This is a bigger issue than 'credit agencies have poor security'. This is an issue of 'standard authentication in the US is negligently weak'.
Knowledge of a SSN and other public information should never be enough to authenticate any person. That means no credit issued based on that, no tax returns filed or viewed based on that, no checks sent based on that.
The solution is not better security with credit companies. The solution is some form of actual authentication. Preferably done by an organization dedicated to that (public would be best, private could work); not outsourced to organizations that are mostly geared towards determining credit worthiness.
For the public system, assign to every participant a true unique identifier, rather than the SSN which explicitly states should not be used as such.
For those citizens that do not want to register in this way, allow for physical authentication at physical locations.
In Europe this is far less of an issue since our population registration is a lot more comprehensive.
Knowledge of a SSN and other public information should never be enough to authenticate any person. That means no credit issued based on that, no tax returns filed or viewed based on that, no checks sent based on that.
The solution is not better security with credit companies. The solution is some form of actual authentication. Preferably done by an organization dedicated to that (public would be best, private could work); not outsourced to organizations that are mostly geared towards determining credit worthiness.
For the public system, assign to every participant a true unique identifier, rather than the SSN which explicitly states should not be used as such.
For those citizens that do not want to register in this way, allow for physical authentication at physical locations.
In Europe this is far less of an issue since our population registration is a lot more comprehensive.