Identity theft is a term that comes from the fact that you can use this information to open up a bank account or become someone digitally, not because they steal your personality.
It’s a great term because exemplifies the gross negligence and liability that comes with egregious misuse of personal data
By calling it identity theft, we are saying individuals are the victims and should protect the banks from someone pretending to be them.
Edit: I also believe there was an argument that banks reporting to credit agencies based on fraudulent activity from a 3rd party should be treated as libel.
This is interesting - do you know if it has ever been tested?
As I said, those details, including address and more, are public in some countries. Those countries have learned to live that just being able to say my name, date of birth, address and telephone number is not enough to open a bank account, why can other "modern" countries not adjust accordingly too?
There is a reason why the majority of these frauds are US based
Now if they do that, changing in particular the latter is rather hard.