Recently I had an annual medical checkup and was sort of taken aback when the receptionist asked to take a digital photo of me first. "For the files," was the reason she provided. But knowing a little more about what's going on than perhaps she realized, I told her the likely reason was to put a stop to medical identity theft. This occurs when someone gets a hold of your insurance information and piggybacks on your coverage to get their medical costs paid for by someone else. You might not even notice it happening unless you suddenly max out on your coverage and find yourself paying out of pocket for things you thought would be covered. While this isn't as widespread an issue as the sort of ID theft where someone uses your credit card information to buy themselves a new flat screen TV, it's a growing problem. I've seen estimates that it's already happened to several hundred thousand Americans!
It's also a best practice to destroy the labels on your prescription bottles and packaging before throwing them in your trash. You already knew that dumpster diving or sorting through someone's trash is a common method employed by identity thieves. Now you should add concern about your medial identity to your already growing paranoia about your financial identity.