On: I'm Testifying to Congress about Data Breaches – W...

[snarfy]

Say there is no such thing as identity theft. Identity is not a material thing that can be stolen.

The issue is bank fraud. When someone uses stolen personally identifiable information to make fraudulent purchases/accounts/whatever it's the banks liability for allowing the wrong person to perform those actions.

[RachelF → snarfy]

Yes, this is the key issue, but it is broadly ignored.

In the old days you needed to walk into a bank with photo-ID and talk to a teller to open an account, let alone get credit.

The big banks have saved money by closing many branches.

These days, you can get a credit card online easily, no face-to-face interaction involved. Hackers pretending to be you can do it as easily.

[j_s → snarfy]

Yes. Surprised to see this is only half the way up the page.

Data breaches wouldn't be the issue they are if banks were liable when they were fooled. This is definitely Don Quixote windmill territory though, the banks have a well-funded lobby.

[SAI_Peregrinus → snarfy]

There's also the libel issue. The bank reports (falsely) in writing that you have a debt: that's libel. The credit reporting agency reports (falsely) that you have the debt. Still libel.

[ryanwaggoner → SAI_Peregrinus]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistake_(criminal_law)