Read the Takeshi Kovacs novels by Richard Morgan for some interesting ideas about this. In them, you can back up your mind and switch it to different bodies.

Read the Takeshi Kovacs novels by Richard Morgan for some interesting ideas about this. In them, you can back up your mind and switch it to different bodies. If you get killed, you can restore your last backup but you lose any memories from then on. Where do these bodies come from? Well one form of punishment is where they back up your mind and sell off your body (why waste it?)... When you get out of prison, you end up with a different body. Bodies are expensive, so getting out is only viable if you are rich.