Now that you can freeze your credit report, it will be interesting to see if that changes the products and services offered for ID theft protection. There are many of these, and we've written about them before. They claim to either prevent someone opening a new account in your name or help you recover from that. But if you're considering (or are paying for) one of them, I'd ask some questions:

• If my credit file is frozen, why do I need this service?
• Does your service include freezing my credit file?

Let's walk through the different products and how they're affected by the new credit freeze developments:

• Credit monitoring - this service monitors your credit reports to notify you if there have been additional accounts opened in your name. You can do this yourself for free three times a year by checking your credit report. And if you've frozen your credit report, there should be no new accounts opened. So do you still need credit monitoring?
• ID theft insurance to help clear your name. Again, if your credit is frozen, your chances of being a victim are microscopic compared to what they are now. Besides, if you are a victim, you can file a complaint with the Attorney General for free and get your records cleared.
• Prevention services - those that opt you out of junk mail, credit card offers, etc. You can do those for free. Will these now add credit freeze as one of the services? If so, how much will it cost? Remember, you can freeze your credit for $30 ($10 per credit bureau). That's a one-time fee, compared to at least $10 per month for those prevention services.

None of these products is bad for you - they can't hurt, they can only help. But the question is, how much can they help and is it worth paying for?