"Identity Theft"

"Come on, tell me I'm not Kramer."--television character on Seinfeld

I am Omari Norman.

I am not sure exactly what makes me Omari. Many elements comprise my identity. My name (first and last) is part of it. So is my past. My likes, dislikes, and passions are a big part of my identity. My body is also a key part of who I am. Even so, though, I have a difficult time explaining exactly what my "identity" is.

Despite this, I can easily tell you what my identity is not. My identity is not in the database of some negligent corporate monolith like DSW Shoe Warehouse, ChoicePoint, or LexisNexis. You may recall that all these corporations have been egregiously sloppy in their information security practices, which may allow criminals to perpetrate acts of financial fraud.

The ChoicePoints and LexisNexises of the world maintain a wealth of data about you and I: social security numbers, driving records, past addresses, credit information, civil judgments, criminal records, employment information, and ...? However, this data is not my "identity." Certainly someone might steal this information and use it to commit financial fraud. The fraudster might even say he is me. But that does not mean he has stolen my identity. I'm still Omari.

Why, then, do we say that "identity thieves" have obtained information from LexisNexis and ChoicePoint? Okay, perhaps we need a special moniker for this particular variety of financial fraud, and "identity theft" just seems catchy. But we wouldn't use this term unless there were some kernel of truth in it.

I think it's sad that we have somehow started to believe that our identities are bound up in our credit records, Social Security numbers, and entries in the Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange. Gee whiz, I don't know exactly what makes a person's identity. Philosophers have argued this question far longer than I have been alive. But I do know that neither your identity nor mine can be stolen from a mere profiteer like ChoicePoint. These corporations are the (egregiously sloppy) keepers of mercenary data. That data has nothing to do with who I am.

I might one day have to deal with financial fraud. But I'm absolutely confident that I will never be a victim of "identity theft."