We’ve all seen it in movies: people swap bodies through some magical mystery scenario and become one another. Insurance companies have thoroughly penetrated the media mindspace with the idea of identity theft which piggybacks onto that notion and forces us to become paranoid that someone is going to be able to steal out very souls by taking our credit card and other information.

But if you can have your identity stolen, then that opens up a whole can of worms, don’t it? If you can have your identity stolen, then you can theoretically :

1. Give your identity away.
2. Sell your identity.
3. Swap your identity.
4. Auction your identity.

The list goes on and on. Supposedly this is already happening on the “black web economy” as well - although I’m loathe to trust any information about web security coming out of a company like Symantec, which makes money out of scaring people (and not in a fun way) into thinking they need to use its products:

Or how about an online identity auction, black web economy servers where consumers’ identities can be bought and sold? These auctions sell all kinds of personal data from social security numbers to credit cards. During the first six months of 2007, the United States accounted for hosting 64 percent of the total of such auctions known to Symantec, followed by Germany and Sweden. Credit cards are the most frequently traded item, not surprising when sold in batches of 10 for as little as fifty cents a card!

If “crooks” can sell our identities to one another for as little as $10 (??), then why can’t we do this as well? What if a system like this were to be combined with something like RipplePay, or an online VTP version of Hawala? Disposable identities to conduct legal and financial transactions on and offline. (Maybe this is already going on?) You would be able to buy them at 7-11, almost like a condom or a calling card.