Thanks for the responses. I guess my next question is, by providing my photo ID to a site like mtgox which is pretty well established and legitimate, as far as that goes, is this a relatively safe thing to do? Or am I seriously putting myself at risk for a breach of my identity?
Assuming it is safe, then by providing all this information to an exchange, am I responsible for reporting what I exchange? God help us all when a 1099-BTC comes into existence.
I guess what I'm trying to ask is, do I have to worry about all the potential big brother issues that come from my identity being tied to where and what I exchange, or is it simply to combat money laundering and therefore nothing I need to be worried about?
If you live in a first world country that has a tax authority, your information is at risk. And of course any money you cash out of an exchange into a bank account has to be accounted for in tax records. It's not just about money laundering.