>then clearly they didn't do their verification properly. Indeed. And surely, when they then report you to a credit agency, then this is libel or slander. They

>then clearly they didn't do their verification properly. Indeed. And surely, when they then report you to a credit agency, then this is libel or slander. They have no reasonable basis to make the claim, and it results in severe hardship for you. As OP says, the idea of "Identity" is a fiction designed to make it the responsibility of the citizen to deal with the "theft". By definition, if it can be stolen, then it can't be considered an identity.