the availability of Family Secure, free to parents for one year after sign-up. The cost is covered by the state’s $12 million contract with the credit bureau.
A parent must first enroll in Experian’s ProtectMyID service, which provides a year of credit monitoring for each adult signing up. Its availability was part of the initial Oct. 26 announcement on the breach.
Notification began going out to parents already enrolled in ProtectMyID. As of Friday, more than 900,000 taxpayers had signed up, said Experian spokesman Greg Young.
Experian will stagger the notices over the next several weeks. Parents and legal guardians have until May 31 to enroll in Family Secure. Parents can sign up any child under 18 who is claimed as a dependent on their tax returns.
The deadline for signing up for ProtectMyID is Jan. 31.
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