The Fallacy of Identity Theft

I hate the term "identity theft."

As far as I know, no one can steal my identity. Even if my bank account number, my credit card number and all my passwords are stolen, I am fairly confident that I will still be me and the thief will be a different person.

Yes, the criminal will be masquerading as me. But anyone who knows me – my husband, my children, my colleagues, my doorman, my employer – will not be fooled. If "I" was actually stolen, I believe that would be called a kidnapping.

The entities that would be fooled by a masquerader are ones that don't really know me: my bank, my credit card company, places where I do online or offline shopping. Maybe they should have done a better job figuring out who I was before parting with my money or their goods.