This intramural spat that broke out late Tuesday is centered on what the best remedies are in the wake of the Equifax breach and what they should cost, if anything. Earlier this year, thieves pried loose as many as 145.5 million Social Security numbers, dates of birth and other personal information. Equifax’s biggest peace offering so far has been what it refers to as a credit lock.

Credit locks work the same way as credit freezes, which have existed for more than a decade: In either case, you tell Equifax, Experian and TransUnion to flip a switch, after which no new creditor can see your credit report. Because companies won’t open an account without checking up on you first, this has the effect of blocking thieves who try to impersonate you using stolen information to take out new loans in your name.

Locks and freezes only work, however, if you block access to your files at all three bureaus, which you have to do separately; if you only close off access to your Equifax file, someone might use information from the Equifax breach or some other data theft to open a credit card in your name at a bank that only checks an Experian report.

Freezes came into widespread existence only because of pressure from consumer advocates and state legislators, who eventually passed so many laws that the credit bureaus gave in and offered freezes nationwide about a decade ago. More recently, they’ve added credit locks, which accomplish the same thing but are not subject to state regulation.

Locks can differ in other ways as well. Equifax has confused consumers by discussing two different lock processes in the past month. You can turn the first on and off from a browser; it made this available along with the TrustedID Premier package of credit monitoring it offered free to every American after it announced its breach.