IENTITY THEFT : I TOOK YOUR NAME

In the past, a criminal was someone who stole things. Money, CD’s, mobile phones. Sure, a pain to replace, but replacable. But these days, the ultimate commodity is you. Your identity. Your credit records. Who you are.

You can’t replace your own identity. But you sure as hell can hijack someone else’s and dine out on the proceeds.

It’s happened to me : I came back from work the day my mother died to find out that I had a mobile phone that I used to call Afghanistan a lot. A few years later, I found out that someone was reading every email I received or sent in order to compile some kind of character assassination document against me because they didn’t like me. Because they thought I was what they were : a thief and a liar.

THE THIN RED LINE

How does it feel to know that everything you ever write to someone, or they write to you, or your personal details, has been stolen? That you’re being watched, observed, catalogued and judged by someone who has no motive apart from defamation of your character and probably of your bank balance?

It feels like being violated. Raped.

Where’s the line between stealing someone’s identity and routing all their emails into your own account for your own purposes…. and stealing their identity to commit credit card fraud?

Where’s the line between hijacking someone’s identity and using it to steal and defile their work, or their reputation and character... and hijacking someone’s identity to steal and extort money from multinationals?

There is none. If you pretend to be someone else, if you steal their identity, their personal details, read their emails, open their post, well… you are what you do. An immoral thief who has no concern for other people or their welfare.

I’ve had my name stolen before. It’s the vilest form of crime. Be it an estranged relative who thinks it’s acceptable to steal your identity so they can snoop into your private life, or a faceless immoral spammer who uses your ID to forward unsolicited (and frankly, tedious) porn adverts, or some nameless person in a call centre or restaurant who copies your credit and bank details once too often… it’s still a crime, and the act of a vile, morally bankrupt soul.

You are what you do : and anyone who impersonates anyone else is a thief. But if it’s ok for the president, it’s ok for the little guy. Thieves are liars, and identity theft is the most morally bankrupt crime of them all : to be morally bankrupt, to be lacking in the core human values, the only way to bring yourself back to the level is to steal someone’s identity.

You are what you do. If you do something reprehensible, if you steal, and you lie, then that’s what you are.