It's highly unlikely that magic is possible. There are apparently two "laws" of magic -- that of similarity and that of contagion. The former amounts to the belief that the practitioner can bring about an effect by doing something which simulates the effect -- for example, mutilating a voodoo doll which looks very similar to a real person will result in the latter undergoing the same mutilations. The second law amounts to the belief that if two objects were in contact, then the influence of each one on the other remains even if the contact later ceases. Think of the same voodoo doll, but containing within it a lock of hair belonging to a person one wants to harm. It should be obvious that material objects don't work this way, because they cannot transcend themselves.

An institution, be it a body of government, commercial enterprise, or a service, cannot interact directly with a person. Instead, a model is created to represent us. We argue the existence of a new high-fidelity type of person model which we call a digital voodoo doll. We conceptualize it and compare its features with existing models of persons. Digital voodoo dolls are distinguished by existing completely beyond the influence and control of the person they represent. We discuss the ethical issues that such a lack of accountability creates and argue how these concerns can be mitigated.