>> And no, we don't have a national ID card - yet!  [...]
>>
>> The thing is, you very rarely have to prove your identity /per se/,

> So what's stopping me to open a line of credit in the name of Howard
> Winter?

Nothing - that is a problem here in the UK, identity theft is rife. One of 
the answers is to shred absolutely every document that you want to put in 
the rubbish that has any details (even just name and address I do this) that 
gives any details about yourself. In my case the resultant shredding is then 
used to start the garden incinerator rather than go in the rubbish. There 
are far too many stories of people who have had stuff stolen from mail and 
had their bank accounts and credit cards hi-jacked. 

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