In the US, credit score is used for hiring and rental agreements. It is not something you can opt-out of.

Yep. I'm old enough to remember when credit agencies were considering dubiously legal. It was illegal (in my state at least) for a group of merchants to run a shared 'blacklist' of customers back in the day. The credit agencies side-stepped this. It was pitched as an "opt in" sort of situation where if you wanted cheaper credit or to finance a car or some optional thing in life, you could do so. They were not even used (as much, at least) for house mortgages - the bank would go through financial records and check income vs. debt and your banking history instead. Your credit score (or lack of it) was irrelevant.

Then they slowly became endemic to simply participate in life at all. Good luck renting a spot with a poor credit score even in the early 2000's. My second apartment I had to show my (private mom and pop) landlord a great reference from my previous rental plus supply him with a 3mo security deposit since I had zero credit. I learned then that it was a non-optional part of society and I had better play ball or go entirely off grid hermit style.

Then credit agencies started even more BS like putting in your salary history (mined from employers), any criminal records, etc. It's a social credit score in everything but name and likely implemented far broader and wider in society than anything China currently has. You will literally be frozen out of many careers and entire areas to live if you do not maintain it.