I hate these people:

Bill would limit consumers' credit rights

Congress is considering pre-empting laws in 17 states that allow anyone to freeze their own credit and instead restricting the privilege to ID theft victims.

...A credit freeze cuts off access to your credit history.... Under the bill, backed by the financial services industry, simply having your data lost or stolen isn't enough. You must file a police report describing a specific instance of it being used to commit a crime.

"It's like telling someone you can't put a deadbolt on your front door until after you've been burglarized," says Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna.

...The bill also would pre-empt laws in 29 states requiring companies, institutions and agencies to notify individuals about security breaches compromising their data. It sets national criteria for data protection and breach disclosures, and puts banking and Treasury officials in charge of compliance....

For "national criteria," read "whatever lax standard the financial services industry would prefer."

The bill, by the way, goes by the Orwellian name "Financial Data Protection Act of 2006."