The pros and cons of always having a credit freeze in place

Many people don't freeze their credit until their info gets exposed in a data breach — but you can also keep this protection in place before it happens

Credit card frozen in a block of ice against a light blue background
Freezing your credit is easy to do, and there are myriad benefits
(Image credit: Andriy Onufriyenko / Getty Images)

If your personal information is exposed in a data breach or you are the victim of identity fraud, a recommended step to take is freezing your credit. A credit freeze "is a restriction you can put on your credit file that prevents anyone from accessing your credit report, which, in turn, prevents you or anyone else from opening new accounts in your name," said Fortune Recommends.

However, many people wait to "freeze their credit after a notification that their accounts were exposed in a data breach — often after some damage has already been done," said The Wall Street Journal. This raises the question: Would it make more sense to always have this sort of protection in place?

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Becca Stanek, The Week US

Becca Stanek has worked as an editor and writer in the personal finance space since 2017. She previously served as a deputy editor and later a managing editor overseeing investing and savings content at LendingTree and as an editor at the financial startup SmartAsset, where she focused on retirement- and financial-adviser-related content. Before that, Becca was a staff writer at The Week, primarily contributing to Speed Reads.