[jaredandrews]

Yes thank you. This is my "actually it's GNU + Linux" tic, please fellow Americans (and I would be interested in learning if this problem exists in other countries) do not accept the framing that a bank giving a loan to someone they thought was you is _your problem_! It's their problem! We should not be normalizing this phrase or practice.

[codetrotter]

> I would be interested in learning if this problem exists in other countries

In Norway you can voluntarily register as not wanting to allow credit assessments to be performed on you.

This in turn can help a bit because it results in most attempts at making loans in your name not being possible.

https://www.datatilsynet.no/regelverk-og-verktoy/sporsmal-sv...

There are four companies in Norway that do credit assessments. You have to individually register your desire to not allow credit assessments for your name with all four of these.

https://tfinans.no/blogg/frivillig-kredittsperre

But then, what protects you against someone simply requesting that your credit is unlocked and then taking loans in your name after all? Well, from what I gather one would have to use BankID to confirm that credit is to be unlocked.

So even if someone steals my passport, they will not immediately be able to unlock my credit. They’d have to jump through a bunch of hoops to also steal my BankID.

[fnordpiglet]

You can do this in America. It’s called a credit freeze. A problem is credit freezes can also be fraudulently lifted, but serve as a decent barrier for most run of the mill mass frauds. They’re virtually unknown and require you to independent contact each individual credit bureaus to both freeze then unfreeze.

https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-know-about-credit-fre...

[jacquesm]

Interesting. This should be adopted by the EU. (I know Norway is not a member state but this makes good sense and that's why I would love to see the EU to adopt it.)

[thumbuddy]

European countries are ten yrs ahead of the US as far as regulations on technology are. Some people have to learn the hard way I guess...

[dctoedt]

> the framing that a bank giving a loan to someone they thought was you is _your problem_

Brings to mind the tale that jaywalking laws were the creation of early-days automobile manufacturers and dealers who wanted to clear the streets for the vehicles they wanted to sell. [0]

[0] https://www.vox.com/2015/1/15/7551873/jaywalking-history