I see your point. However, before I was hired by the company I work for now, they did a credit check on me. Even though people go into debt and get into shopaholic stuff on their own time (usually), the company which hired me felt they had a right to check my credit rating. They were concerned that if they hired someone who didn't have control of their own finances that I could be a threat to their finances, through employee theft so they wanted to check to make sure I had decent control over my finances.
I had the right to say no and I would have also been exercising my right not to be hired by them. There is a fine line and we are all struggling with where that line might be.
It's not about whether or not you could steal something. It's whether or not you are a reliable person who meets their obligations. That's fair game because it directly relates to your ability to be a trustworthy employee.
Not everyone who smokes gets cancer. There are statistics, but nothing that indicates Joe CEO can look into a crystal ball and decide you're going to be hooked to an oxygen tank at age 40.
About two years ago, my grand-nephew was born with a fatal illness that killed him within six months. Afterwards, someone called my niece to ask her about a family history of infant death. Genealogy is a hobby in my family and my mom dutifully reported that we had a history of such fatalities. I was surprised because most of the women in our ancestry are the hardy type who pioneered this country. My mom happened to remember one obscure line, but now it's in a government database somewhere. So will that info keep future generations from getting jobs? It might save a future employer insurance premiums and they have the right to hire who they want.