THE SECRET SELF
Mark Poster · Cultural Studies · 2006
In the late 1990s, ‘Identity Theft’ became a crime in the United States. At that time ‘Identity Theft’ was determined to be the fastest rising crime in the country. It is a crime that depends on digital culture and networked computing. I ask how this crime works to redefine the nature of identity, how it exteriorizes identity, separating it from the interiority of consciousness and moving it into the realm of information machines. The implications of identity theft for privacy and security are also examined. I ask as well about the implications of such theft for an emerging Western and Global culture that relies increasingly on digital media, the interaction of humans and information machines.