Frankly, I wouldn't do that. It's too easy to make a mistake and clobber your entire program. Use a separate file (simple config file, DBM, tied hash or array, whatever is convenient), but don't take the risk of overwriting your program.
You can shoot yourself in the foot, if you like. I also can (at least in theory), but I just wouldn't.
Comment on Re: Is it possible to modify __DATA__ via the DATA file handle or otherwise?