This is the crux of the problem. IDs were never designed to be secret. In many countries it is required by law for hotels to take a copy of your passport. That’

This is the crux of the problem. IDs were never designed to be secret. In many countries it is required by law for hotels to take a copy of your passport. That’s fine, but what isn’t fine is when someone can use that copy to take out credit in your name. ID documents should only have power when produced in person. Having a copy of the data proves absolutely nothing and banks should not allow credit to be taken out with such weak verification, let alone make it the victims fault for having their “identity stolen”.