Q: What do Walt Disney and credit reports have in common?

A: Both of them may be frozen! One hidden under “The Pirates of the Caribbean,”” and the other with each of the top credit reporting agencies.

OK, Walt Disney probably isn’t frozen, but did you know you can protect yourself from identity theft by freezing your credit report?

Since 2007 consumers in 48 states have slowly but surely earned the right to initiate a security freeze that bars new lenders from seeing their credit history without permission.

A frozen credit report makes it nearly impossible for identity thieves to open new accounts, since most lenders will check it before issuing credit.

It’s a pretty straightforward process in theory: You contact each of the top three credit reporting agencies (TransUnion, Experian and Equifax) and pay a one-time, state regulated fee to make your credit report inaccessible to anyone who tries to view it without your PIN numbers.

When you want to open a new account or apply for credit, you simply “thaw” your report so the agency or business can see it.

Here’s a breakdown of the real-life pros and cons of freezing your credit report:

Pros

• The service could save you the stress and time it takes to clean up a credit mess if your identity is ever stolen
• If you are already a victim of identity theft, the service is free for you in every state. Without a security freeze you’re much more likely to be a repeat victim
• It is also great if you tend to take out credit impulsively. There’s waiting period between requesting a freeze-lift and a new lender gaining access to your report. Most states require the lift to take no longer than 3 or 5 days.  In some states however, this waiting period is required to take less than 15 minutes
• Freezing doesn’t have any effect on your credit score and you can still access your own report
• For two of the three agencies, you can initiate a freeze online (click here for TransUnion and here for Experian). Experian makes you take a little test to confirm your identity, so be on your toes to answer questions about previous credit and loans
• Unlike fraud alerts security freezing doesn’t expire after 90 days. The service lasts until you cancel it
• In some states the fees (for placing and removing  freezes) are as low as $3. In South Carolina they are both free.

Cons

• If an emergency comes up and you need credit fast (and your state doesn’t have a 15-minute freeze lifting law), you may have to wait several days to get approved. On the other hand, if you apply for credit with someone you currently do business with they can access your credit report. It is only hidden to new lenders.
• In order to have effective protection from ID theft, you must have a freeze with all three agencies. That means three times the fees
• Equifax  has a reputation for making a security freeze initiation difficult. It may be best to go the snail-mail route with them. This site has helpful letter templates for each state, under the “Instructions” link
• The credit score freeze won’t do much to stop “pre-approved credit” offers. You have to go here to do that, or call 888-5OPTOUT
• If you’re applying for a job you’ll need to lift your freeze so the potential employer can check your credit. It’s perfectly acceptable to ask which credit reporting agency they use, so you only have to lift one freeze and pay one fee
• There’s debate about whether the risks involved in sending all of your sensitive information (SSN, account numbers) through the mail to initiate or lift a freeze is worth the security of having the freeze in place

Should you freeze your credit report? If you apply for credit often, or are in the midst of job interviews or major purchases, a security freeze may be more hassle than it’s worth. If you don’t think you’ll need to lift it often, and your sensitive information may have been compromised (through things like mail theft or phishy online business), a security freeze is important. For most people it’s a reasonable, affordable precaution–enough to make Ol’ Walt proud.