01
Open the freeze page
Go to employees.theworknumber.com/employee-data-freeze. The Work Number describes online as the best way, with Start a Data Freeze as the button.
Removal guide · The Work Number
How to lock down your Work Number data
This one isn't a removal, it's a freeze - and it's free, doable in one online sitting, and there are four ways to do it. The Work Number holds your employment and income history because your employer sends it, so deleting it isn't really on the table. Blocking its release is. Start by looking at what's in there, because most people have never seen it.
The full picture: See The Work Number data broker profile for what Equifax declares it collects, who buys it, and why 1.7 million people opted out in a single year.
Quick facts
At a glance
- Method
Free data freeze · online, phone, post or email
- Cost
Free
- Time needed
15-30 minutes online - portal signup and identity checks first
- Employer code needed?
No · the portal says that requirement is gone
- Freeze by phone
(800) 367-2884 · TTY (800) 424-0253
- Freeze by email
Before you freeze
Look at the file first
Register at employees.theworknumber.com and read what's there before doing anything else. Two reasons.
First, errors in employment and income records cause real damage and you won't find them any other way - this data goes from your employer to a lender without passing through you. Second, the portal shows which verifiers pulled your file in the last 24 months, which tells you whether anyone has actually been looking.
Note that everyone has to create a new account, including anyone who registered on the previous version of the site.
The employer code is no longer required. If you tried this years ago and gave up because you couldn't find your employer's code, that barrier is gone.
The steps
Place the freeze
02
Read past the discouragement
The page leads with reasons not to freeze - that it "may slow down the application process", that "you may also create more work for yourself", and three worked examples of job, loan and benefits applications being delayed.
Those warnings are true, and they're also the only thing the page emphasises. The freeze is your right and it's free. Decide on the timing rather than being talked out of it.
03
Complete the freeze form
Fill in the online form to place the freeze. Expect identity verification.
04
Or use one of the other three channels
If the form gives you trouble, the same freeze is available by phone on (800) 367-2884 (TTY (800) 424-0253), by post using a downloadable freeze form, or by email by sending that same form to TWNFreeze@equifax.com.
05
Learn how to lift it before you need to
Unfreezing and temporary unfreezing run through the same four channels, and you'll want that worked out before you're mid-application rather than during. The alternative is a Salary Key - a one-time code you hand to a single verifier - which lets one verification through without lifting the freeze for everyone.
Confirm
Confirm it worked
Log back into the portal and check the freeze status shows as active. Then check the verifier list again in a few months - if the freeze is working, nothing new should appear on it.
The Work Number's own California filing reports a one-day mean and median on opt-out requests and all 1,732,143 of them granted in full, so this is not a company that sits on requests. If a freeze hasn't taken effect within a few days, call rather than wait.
If it's wrong
Disputing bad data
A freeze hides the file; it doesn't fix it. If the employment dates, job title or income are wrong, use Dispute Your Data in the portal instead, because a wrong record will still be wrong when you lift the freeze to apply for something.
The Work Number is FCRA-regulated - roughly 80% of its revenue comes from FCRA-covered products by its own filing - so disputes carry statutory weight and the CFPB supervises the process. Keep dated copies of what you submitted.
If it fails
Troubleshooting
Registration won't complete: the portal now requires a new account even for previously registered users, so try registering fresh rather than recovering an old login.
The online form fails: the phone line on (800) 367-2884 does the same job, and email to TWNFreeze@equifax.com is a written record.
A verifier says they can't see your data and you need them to: issue a Salary Key for that verifier rather than lifting the freeze entirely.
Your income or employer is wrong: that's a dispute, not a freeze. Errors originate with the employer's payroll feed, so raising it with your employer's payroll team in parallel often resolves it faster.
Escalation: usprivacy@equifax.com and (866) 295-6801 are the contacts Equifax Workforce Solutions filed with California. For FCRA disputes that stall, the CFPB supervises consumer reporting agencies directly.
Stay on top of it
Keeping it controlled
A freeze holds until you lift it, so the maintenance here is light - but the file keeps growing. Every employer that uses The Work Number keeps feeding payroll data in, and you can't stop that at source.
The habit worth building is checking the verifier list once or twice a year. It's the only place you'll see who has been asking about your income. And remember this freeze is separate from your credit freezes at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, and separate again from your LexisNexis file.
Take yourself off data broker sites
Redact scans 120+ data broker sites from your device, finds where your details are listed, and submits the removal requests for you. If a broker relists you, it files again.
Last updated:
August 6, 2026 · ⚠️ Drafted from the employee portal's own documentation, not from a completed freeze. No request has been put through this process.