Federal law giving individuals the right to examine their own credit history. The provisions of this law enable consumers to approach credit reporting agencies to see what the agencies may be saying about them, find out if their credit information has been used any third parties, and approach an agency to dispute wrongful use or interpretation of their information. The law also places restrictions on the consumer reporting agencies, such as requiring the agencies to provide each consumer one free report per year upon request, as well as restricting the amount of time certain information can remain on one's credit report.