Free 72-Hour School Data Breach Checklist

Your child’s school reported a data breach. Start here. This free parent checklist shows you what to do first, what to save, and who to contact.

This is the same 72-hour plan behind our Response Kit, just without anything filled in for you yet. It is genuinely enough to protect your child on your own.

What you will do, step by step:

Hours 1 to 24: Call the school and ask the 10 questions they hope you never think to ask. Call your bank and flag your accounts. Watch for signs of fraud, don't file an FTC report yet unless you already see one.

Days 2 and 3: Freeze your child's file at four places: Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, and ChexSystems. Each one has its own address and its own rules. TransUnion requires a notarized form. Equifax and Experian only need one if your name isn't on your child's birth certificate. ChexSystems never requires it.

Week 1: Request an IRS Identity Protection PIN for your child (a phone call, not the online tool adults use), and set up Social Security monitoring at ssa.gov.

Ongoing: Check that all four freezes are still active every three months. They do not expire on their own, but confirm nothing has changed. Once a year, re-check your child's IRS PIN and pull a free credit report.

What is inside this guide:

• The exact 10 questions to ask the school district
• Direct links to the freeze pages for Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, and ChexSystems
• The mailing address for the ChexSystems freeze, since a minor's file can't be frozen online
• Which bureau actually requires notarization, and where to find one fast
• What to do only if fraud actually shows up, and how to file with the FTC in about 15 minutes
• What to write down and keep, so you have a record if you ever need it
• The full 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, and annual check-in schedule

Doing all of this yourself usually takes about two hours, one trip to a notary, and one trip to the post office.

Want it done instead of doing it? The School Data Breach Response Kit has every letter above already drafted and addressed, every envelope ready to go, and the right affidavit ready for your notary visit. Fill in, sign, stamp, mail. Get it at databreachready.com.

Delivered to your email the moment you sign up.

Questions: hello@databreachready.com

Published by Solace Press