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?
Everything you send to Mt Gox is very much at risk. Dollars, Bitcoins, Identification, etc. All of it. Mt. Gox has already had their password database stolen and published online for everyone to make a copy of. Hashed passwords were cracked and countless further thefts occurred because of it.
https://mtgox.com/press_release_20110630.htmlYou can make small withdrawals without sending them your identification.
https://support.mtgox.com/entries/20919111-aml-account-statuses