The title of this column is a verse from the musical “Les Miserables.” In the song, the hero is struggling with his true identity, Jean Valjean, and with that branded upon him by the state—his penal code 24601. In thinking about this particular song and the increasingly significant role numerical identification is playing in our lives, I feel compelled to relate three important numbers and the fears I have of them.
 
      Your Social Security number is the first and most important numerical identification. This number tells the government who you are, what you have done, and what belongs to you. If stolen, a criminal can assume your entire identity just with this number. When fist introduced, the government said it would not be used as a form of identification. It has. On the collegiate level, this number is used as a means of identification for students. Students used to be able to pick their own number for identification, now this number is used almost exclusively. At other ages in your life it is also used. When applying for jobs or licenses, this number is required. The social security number is by far the most branding of all numbers. We are given it when we are young, and we still need it when we die.
 
      In the ever-growing age of computers, the IP address is becoming an increasingly important number. This number is used to identify a specific computer and its owner. I fear this number because it allows someone to track the sites you have visited on the Internet. While this has not proven a huge problem yet, I fear it is just a matter of time, as with Social Security, before it becomes an important number identifying us to the world.
 
      The final and perhaps most dangerous number, at least in my mind, is the cell phone number. With the emergence and growing popularity of cell phones, this number is more personal and more identifying than any of the others. This 10-digit number is always with a person and, in a sense, could be seen as self-branding. We are conscientiously allowing ourselves to carry around a form of tracking. It is not hard to imagine the time when the security devices put into cell phones to track them if stolen are used to continuously track people. Instead of just tracking where we have been, as with Social Security or an IP address, cell phones could allow people to be continuously monitored wherever they are. In an effort to help consumers, the government recently passed a bill allowing users to keep their cell phone numbers when they switch providers. Although filled with good intentions, I wonder how long it will be before this 10-digit number defines who we are.