The Digital Twin as Victim: A Philosophical Look at Identity Theft in the Age of Big Data

[Professor]

Abstract: In the era of big data, each of us has acquired a ghostly companion — a digital double. This isn't just a social media profile, but a complex conglomerate of transactions, likes, geolocations, search queries, and medical data. We rarely consider its autonomous existence until it becomes a target. Carding, in its philosophical dimension, is more than just theft. It is a violent invasion of a person's digital identity, its usurpation and exploitation for someone else's purposes. This article offers a contemplative look at identity theft as a phenomenon that challenges the very foundations of our self in a world where identity is increasingly measured not by actions, but by data.

Introduction: Who was robbed?​

When fraudsters use your card details, a simple and clear question arises: "Who stole it from?" The answer seems obvious: from the cardholder, a flesh-and-blood human being. But at the time of the purchase, your physical body was asleep in bed. The bank debited the virtual units from your account. The goods were shipped to a fictitious address. It turns out that the direct victim was not a biological organism, but its digital projection —the very entity the bank trusts, which the system recognizes as "you," and with which the store's algorithm communicates. The theft occurred in a parallel, digital dimension of existence.

1. Birth of the Double: From Shadow to Essence​

Our digital double is born gradually, often without our knowledge.

• Conscious creation: We create its foundation ourselves — profiles, avatars, public statements. This is our expressive identity, which we project outward.
• Passive reflection: Every transaction, every search query, every browsing experience leaves a digital trace. This data is collected, aggregated, and analyzed by systems. This is where behavioral identity is born — a portrait of our habits, fears, and desires, not created by us.
• Recognition by systems: Banks, states, and social networks recognize this set of data as a legal identity, granting it rights (access to credit, receipt of government services) and responsibilities.

It's important to understand: this double is not a metaphor, but an operational reality. For most institutions in the modern world, it is "you." Your physical face is merely a biological key to access it.

2. Act of Violence: What Really Happens When Carding?​

Carding in this context is not property theft in the classic sense. It is a complex act of metaphysical violence against the digital self.

• Split: A division occurs. Your physical self remains safe and secure. Your digital self is held, copied, and used against your will. Digital schizophrenia occurs : the same identity operates in two contradictory directions.
• Agency Hijacking: Agency is the ability to act on one's own behalf. The scammer usurps your digital double's agency, forcing it to perform actions (purchases) that contradict the wishes and interests of the original consciousness. The double, instead of a reflection, becomes a puppet.
• Data Defilement: Data integrity and consistency are the foundation of digital trust. Fraudulent transactions are embedded in your financial history, distorting it. It's like weaving someone else's false memories into your doppelganger's autobiography. Their past and, consequently, their future (credit rating) are compromised.

The victim experiences not only financial loss, but also existential discomfort : the feeling that “somewhere out there,” in the digital world, an evil copy of yourself is living and operating, over which you have lost control.

3. The Suffering of the Double: Can a Digital Entity Be a Victim?​

Here we come to an ethical question: if the double is not a conscious entity, can it "suffer"? And what does "suffering" mean in a digital context?

• Violation of Integrity: Data integrity is analogous to bodily integrity. Its corruption and unauthorized use is a form of digital abuse.
• Damage to reputation: In the digital world, reputation is life. Credit ratings, transaction history, and behavior patterns constitute the "character" and "biography" of a doppelganger. Damage to these directly impacts their "social health" and future opportunities.
• Violation of Autonomy: The Double is created to reflect our will. Using it against our will is a parasitic exploitation of its autonomous status, recognized by the systems.

Thus, it's not the machine that suffers, but the connection between our true self and its digital representative. The severing of this connection, its profanation, is the source of trauma. We feel the pain not of the double, but of its owner, who suddenly discovers that he is no longer the master.

4. Responsibility and Healing: Who Should Rescue the Double?​

If the double is a valuable and vulnerable part of our being, then who is responsible for its protection and “healing” after an attack?

• Personal Responsibility (Digital Hygiene): Analogous to caring for the physical body, we learn to create strong passwords (immunity), keep track of our tracks (hygiene), and recognize phishing (dangerous connections).
• Responsibility of custodians (banks, platforms): Those who handle our doubles bear an ethical responsibility for their safety. They are not just service providers, but custodians of digital identities. Their security systems and recovery protocols are like medicine for the digital self.
• Legal status of the digital double: Legislation is slowly moving toward recognizing digital identity and data as an extension of the individual. The right to be forgotten, the right to data portability, and personal data protection laws are the first steps toward the legal emancipation of the digital double, recognizing its right to integrity and inviolability.

Recovering from theft isn't just about getting your money back. It's a complex process of digital detoxification and rehabilitation : data recall, credit repair, and rebuilding trust in systems. It's about healing the connection between you and your reflection.

5. The Future: Symbiosis or Conflict?​

Where are we heading? Two scenarios are possible.

• Conflict scenario: Growing paranoia, total self-cryptography, complete renunciation of trust in systems. A person declares war on their own double, attempting to minimize it, leading to digital asceticism and social isolation.
• Symbiosis scenario: Conscious acceptance of the double as an extension of oneself. Building ethical, responsible relationships with it. Developing technologies that make data control and use transparent and reversible. Here, the double becomes not a vulnerability, but a tool for empowerment, a protected digital "spacesuit" for navigating the world of big data.

Identity theft in the age of big data is not a private inconvenience. It is a philosophical challenge that forces us to consider: what is the "self" in a world where our will, memory, and economic viability exist outside our bodies as algorithmic patterns? By protecting our data, we protect more than just information. We protect the boundaries of our digital selves, the right to remain master of our own reflection in the endless mirrors of the global network. This is the path to a new form of integrity — the integrity of a person inextricably fused with their digital double in a relationship of mutual respect and protection.